Soldiers relax aboard a Bell UH-1 Iroquois – the Huey. Being aboard a helicopter was like being on a miniature vacation, as it provided a few moments of rest “out of the war.
Two RTOs (Radio-Telephone Operator) and, possibly, a platoon leader, board a Huey. While many of the particles in this image are grass in the air, some of it is damage to the negative as well. Haughey developed his negatives in well over 100 degree heat in a Conex shipping container, and the images were stored in envelopes for decades, resulting in some damage to them.
A rifleman peers through bamboo, looking for a machine gun that had been firing on the platoon. Seconds after Haughey snapped this photo, the machine gun began firing and rounds clipped the bamboo next to this rifleman, who hit the ground to avoid being hit.
Staff Sergeant Edgar D. Bledsoe, of Olive Branch, Ill., cradles a critically ill Vietnamese infant. The child was brought to Fire Support Base Pershing. This image, with this caption, was originally published in Vol. 3 No. 53 of Tropic Lightning News, December 30, 1968.
Soldiers fire a captured M2 60mm mortar, originally a weapon produced by the United States for use in World War II and the Korean War. The mortar was captured on a patrol in a rice paddy, from Viet Cong forces.
RTOs were the infantry’s irreplaceable link with helicopter support. Here, an RTO watches a Huey bank overhead.
The nine-ship lift was a nine-helicopter-strong formation which transported around 50 men to the field from fire support bases. Here, the first five Hueys in a nine-ship lift have just dropped members of a combat infantry unit near Dau Tieng.
The “tunnel rat” was the soldier that volunteered to, at very high risk, enter Viet Cong tunnel networks and search them for hostile forces, weapons, and contraband. The tunnels would afterword be destroyed with explosives.
An M60 operator pauses for a moment under the heavy load of machine gun ammo. Members of the unit were all required to carry some type of ammo or supplies, including bandoliers of heavy bullets.
Infantry tactical officers observe and direct a combat operation aboard a CNC ship – a command and control chopper.
A soldier poses with captured mortar rounds. The Colonel instructed Haughey to travel to this location specifically to shoot photos of a large cache of weapons that were uncovered and captured near Dau Tieng.
A Vietnamese civilian argues with a G.I. near a stopped supply convoy.
A Chinook rescues a downed Huey from a rice paddy near Trang Bang, January 1969. Photos from this series originally ran in Tropic Lightning News Vol. 4 No. 4 and Stars and Stripes Vol. 25 No. 41.
A Vietnamese boy peeks at Haughey’s camera.
A file of soldiers on a routine jungle patrol. Haughey says most soldiers wore towels around their necks, like this one did, to help combat sweat in the jungle heat.
An unidentified medic working with a medical civic action program (MEDCAP) attends to a young Vietnamese child.
An alert, young M60 machine gun operator in the jungle.
Soldiers aboard an airborne Chinook with a bird’s-eye view through the helicopter’s cargo sling door, take advantage of a few moments “out of the war.
An officer in the field talks on a telephone.
– See more at: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2013/03/a_soldiers_eye_rediscovered_pi.html#sthash.O52cMS07.dpuf
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Great pictures,,,I sure know the feeling of a head bowed before going out,,,I would love to know why the woman had her finger up in the face of that GI maybe she was pointing at a bug on his face,,,,,
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Good blog, I am a Vietnam veteran 66-67 3rd Marine Division.
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What an evil nightmare!
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What an evil nightmare!
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Haughey must have been with the 25th…Dau Tieng and Cu chi.
I still search faces, looking for familiar faces!
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An evil nightmare best forgotten except to remember there are no wars for freedom only for banks and war profiteers and imperialistic unbridled capitalistic fascist corporate occupation.
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An evil nightmare best forgotten except to remember there are no wars for freedom only for banks and war profiteers and imperialistic unbridled capitalistic fascist corporate occupation.
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OUTSTANDING
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For a writer, it’s rare to have no words, but these pictures and the vulnerable young faces of the soldiers drove home, at least to me, a reality of war. They left boys and came home men. Some were damaged, yes, but they saw their duty and did it. The work they did with the children was touching and if anything, it showed the good hearts these men have. God bless each of them. Welcome Home!
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