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Once Upon a Time in Vietnam


Rangefinder

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 And to have had the opportunity to meet a great photographer in Larry Burrows...

I dearly hope this is not a downer. I admired Larry Burrows as well.

This the remainder of his Leica after his chopper was shot down.

 

M3-from-Larry-Burrows.jpg

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Agreed... a worthwhile read to remind ourselves of what is actually important. Interestingly, he mentioned points coincidently bought up in other threads over the past few days too, which I found particularly gratifying...

 

Also, its worth clicking on the 'handout' link at the end.

 

Yes, we all know the points he raises... but sometimes they need to be re-read and re-absorbed, if only to remind ourselves why we do this... 

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Mike, you didn't happen to meet a chap called Gary Ayala over there did you? He's a friend of mine from another camera forum. I did a short interview with him for my website

 

 

https://robertpoolephotography.com/2016/02/04/in-conversation-with-gary-ayala/

 

www.robertpoolephotography.com

No, sir, Robert, the name isn't familiar to me.  I opened your link and was wowed by the content.  Gary's is quite adept with shutter and glass, to put it mildly.  David Duncan, Gordon Parks and, of course Larry Burrows were my photography idols, too.  Thank you for sharing the link!

 

Mike

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I dearly hope this is not a downer. I admired Larry Burrows as well.

This the remainder of his Leica after his chopper was shot down.

 

M3-from-Larry-Burrows.jpg

Oh, my!  That photo brings a lump to my throat.  Such times . . . such times.   Powerful photo!

 

Years ago, when I was a kid, I asked my dad who was a medic in the South Pacific with the 1st Cavalry, if he was glad he'd been in the Army.  He got an odd look on his face, paused for a moment and said, "I'm glad I had the experience but I'd never want to do it again."  I truly know what he meant.

 

Mike

Edited by Rangefinder
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I was a Medic in-service from 1964 to 1970, separated with a head injury. Six months later  I was admitted into a Chicago VA hospital: a primitive  third-world institution where most of the doctors could hardly speak English. I cannot excuse the USA for how poorly they cared for those who bet their life for the USA. Not ever.

Edited by pico
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I was a Medic in-service from 1964 to 1970, separated with a head injury. Six months later  I was admitted into a Chicago VA hospital: a primitive  third-world institution where most of the doctors could hardly speak English. I cannot excuse the USA for how poorly they cared for those who bet their life for the USA. Not ever.

Damn, Pico, I'm sorry!  I mean that, sir! 

 

My experience with the VA has been a bit different.  About a year ago, I was diagnosed with an Agent Orange related cancer.  It was slow growing so the VA said, "Let's just watch it."  I got another opinion and received treatment outside the system.  I'm fine.

 

Now, get this.  Recently, I found a photo taken in '68 of a kid with whom I attended photo school at Ft. Monmouth, NJ.  I recalled his name and did an on-line search.  Turns out he was a combat photographer with the 25th Infantry Division and we were in Vietnam at the same time.  Anyway, he stayed in the Army and they educated him . . . big time!  He became a nurse and retired not too long ago as a full bird colonel.  Now, he's in charge of nursing for the Veterans Administration.

 

Mike

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Mike really enjoyed your story  and sharing many of your shots taken.  I was also  a photographer in the Marine corps during the Korean Conflict  and  our standard camera was the Speed Graphic 4x5.  My personal camera was the old Canon  IVF with the 50mm Serener F1,5 50mm bought new at the PX.  

Edited by Henry Taylor
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Mike really enjoyed your story  and sharing many of your shots taken.  I was also  a photographer in the Marine corps during the Korean Conflict  and  our standard camera was the Speed Graphic 4x5.  My personal camera was the old Canon  IVF with the 50mm Serener F1,5 50mm bought new at the PX.  

Henry, on my very first trip into the jungle, I was given a Speed Graphic with twenty film backs . . . 40 shots!  I couldn't believe it, at the time.  Thank goodness, I went out with an troop from the 1st of the 4th Cavalry and not an infantry unit.  At least I go to ride!

 

On  my last photo assignment with the Army, I was given another Speed Graphic and told to photograph General Ralph Haines.  He'd hosted about twenty officers from NATO countries and they were seated at a long table.  Tough photo situation.  The solution was actually handled as I strode up the sidewalk to the conference center.  I heard something that sounded like a few pennies being dropped.  I turned to see pieces of the camera's rangefinder laying on the concrete.  Yup, you're right, that photo of those dignitaries at Fort Monroe was so blurry it was totally useless.  I think I still have a copy of it.

 

Mike

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I was assigned to the Second Field Force Headquarters In Nha Trang, Vietnam from November 1968 to November 1969. Specifically I was in the 64th Engineer Unit, Terrain. We were in charge of updating maps used by the combat units. One job was to use blink scopes to note changes in Second Corps Zone areas. A blink scope is a method of looking at a number of the same aerial photos of an area (taken at different times) of planned action and look for changes in the vegetation or new trails or other activity that may indicate enemy units moving into an area. This information was then used to update maps and distribute them to combat units operating in the area. We also supported the Korean White Horse Division, a combat ngineer unit in our zone. Also if we noted much activity, artillery may be involved too. So you can say we were an intelligence unit.

 

I had gone through ROTC and received a deferment to complete my masters degree in volcanology at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. This experience of mapping volcanic rocks in Central Alaska really helped me as one half of the ll Corps Zone is volcanic basalts. So when I arrived I was thrown into finding material to build roads. So I ended up with many hats and finished my tour by mapping the rocks in the whole Corps Zone. As an aside when I visited Vietnam ten years ago, they were using my maps to find building materials!

 

My men did the blink stuff and I had to check their findings. I soon was responsible for photographing all the major bridges in the Corps. I did this by travelling the roads and flying at low level in a chopper. The camera I used for ground reconnaissance was a standard Leica iiif with no military markings and a f3.5 Summaron 35mm and 35mm viewfinder. For flying I used my own Topcon Super D with a 200mm lens. I used the Leica for general overview and I used the telephoto for details. To do the photography I rode the skids of the chopper. So in some ways you could say that I ended up being a photographer in the Vietnam war but I never considered myself a combat photographer as I was not assigned as such to a combat unit.

 

I must look up all those pictures and post them here. I also was called on to travel parts of the Ho Chi Min Trail. I think I have some of those photos too. It was an exciting year and a few times it was dangerous especially when I rode on the fuel trucks to get photographs of remote bridges. The reason for that is they always had a empty seat as no one wanted to ride on them for obvious reasons. So I will dig up some of those photos to share them with you. I was inspired to enter this topic by the other stories. Now I realize that others may be interested in the photos I took almost 50 years ago when I was a Captain in an engineer unit in Vietnam.

Edited by George Furst
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Hi George,

 

What a coincidence!  When First Infantry Division left Vietnam, I was transferred to the 1st Military Intelligence Bn, headquartered in Saigon.  I had been in the field with the 11th ACR (Armored Cavalry Regiment) covering their support of our withdrawal when my orders arrived.  When I got to Saigon after a week in the field, those guys looked at me like an alien.  I was filthy and smelled like I looked.  They put me on a C-130 immediately and sent me to . . . . drum roll, please . . . . Nha Trang.  I couldn't believe how cool and beautiful it was that Sunday afternoon!  I saw the beautiful beach, the mountains in the background, the huge, white Buddha statue and, to beat all, the MI detachment sent a jeep to pick me up!  I thought I was in Heaven and, from where I'd been, I was!

 

Vietnamization was in full progress by the time I got there and, every morning, I'd leave our "Pie Slice" compound and drive up the beautiful boulevard to pick up ARVN officers.  That road went right past your headquarters in that beautiful old French villa.  My new unit process 70mm film from OV-1 Mohawks and, after our image interpretation guys finished with it, guess where it went.  That's right, over to you guys at IIFFV HQ.

 

I have a bunch of Ektachrome-X slides of Nha Trang, including the Chom temples north of town.  They weren't taken with a Leica, though . . . just my (now ancient) Nikon FTn.  I still have that "old girl" and it works!

Glad you made it outta there!

 

Mike

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I too reacted just like you when I arrived. But I did not arrive from the jungle, I arrived from the states. It was an amazing place to be stationed. It was also a safe zone. I think that there was an understanding because of all the hospitals and location, both sides of the war rested there. Not like Vung Tow that was a real designated r&r center. Now to find those photo and to try to upload them.

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Mike,

 

Thank you so much for sharing you pictures and memories. I'm glad that you got out of 'Nam in one piece, as so many of your fellow photographers lost their lives, just like gentleman Larry Burrowes. Yesterday, it was announced that your fellow Vietnam photographer Don McCullin is be knighted (i.e. Arise, Sir Don) in the Queen's New Years Honours list. When I saw this award, it made me think of Larry and all the others, like yourself, who went into the jungle with a Leica and Nikon F. I look forward to seeing more of your pictures.

 

Best wishes,

 

Charlie

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Mike,

 

Thank you so much for sharing you pictures and memories. I'm glad that you got out of 'Nam in one piece, as so many of your fellow photographers lost their lives, just like gentleman Larry Burrowes. Yesterday, it was announced that your fellow Vietnam photographer Don McCullin is be knighted (i.e. Arise, Sir Don) in the Queen's New Years Honours list. When I saw this award, it made me think of Larry and all the others, like yourself, who went into the jungle with a Leica and Nikon F. I look forward to seeing more of your pictures.

 

Best wishes,

 

Charlie

Hi Charlie,

 

Thank you for taking time to view and reply!  I never met Don McCullin but certainly know of his work.  He did a close-up portrait of a Marine, once, and it may have been at Khe Sanh or Con Thien . . . . I'm not sure.  Anyway, the man had been in combat for too long and his eyes were sunken and empty.  They were as void of life as can be seen in a living being.  The photo is absolutely haunting!  Mr. McCullen is a talented chronicler of life.  I so wish I could have had his talent in those days.

 

Thanks, again, Charlie.

 

Mike

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I found some more photos that may be of interest.  This is a shot of Fire Support Base Pine Ridge.  It was situated northeast of Dau Tieng, maybe 50 mile north of Saigon:

pine%20ridge-L.jpg

 

Another view showing Nui Ba Dinh, the Black Virgin Mountain near Tay Ninh.  Today, there's a beautiful lake in that valley and it's fed by the Song Saigon:

FSB%20Pine%20Ridge%20Nui%20Ba%20Dinh-L.j

 

While at Pine Ridge, I captured one of my favorite photos.  This soldier was probably 19 or 20 at the time.  Look at his eyes:

Pine%20Ridge%20Aid%20Station-L.jpg

 

Bomb strike from Pine Ridge:

RVN%205433-L.jpg

 

Taking sniper fire . . . this M-79 grenadier was trying to see a muzzle flash as infantrymen advanced on the suspected position.  Notice the position I was in when I took the picture:

Sniper%20Fire%2C%20Near%20Phu%20Cuong288g

Took a prisoner.  That was very rare.

Captured%20VC289-L.jpg

 

I have come upon some more color photos but, for the life of me, I cannot recall if they were taken with the M2R.  Andy Barton, if you're around, would it be okay to post them?

 

Mike

Edited by Rangefinder
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  • 5 weeks later...

Thank you to all of you for your efforts and contributions. If the Leica-only restrictions do apply here, please be sure to post in the "I like film..." thread, where camera usage is non-denominational.

 

I was too young for Vietnam, but it is strongly imprinted on my mind, with friends' older brothers heading over there. Neil Davies (later to be killed in crossfire in a coup in Bangkok) was something of an inspiration to me in the 1970's. Tim Bowden's biography of Neil, "One Crowded Hour", remains a favourite read.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=one+crowded+hour&sprefix=one+crowded+%2Caps%2C672&crid=39UMSW8INGR6C 

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