On the morning of 26 MAY 1982, as we transited through the South China Sea, SM1 Sam Lorton spotted a white distress flare in the darkness of the early morning. Thirty minutes later, as we approached the area, a small wooden boat appeared out of the darkness. Determining their situation to be helpless, we brought 82 Vietnamese refugees onboard BREWTON. We fed them, clothed them, loved them in our own way. We learned that they had escaped from Vietnam hoping to be picked up by a passing ship. That afternoon, we transferred the refugees to the USS FOX by small boat. For many of us, it was "the highlight of the deployment." As a result of our efforts, we were awarded the Navy Humanitarian Service Medal.