Stephen Hayes' novel plumbs depths of a man’s soul

Vietnam War veteran Stephen Hayes said he was forced to write his novel, “Light on Dark Water,” not by anything external but by survivor’s guilt he's had deep inside.

Hayes graduated in 1967 as a lieutenant junior grade from U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School, then in Newport, R.I.

Hayes, a Wilmington native, is a lifelong sailor. He and wife Barbara live in Alexandria, Va., and also have a home in Lewes on Lewes-Rehoboth Canal.

He enjoys the view of the canal, where his 22-foot Catalina is docked only a few feet from the door.

Until retiring a couple years ago, he worked for the Treasury Department.

Growing up, he sailed with his father on the Chesapeake Bay and hunted on the Eastern Shore. “I’ve loved the water and been on the water all of my life,” he said, adding those early experiences influenced his decision to join the Navy.

From 1967 through 1969, Hayes served in command of a Patrol Craft, Fast – better known by civilians as a swift boat.

“I was in riverine operations in the Mekong Delta, and I lost a good friend there. That whole event has stuck in my craw for 43 years,” he said.

Swift boats in Vietnam patrolled the Mekong Delta’s interior waterways, used by Viet Cong troops to transport supplies and weapons.

As swift boats began making forays into the delta’s interior, they were initially met with surprise, occasional firefights. As the Navy began contending for waterway control, the Viet Cong improvised tactics to challenge swift boat crews.

Using the delta’s marshland, swamps and forested areas for cover, Viet Cong troops ambushed boat patrols causing heavy American casualties.

“We saw a lot of action. This isn’t a story I created as much as it is a story I had to bring out. There’s a certain way in which it was healing for me,” Hayes said.

He first wrote a short story about what happened and later also tried to write a screenplay, but he said the pieces didn’t feel right.

Then he came up an idea of using a sailing adventure story as a vehicle to go back to what happened in Vietnam. “That seemed to work well for me,” he said.

“People say if you’re going to write, write what you know about. I know about sailing, and I know about memories of Vietnam, and those are the twin themes of the book,” Hayes said.

He said the book is about protagonist Corbett Hale’s attempt to be at peace with tragedy. Hale’s survivor’s guilt stems from returning from war uninjured and his friend’s death.

“It’s hard to resolve that. It’s still hard for me to resolve it. Part of my way to do it was to write the book,” he said.

In the story, four men ferry a sailboat from Chesapeake Bay to the Bahamas and while doing so they encounter a storm.

Hayes said he has sailed that route and uses elements of his real experiences to create fictional accounts in the book.

He said his writing about Vietnam flashbacks and memories are accurate, but he changed people’s names.

He said while writing the book, he was concerned no one would read it. “After a while I worried that I’d finish it and people would read it. Then I said, the story’s in my heart and soul, and I’m going to finish it and get it out,” he said.

He said since publication in June by iUniverse Inc., “Light on Dark Water” has been selling well. He’s had a book signing in Alexandria and is scheduled for another, 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 31, at Biblion, Second and Market streets in Lewes.

Excerpt from “Light on Dark Water” featuring Corbett Hale’s thoughts.

“I have returned from the war uninjured, or so I thought. The body returned unscathed, but my soul had not. As a boy, I loved being on the water. Even after college when I found myself plying the muddy waters of the Mekong as a Navy river rat, I reveled in the beauty and quiet power of the tidal flows. I felt the sea held within its depths, the delicate intertwining of grace and dark power, of both violence and serenity.”