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SCENES FROM VIET NAM
- 1967-8
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I was stationed in Viet Nam at Hqs IIFFV from
April 1967 to April 1968. For the first half we lived in leased civilian
building on Kong Le street in downtown Bien Hoa along with several long-time
stationed helicopter companies and a few others. During that time we enjoyed
walking through Bien Hoa and dining at excellent French restaurants. Once
wooden BOQ buildings were built at IFFV hqs at Long Binh we moved there, which
is where we lived during the NVA-VC offensive called TET in March-April 1968. I
was assigned as the engineer intelligence officer in the engineer section of
headquarters and as liaison officer with the CORDS organization assisting in
engineer projects throughout the III and IV Corps sectors. This required
extensive visits by helicopter to construction sites, especially CIDG camps in
the highlands and road and bridge construction mostly toward the delta areas.
Here are some of the photographs I made. Many are either over or under exposed
but may provide some idea of conditions during this period.
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11th Armored Cavalry Regiment - deploying
across the street from Hqs. IIFFV during TET offensive 1968.
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Artillery men unloading a resupply of ammunition
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Artillery men unloading a resupply of ammunition
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Artillery unit position - note the helicopter in background
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Artillery unit preparing a fire base camp
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Artillery unit fire base
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Artillery unit with a big one - 8 in howitzer in fire base
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Aerial view of a 'fire for effect' into dense jungle.
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Artillery - 8 in self propelled cannon firing.
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Another view of the 8 in self propelled howitzer
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Chinook helicopter arriving at artillery fire base
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Aerial view of a damaged bridge
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Bridge and road repair
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Engineers constructing a new bridge abutment
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Replacing a damaged bridge - with locals observing or inspecting.
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Bridge repair - adding a prefab temporary bridge into a damaged
permanent bridge
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Aerial view of a destroyed bridge being replaced by a bypass bridge
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Village adjacent to one end of a destroyed bridge
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Prefab bridge construction as replacement
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Aerial view of damaged bridge with ferry
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Vietnamese contemplating a danaged bridge
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Portion of construction site for repair of another bridge
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Constructing a replacement bridge
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Aerial view of replacement bridge and adjacent base
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Aerial view of destroyed bridge and ferry with adjacent village
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View of replacement bridge through trees
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Aerial view of a partially replaced bridge
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Water buffalo
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More buffalo
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More buffalo - newer homes
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More buffalo - at work
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Typical supply point
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Looks disorganized - forward base
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Do these vehicles appear to need a car wash?
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More vehicles badly in need of a car wash
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Yes, we have Christmas in Viet Nam - family gift on quarters door
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Aerial view of a CIDG camp - not a classic Vauban layout.
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Aerial view of another CIDG base camp
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Helicopter supply to a CIDG base
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Bulldozer constructing expanded area while helicopter crew observes
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View of a forward base camp
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CIDG camp
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Another camp - not very orderly looking but reasonably effective
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Helicopter at a forward base camp
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About to land at a US Army base camp
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Clearing operations - the area in the right side of the photo has been
cleared a while showing the basic red lateritic soil
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So far limited clearing operations
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A lengthy convoy passes a plantation area being cleared by Rome plows.
These giant bulldozers fitted with special blades were in high demand by the
divisions which competed in acres cleared in order to justify larger
allocation. I termed these "Hannibal's elephants" as the division
CG's placed great store and high priority on obtaining them.
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Aerial view of an area of mixed jungle and plantation.
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Road construction by U.S. Army engineers and local female labor
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Building construction by U.S. Army engineers and local female labor -
the cinder blocks are also made locally.
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Another construction site with hard working local ladies
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Local help is arriving by truck at a construction site.
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Aerial view of some fishing boats near ocean close to Vung Tau.
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Only a small flood during rainy season
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Hard to say if this is really a flood or merely a normal high water
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Yes, it is rainy season again - this is not Venice.
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Flooding again.
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The water is not too deep.
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Not a flood, just poor drainage
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Modern, up to the minute in every respect, but who lives here?
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Another unusual house
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Aerial view of typical jungle area
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Clearing an area for a base in dense jungle area
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Aerial view of typical jungle
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Local youngsters
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Children posing for camera
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Children playing in the mud
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More children near a modern looking building
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Local children watching arrival at CIDG camp
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Another group of children watching Americans
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Children greeting passing Americans
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Crowds of children gather everywhere to watch Americans
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A visiting helicopter is always interesting
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Helicopters are especially interesting out in the boondocks
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Another time - another place - but the helicopter remains the cynosure
of all eyes
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A busy market, but it is not in Venice
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An American major standing outside IIFFV headquarters
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Another version
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The summit of Nui Ba Dien mountain with its Army special signal station
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The summit of Nui Ba Dien mountain with its Army special signal station
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The summit of Nui Ba Dien mountain with its Army special signal station
- Visiting to attempt to establish a water point - possibly a rain filled
cistern - to remove the payments to the VC for water hauled by man-carrier up
the mountain.
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The summit of Nui Ba Dien mountain with its Army special signal station
- The special signal station was in and around an ancient chapel.
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The summit of Nui Ba Dien mountain with its Army special signal station
- Aerial view from helicopter during approach.
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On patrol with VietNamese unit on road north of Xuan Loc
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On patrol with VietNamese unit on road north of Xuan Loc
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On patrol with VietNamese unit on road north of Xuan Loc
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On patrol with VietNamese unit on road north of Xuan Loc
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On patrol with VietNamese unit on road north of Xuan Loc
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On patrol with VietNamese unit on road north of Xuan Loc
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On patrol with VietNamese unit on road north of Xuan Loc
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On patrol with VietNamese unit and American advisors on road north of
Xuan Loc
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On patrol with VietNamese unit on road north of Xuan Loc
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On patrol with VietNamese unit and American advisors on road north of
Xuan Loc
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Working in a plantation
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Decoration painted on wall of my quarters cell at Long Binh
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Confluence of two rivers
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The leased quarters in Bien Hoa prior to moving to Long Binh
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Area cleared along a river
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Aerial view of delta area with ocean beyond
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Busy road in the delta area
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Aerial view of part of Saigon near river
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A ferry crossing point in the delta
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Aerial view of a shark in ocean off Vung Tau - the shark is difficult
to see but is in lower left section
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Visiting an American armored unit.
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Tank dozer stopped by road side.
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Temple building
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Temple building
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Temple building
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Temple building
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Temple building
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When the VC sappers blew up the large ammunition dump near my quarters
during the TET offensive the blast shifted the whole building so the door would
not open - so I thought it advisable to spend the night next to the drainage
ditch next to the building
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Someone took this out-of-focus photo during the night -during the TET
episode
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We had a few rockets hit in the headquarters compound
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View from headquarters across the main road to adjacent Viet Namese
village in which we found many VC, some of whom had been working in the
headquarters all along.
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Another section of the village adjacent to IIFFV headquarters from
which VC infiltrators fired on the compound
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Another section of the village adjacent to IIFFV headquarters from
which VC infiltrators fired on the compound - The 9th Div and 11th ACR cleared
the village
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Another section of the village adjacent to IIFFV headquarters from
which VC infiltrators fired on the compound
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Another view of my temporary sleeping arrangements - in the morning
after the rocket attack we did find shrapnel on the ground near the quarters -
about 20 feet away.
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Another view of the headquarters Signal Office the morning after the
TET rocket attack
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Evidence of shrapnel damage to a headquarters office building
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Several jeeps full of troops come to clear VC from around the IIFFV
headquarters
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Aerial view of Saigon
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Rush hour outside a local temple
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Here's to a new method of scientific relax
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Wonder where everyone went?
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The real 'Orient Express"
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Local market
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Another town
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Another local laundry with ice
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Aerial view of industrial section of town
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Crowded street - I wonder why these 3 wheel Lamborgeti vehicles are not
popular in US.
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Aerial view of residential section
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Another busy street in Saigon
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Aerial view of suburb
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Christmas at the 3rd Battalion of the 39th Infantry Regiment
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A Vietnamese version of a strip mall
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Village with local parish church
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Aerial view of a village along a river
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Aerial view of villages in an area of bombing
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Aerial view of a village in the highlands
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Aerial view of mew housing
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A house in a swamp
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Market day
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A young Vietnamese at his/her home
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Village in the highlands where lumber is an important product
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Aerial view of another town
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Passing a typical scene along the highway
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Another scene that always draws a crowd
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