By Petra Chesner Schlatter, BucksLocalNews.com

U.S. Navy Lt. Daniel E. Worden, a member of the Upper Makefield Township Board of Supervisors, was on the inside track during the Vietnam War.Worden was serving aboard the U.S.S. Tortuga when people back home were being told one thing, but information Worden knew was quite different.

"There was no television or radio in Vietnam," he noted. "Mail arrived by helicopter about every two weeks. The Chicago Tribune had given me a free subscription.

"When the mail arrived, I got copies of the newspapers that indicated President Johnson and the White House were not involved with the war, which was in conflict with the secret messages we were receiving from 'The Joint Chiefs of Staff - WHITE HOUSE.'"

Worden is no stranger to naval involvement at sea. He proudly talks about a distant cousin, John L. Worden, who was a key player on the Union side during the Civil War. "He was given the commission of the U.S.S. Monitor," he said. "There was a famous sea battle in Virginia in 1862."

The Union's Monitor beat the Confederate's Merrimac. John L. Worden went on to become one of the first commandants of the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

"I grew up with it," Worden said of his family connection with military history. There are about 1,000 Wordens in the U.S. today.

Worden's distant cousin played a part in the Battle of the Ironclads, a Union victory. "It was a famous naval engagement," he said.

At age 23, Worden joined the Navy ROTC in 1960. He was then commissioned in June of 1962. In early 1964, he was a Lt. Junior Grade (LTG). As he was leaving the service he was promoted to lieutenant in October, 1965.

Aboard the U.S.S. Tortuga, Worden was the supply officer. Tortuga, Worden noted, means 'tortoise' in Spanish. "Our motto was, "You call, we haul."

Worden took a 'junior cruise', which was a training program. "It was all line officers," he said. "On that cruise, one of the things you had to do was 'a man overboard.' You had a dummy. His name was Oscar. You'd turn Oscar overboard."

Worden had 'command of the ship.' "You have to give the commands. You bring the ship around; you put the boat in to fish Oscar out. I missed Oscar by ¾ of a mile.

"I took command again, gave the commands and took the boat around," he recalled. "This time, I ran over Oscar!"

He described the Tortuga as a landing ship. The ship ballasts down (which means to add or reduce weight). The ship can carry amphibious tanks, which carry 25 troops. "You can imagine - you've got 40 amphibious with 25 troops bobbing in the water!

"I took off on July 6 of 1964 for a western Pacific deploymentThe first port was Hawaii, the second one was Okinawa. We were three days in Okinawa when the Bay of Tonkin happened."

The Bay of Tonkin was where a North Vietnamese PT boat allegedly attacked a U.S. warship. According to some reports, this was the reason the American government went full throttle into Vietnam.

Worden said, "The telex were coming in and the U.S.S. Turner Joy and the U.S.S. Maddox - two of our destroyers - were in the Bay of Tonkin."

The captain ordered Worden to top off the ship. "We loaded 1,000 Marines and the [amphibious tanks] and we took off for Vietnam," he remembered.

The U.S. government couldn't get permission to land until $3 million dollars was presented. "Here we are at sea, going up and down the coast, combat-loaded, ready for the command. We were there four months waiting for an order."

The Tortuga loaded a Marines battalion. "The Joint Chiefs of Staff send us a telex. 'We want you to have a military line in the middle of the South China Sea.'"

Worden described it as an "imaginary line." The order was given and the amphibious tanks were afloat.

A problem arose. "The Marines had not exercised - they could not climb the ladders," Worden said.

The Tortuga took the battalion back and another battalion was loaded. Worden said, "We would pick up troops and take them back to Subic Bay. We made the first landing in Da Nang. It was unopposed.

"I found out later that they airlifted the rest of the battalions," he said. "They were bringing in troops. We went on special watch aboard ship where we were anchored."

Worden described what it was like to be on watch for attack. "It was like 100-120 degrees. A number of us slept on deck. I remember waking up and thinking it was too early for morning, but the sky was orange. What was happening was the Da Nang Airfield was being attacked by mortars from the Viet Cong (from the north).

"I was there at the very early stages," Worden commented.

Through all the time he was aboard ship, he saw three typhoons in two years. "The winds were 180-mile winds," he said. "You couldn't be out in that. You stayed underground."

Back home, Worden excelled. He went on to be executive director of Worldwide Regulatory Compliance for Bristol-Myers Squibb. He was also with Price Waterhouse and later set up a FDA regulatory consulting company.

Originally from Chicago, Worden is a University of Wisconsin graduate where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration. From Southern Illinois University, he received his Master of Science Degree in Marketing for the technical side of forecasting.

He and his wife, Lisa, have three adult children. They have lived in Upper Make-field Township for nearly two decades. This year marks Worden's sixth year as a township board supervisor. Although he is retired, he remains active in local government and veterans organizations.

Worden, a strong supporter of the Guardians of the Washington Crossing National Cemetery, said he was made an honorary lifetime member of the veteran's group because of his work for the cemetery.

Referring to the Vietnam veterans' memorial in Washington, D.C., the Navy veteran said, "I've read every name on the wall."