1. "Red Bird Down" - Reverend Bruce Carlson peddlin' his book.
2. Looking for Heli-vets - Your's truly, Jim Koch
3. A Distinguished Gentleman - Gary Earls
4. A Starving Artist at His Palette - Joe Kline
5. A Computer Whiz - Our own Jerry Feldman
6. The Loadhacker gathering our history without a Dr. Pepper - Mike Sloniker
7. The Master of Data hard at work - Gary Roush
8. Can you believe that this guy was a gun bunny!? - John Grow
9. Three very handsome pilots - Don Lewis, Pat Goerig, Jim Koch
10. Another Blue Star - Keith Wysong
11. Where did this beauiful young thing pick up this guy? - Darryl James
12. On a hot day, nothing like a beach - Jim Beach
13. Talk about experience - Bobby Bateman, Jim Grow, Jim Koch
14. Poet Lihn Duy Vo - Born in Vietnam, Reborn in America 1975
15. Motorcyclist extraordinare' - Art Cline
16. A happy camper - John Hargleroad
17. Turkey Creek Cookout, Ft Carson - A little early to be under that sign!

FOR THE SCOUTS !

18. OH-58D Kiowa Warrior and Crew
19. The "Glass Panel" display for all data
20. Updated comfort seating
21. No minigun - only a 50 Cal!
22. No eyeball to eyeball contact required
23. Half a "C" Model load
24. No LTE "loss of tail rotor effectiveness" with this bird

FOR THE GUNNIES!

25. AH64 Apache
26. Bigger than a Huey
27. Pilot's Instrument Panel
28. Much more room than a Cobra
29. A last look from the right
30. Those four blades kick up a lot of dust

FOR THE SLICK CREWS!

31. UH-60 Blackhawk
32. Left gunner's seat and window
33. Look at all the "idiot lights" on the instrument panel
34. Hard to frame during high speed fly by

EVEN FOR THE CHINOOK GUYS!

35. CH-47D "Heavy Lift" Chinook
36. Looking forward from the ramp, not much different
37. Plenty of Instuments
38. Looking to the rear
39. Look from the right
40. Almost missed him!
41. Nixon sends GIs into Cambodia. Nixon declares all-out war on Southeast Asia. The people must act now. Mass meeting at the White House at noon on Saturday, May 9. [Washington, 1970].
42. Union prisoners at Salisbury, N.C. / drawn from nature by ... Otto Boetticher ; lith. of Sarony, Major & Knapp, N. York.
43. War Bag and Pouch [35mm slide]
44. [President Roosevelt signing the declaration of war against Japan].

Machines

45. Warriors with spears in ornamented war canoe.
46. Battalion Seas Arriving in South Vietnam
47. On the left we have a US Crusader pilot on board U.S.S. Constellation. Vietnam, 1966.
48. On the right a US pilot behind the controls of an A6 aircraft, on the flight deck of H.S.S. Coral Sea. Vietnam, 1966.
49. Looking like something out of a science fiction movie an American soldier mans a machine gun in a hovercraft, Hue Lagoon, Vietnam. 1968.
50. Soldier Firing His Machine Gun. Private First Class Milton L. Cook is ready to fire his M-60 machine gun into a wooded area from which sniper fire had been received 10 miles northeast of Cu Chi, Vietnam. He is a member of the 25th infantry division. April 17, 1967 The M60 was is a 10.4 kilo, belt-fed machine gun capable of firing 600 rounds per minute at a range of 900 meters. It served as the basic infantry platoon automatic weapon and was also mounted on a number of vehicles including helicopters.
51. American Tank Fords a River
52. Chinook Helicopter Lifts Ammunition
53. Gunners Firing from Helicopter
54. United States 25th Division troops ride on top of M113 Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) in Ambush Alley, on the Tay Ninh-Dau Tieng road, 1968.
55. An American Navy Hovercraft moves through the water, Vietnam, 1968.
56. A US Navy PBR (Patrol Boat, River) gunner en route to Hué, Vietnam, 1968. The city came under intense attack during the Tet Offensive of 68 and was held by NVA forces and the Vietcong for 25 days before retaken by US and ARVN forces. Most of the city was destroyed.
57. An American Navy tango boat on the Sang Haam Luong River, also known as the Lower Mekong River, 1968. South Vietnam's rivers and waterways were a vital part of the military mechanism. The Navy was responsible for keeping the rivers open and provided patrols, reconnaissance and escorts to many missions.
58. Three Air Force F-105 Thunderchief aircraft, en route to bomb military targets in Vietnam, "pull up" to a flying Air Force "gas station." The refueling aircraft is an Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker, January, 1966.
59. A US army Loach scout helicopter corrals Vietnamese villagers and their livestock near Ba Xoai, 1968. The OH-6 light observation helicopters nicknamed "loaches" from the acronym LOH, were the eyes in the field of the US infantry. Notice the co-pilot giving a wave.
60. A helicopter pilot points out something to his copilot in the cockpit of a US UH1 helicopter gun ship over the Mekong River Delta, 1968. The "Huey" became known as the workhorse of Vietnam. It could be adapted to many functions such as troop transport, medical evacuation and use as a gunship. No other machine saved as many lives during the war as the Medevac Hueys.
61. Support troops from the US 25th Division take cover from the force of a US helicopter's rotor wash as it lands near Duc Co, Vietnam, 1965.

Faces

62. A US 1st Division, 11th Armored Regiment driver on a journey to take position at a Michelin rubber plantation in 1969, wears sunglasses to protect his eyes against the strong sun. The 11th frequently used the ACAV (Armored Cav Assault Vehicle ) as favored by Col. George S. Patton, the regimental commander between 1968 - 1969.
63. A militiaman carrying an M16 rifle over his shoulder heads along a road towards the Cambodian border. The M16 rifle was the infantryman's principal weapon after 1965, when it replaced the M14. The weapon was infamous for its tendency to foul and jam. The cynical phrase was "You're OK as long as you don't get wet", easy to say in the jungle.
64. Marines on a combat-reconnaissance mission crouch down as they move through low foliage in the Demilitarized Zone in February 1968. They have just been attacked by a group of Viet Cong and are waiting for medical assistance and re-inforcements.
65. A moved US soldier from the 9th Division at Tan An, Vietnam 1968. He has received three Purple Heart decorations.
66. The tumult of the battle over, Sgt. John G. Sheehan of Boston, Massachusetts, radio still switched on and pressed to his ear, takes a well-earned rest atop Hill 875 following its capture by elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, November 24th, 1967. Conquest of the hill ended five days of what some consider the bitterest fighting of the Vietnam War.
67. The 2nd and 4th Battalion's of the 503rd Infantry suffered 33 Missing in Action, 158 Killed in Action and 411 evacuated wounded, while fighting for Hill 875. During the 21 days of fighting around Dak To that November some 3000 NVA loses were estimated. During that same 21 days of fighting around the Dak TO area the 173rd Airborne Brigade suffered 272 Killed in Action, over 900 wounded and some 60 Missing in Action. Ending some of the bloodiest fighting of the Vietnam War. General overhead view of Hill 875, November 24th, following its capture by elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
68. A U.S Marine is taking a rest with his machine gun still in hand and ammunition draped across his chest. February 23rd, 1968
69. A South Vietnamese Ranger stands watch in a cemetery where he and others fought with Communist forces for two hours on the fifth day of the countrywide Communist offensive started January 26th, 1968
70. An American 9th Division machine gunner swathed in bullet belts, smokes a cigarette, 1968.
71. A special forces soldier with protective headgear. Duc Hue, 1968.
72. A U.S. Navy Seal Team One member, his face camouflaged with colored grease paint, watches patiently for any sign of enemy activity during a search and destroy operation in one of the Mekong Delta's swamp jungles, 1968.
73. A US Marine after a 6-day patrol in the Da Nang region of Vietnam, 1966.
74. An adolescent boy scout, fighting on the side of the Buddhist rebels, stands in the street during the Da Nang Buddhist Insurrection, 1966.
75. Carrying a guitar and a M16 rifle, a Marine waits at a landing strip for a flight out of Khe Sanh, February 25th, 1968
76. Luscious, mini-skirted screen-queen Raquel Welch gets help from four enthusiastic GIs as she performs on the Bob Hope Show at Da Nang military base December 18th, 1967. Beautiful Raquel was one of the performers accompanying the popular comedian on his annual overseas Christmas tour that year. Just look at the focus of attention for the soldier to the right, he can barely keep his hands away. At least he had sweet dreams that night in Vietnam.
77. If symbols mirrored one's convictions, this infantry division trooper's might be termed a contradiction (Most soldiers do want peace). He wears a peace symbol juxtaposed with a bandoleer, in addition to some religious medals. He's attached to a mechanized unit posted just below the DMZ, January 29th, 1968.
78. A US soldier from 8th Regiment, riding atop a 9th Division armored personnel carrier, shelters beneath a pink umbrella in Saigon during the mini-Tet offensive, Vietnam, 1969. Helmets were often used to express feelings and this soldier has written the word "HIPPIE" on his, in large letters.
79. Troops of the mechanized units of the 25th Infantry Division take a break during a Christmas cease fire, Christmas day, at Fire Base Evans, Cu Chi, 40 miles west of Saigon.
80. Soldiers and protesters take some time off. The anti-war movement was without a doubt an important part of the political development in the US at the time. So demonstrating was cool, but the spitting on the returning soldiers, that sucked!!

Hippies

81. A US soldier from the 9th Division smokes a long pipe whilst sitting in long grass, 1968.
82. The pilot of a US Cobra helicopter at Dau Tieng Vietnam, 1969. The stickers on his helmet read: "Bomb Saigon Now" - "Bomb Hanoi Now" - "Bomb Disneyland Now" - "Bomb Everything".
83. Passers-by stop to watch as flames envelope a young Buddhist monk, Saigon, October 5th, 1963.
84. A sign at the headquarters of George Patton Jr.'s 11th Armored Cavalry regiment.
85. Members of the US 1st Air Cavalry, march through the forest en route to Chu Phong mountain, in the Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam, 1965.
86. A patrol of US soldiers from the 9th Division in a leech infested rice paddy field in the Tan An Delta, Vietnam, 1968.
87. A South Vietnamese soldier, a member of the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam), loads his M16 as he stands in a flooded rice field, where he was dropped by helicopter, 1965
88. Civilians lie dead and a South Vietnamese soldier still sits in his jeep after being shot in the head by a team of hit-and-run Vietcong in 1968. Vietnamese children are running past and looking at the charred and dismembered bodies
89. Sgt. Alex Adams of Morgantown, W. Va. (with the telephone) and Pfc. Ron Hooper of Wichita Falls, Texas (looking through the binoculars) keep lookout from the top of Marble Mountain for any signs of trouble around the Da Nang airbase, November 1st, 1965. The week before the Vietcong had made a number of attacks on the important American base in one of which they destroyed almost 20 helicopters.
90. U.S. Marine Congregate in back of tank on a residential street. The tank is firing over an outer wall of the citadel. Hue, February 13th, 1968
91. A critically wounded marine is aided by other marines from "B" Company, September 16th, 1966, two miles South of the de-militarized zone.

Under Fire

92. U.S. Marine tending to his Machine Gun. He is dug in with the Marines in the trenches surrounding Con Thien, September 25, 1967.
93. Con Thien, the U.S. base near the demilitarized zone was a constant target for Communist artillery. It was maze of sandbagged bunkers and waist-deep connecting trenches. October 8, 1967
94. Cambodian mercenaries wade through a marsh at Boxoai, Vietnam, 1968.
95. 1st Division troops destroy a rice cache found at a Michelin Rubber Plantation, 1969.
96. A Vietcong suspect captured by the US 25th Division north of Parrots Beak, squats blindfolded behind a barbed wire enclosure, 1969.
97. First Division US soldiers on reconnaissance, stealthily make their way through a Michelin rubber plantation, 1969.
98. The charred remains of a Viet Cong soldier lie amid rubble in street where a U.S. Marine stands on the alert for further confrontations with Communist forces. Hue, South Vietnam, February 17, 1968.
99. A group of US Marines demolish a bunker during the breakup of the Khe Sanh base, May 1968. Three NVA divisions surrounded the Marine base and during an attack, a 152mm Howitzer shell hit an ammunition dump that exploded destroying 1500 tons of ammunition, killing 14 Marines and injuring 43. One of the longest and most intense battles of the war followed and at one point, the NVA and Marines were fighting from trenches less then 100 yards apart. The US lost a total of over 400 men and 1800 were wounded during the siege, which ended on April 1st, 1968. Back in the US, the news (Walter Cronkite of CBS and other media) reported that Khe Sanh had been a big set back for the US. In fact, the Marines had beaten back an enemy force that greatly outnumbered them. However, the ensuing propaganda sparked tensions in the US and today, this incident is viewed by many as a turning point in the Vietnam War, resulting in a policy shift in Washington as a direct consequence of public opinion.
100. Walking the high-ground that outlines rice paddies, members of the 1/12th, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry go through the paces of a search and destroy maneuver. The U.S. troops were participating in "Operation Thayer II," which took place in North Qui Nhon, South Vietnam.
101. U.S. Marines dash to their bunkers to escape incoming Communist artillery fire at Khe Sanh, one of the Marines' key bases in the northern portion of South Vietnam. February 1st, 1968
102. United States Marines injured during operation 'Starlight', near Chu Lai. Batang Peninsula, 1965. Starlite was one of the most successful amphibious operations by the Marines . In August 1965, three Marine Corps battalions overran the 1st Vietcong Regiment and, during the course of a 6 day period, killed over 600 Vietcong soldiers with the loss of 51 Marines and over 200 wounded.
103. Vietnamese children flee from their homes in Trang Bang June 8th, 1972. A South Vietnamese air force plane has accidentally dropped a napalm bomb on the village 26 miles outside of Saigon. This is without a doubt one of the most remembered images of the war. Twenty-five years later, the young girl running naked from her village, Phan Thi Kim Phuc, was named a UNESCO goodwill ambassador.
104. A US helicopter takes off from a clearing near Duc Co fire support camp, wounded soldiers crouch down in the dust of the departing helicopter. The military convoy was on its way to relieve the camp when it was ambushed. The camps were set up in the Central Highlands to protect roads and detect Vietcong movements. The Vietcong would attack the bases to try and lure US troops to be moved in as support and then ambush them on their way to the camps.
105. An American soldier casts a sideward glance at a fallen comrade, a look that reveals more than words can say. Tay Ninh, South Vietnam, June 4th, 1967. The soldiers push on after heavy contact with a North Vietnamese force, six miles east of the Cambodian border in War Zone C. The men are members of C Company, Second Battalion, Sixteenth Infantry, Second Brigade, First Infantry Division.
106. A soldier on an offensive north of Bong Son, kneels beside the bedraggled mother and children of a suspected Vietcong family, huddled at the edge of a field. Vietnam, 1966.

Life and Sorrow

107. Civilians attempt to salvage what they can from the smoldering debris of a building destroyed by a rocket attack on Saigon, 1967. The North Vietnamese would occasionally use rocket attacks against the big cities, this was of low risk to themselves, yet an effective and violent way to harass the people and government in areas such as Saigon.
108. On Dao Island , Vietnam, an elderly woman dressed in black, kneels amid young children praying for peace and an end to the Vietnam War. The island is actually named Phoung and was an island of peace where prayer and meditation was the routine, 24 hours a day. There were no weapons or bases and the island enjoyed a kind of immunity from all sides in the war.
109. Helmets, rifles and jungle boots tell a grim tale of the action fought by the 1st Brigade, 101st airborne paratroopers in Operation Wheeler near Chu Lai. This battlefield memorial honors the soldiers killed during the offensive between September 11th and November 25th, 1967.
110. Remains of American GIs, killed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, are carried by an honor guard to a plane at Hanoi's No Bai International Airport during a repatriation ceremony. The remains are flown to Hawaii to be identified.
111. The parade of Vietnam veterans down Broadway in Manhattan, 1985; 10 years after the war the American soldiers were finally welcomed home.
112. This is a collage I made using a photograph of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial statue in Washington DC. The statue is situated beside "The Wall" , a powerful tribute to the American people who died in the war with all of their names engraved on it. It was dedicated on Veterans Day, November 13th, 1982. On Veterans Day in 1993, sculptor Glenna Goodacre's bronze statue of three women nurses helping a wounded US soldier was unveiled, thus honoring the 11500 US women who also served in Vietnam. Although the US has found some reconciliation, many veteran organizations still continue to campaign for veteran help programs. View our link page for some of these organizations.

0379. The poncho-covered bodies of 1st Cavalry Division soldiers killed in the bitter battle of the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965 are gathered in a clearing for evacuation.
0380. A radio operator from the 1st Cavalry Division watches for any suspicious movement near a burning Vietnamese farmhouse in Binh Dinh Province in 1965.
0381. With intense enemy fire having stalled the American assault on Landing Zone 4, an LZ used during the opening phase of Operation Masher/White Wing, Captain Joel Sugdinis (squatting in foreground) and his command group from Company A, 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Air Cavalry Division, take shelter in a ditch and call in artillery, late January 1966.
0382. As soldiers of the 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry, look on, a B-57 Canberra unloads its napalm on nearby North Vietnamese positions surrounding Landing Zone 4.
0383. Under withering fire from North Vietnamese units, men from 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry, crawl forward through a flooded rice field near the landing zone, January 28.
0384. Having reached the other side of the field, one of the troopers helps a wounded soldier to higher ground.
0385. Cavalrymen pass by the wreckage of an Army helicopter shot down by Viet Cong ground fire as it attempted to resupply units fighting near LZ 4 on January 28th, 1966.
0386. Soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division guard Viet Cong soldiers captured in the first two days of battle, January 28 and 29.
0387. Despite his own wounds, Private First Class Thomas Cole, a medic with the 1st Cavalry Division, tends to Staff Sergeant Harrison Pell, another cavalryman injured at LZ 4.
0388. Marines take a break and share a meal of C-rations during Operation Prairie. Marine resonnaissance teams tried to track down and destroy units from the 324B NVA Division that had recently infiltrated into Quang Tri Province.
0389. Two soldiers from the 3d Marine Division fire upon North Vietnamese troops defending Hill 484. The Marine assault on this hill in early October resulted in one of the fiercest fights of the operation, the battle for Mutter Ridge.
0390. Marines carry one of their wounded to an air evacuation site near Hill 484. They captured the hill on October 5, bringing to an end the struggle for Mutter Ridge.
0391. An abandoned helmet and rifle stand as tribute to the 200 Americans killed during Operation Prairie.
0392. In one of the few combat jumps made in the war, paratroopers of the 173d Airborne Brigade parachute into Tay Ninh Province on March 3, 1967, during Operation Junction City.
0393. While one Marine checks a fallen buddy, others charge toward North Vietnamese positions on the ravaged slopes of Hill 881 North during fierce fighting near Khe Sanh in spring 1967.
0394. American soldiers stationed at the remote U.S. Army camp at Dak To near the Cambodian border take time out to attend Sunday Mass.
0395. One of 1,500 Marines defending Con Thien near the DMZ braces for an incoming mortar round during a four-day battle with North Vietnamese troops in late September 1967.
0396. Sunset at Con Thien.
0397. A paratrooper rushes past his buddies toward a more secure position farther up Hill 875. Although stripped of its vegetation by napalm and bombs dropped by U.S. aircraft, the hill was covered with triple-canopy jungle at the beginning of the battle, making it difficult for the paratroopers to detect North Vietnamese bunkers.
0398. A trooper tags one of the fatalities for removal from the hill on November 23. In the contest's first two days, intense enemy fire prevented U.S. helicopters from landing to evacuate casualties.
0399. Thanksgiving Day 1967, on Hill 875.
0400. Huey unloading a 1st Cav Blue Team.
0401. Ap Bia Mountain; also known as "Hamburger Hill" May 10-20, 1969 The ten-day battle was one of the fiercest of the war.56 Americans were killed and 420 were wounded. Thetroops captured the hill and killed 597 Vietnamese. The battle was one of the last major actions of its type in the war.
0402. Two members of Ranger Team 75 in position west of Bien Hoa, Republic of Vietnam. The RTO (radio telephone operator) in the background, SP/4 Jaime Pacheco, was killed in action on 25 May 1972. This photo was taken in Febuary 1972.
0403. Soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade at Dak To in 1967.
0404. Viet Cong Repelled at Loc Ninh US special forces at Loc Ninh are attacked by the Viet Cong's 273rdRegiment. The special forces are quickly reinforced, and more than 900 Viet Cong are killed during the attack. October 29- November 3, 1967
0405. 1st Infantry Division soldiers patrol a road near Phuoc Vinh, Republic of Vietnam. Photo taken in November, 1966.
0406. 1st Cav Troopers On Patrol
0407. Flying Over The Fishhook
0408. Thunder Road.
0409. A "Huey" Landing In South Vietnam
0410. 1st Cav Hueys Coming In For Landing
0411. A Captured Viet Cong
0412. Burning An Enemy "Hootch".
0413. 1st Cav Troopers Boarding A Chinook. (This chopper was also commonly known as the "Shithook")
0414. An infantryman's typical load.
0415. Inside A "Huey" Cockpit
0416. Members of the US 1st Air Cavalry, march through the forest en route to Chu Phong mountain, in the Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam, 1965.In November 1965, the 1st Air Cavalry fought some fierce battles in the Ia Drang Valley region of the Central Highlands. The battle marked the first military engagement between US and North Vietnamese ground forces. The US inflicted heavy casualties on the North Vietnamese (2500 dead) and lost 234 of its own soldiers with an additional 300 being wounded.
0417. A South Vietnamese soldier, a member of the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam), loads his M16 as he stands in a flooded rice field, where he was dropped by helicopter, 1965
0418. 1st Division troops destroy a rice cache found at a Michelin Rubber Plantation, 1969.
0419. Civilians lie dead and a South Vietnamese soldier still sits in his jeep after being shot in the head by a team of hit-and-run Vietcong in 1968. Vietnamese children are running past and looking at the charred and dismembered bodies.
0420. First Division US soldiers on reconnaissance, stealthily make their way through a Michelin rubber plantation, 1969.The 40mm M-79 Grenade Launcher was a single shot weapon that could fire high- explosives and smoke grenades up to a maximum of 350 meters. The grenade launcher seemed to be favored, as perhaps more of a psychological weapon among the troops, who often felt isolated and exposed at the outlying firebases. The M-79 was dangerous to use at close range, which left grenadiers defenseless at short range, therefore the M203 was developed, which attached directly to the M-16 rifle.
0421. United States Marines injured during operation 'Starlight', near Chu Lai. Batang Peninsula, 1965. Starlite was one of the most successful amphibious operations by the Marines . In August 1965, three Marine Corps battalions overran the 1st Vietcong Regiment and, during the course of a 6 day period, killed over 600 Vietcong soldiers with the loss of 51 Marines and over 200 wounded.
0422. A US helicopter takes off from a clearing near Duc Co fire support camp, wounded soldiers crouch down in the dust of the departing helicopter. The military convoy was on its way to relieve the camp when it was ambushed. The camps were set up in the Central Highlands to protect roads and detect Vietcong movements. The Vietcong would attack the bases to try and lure US troops to be moved in as support and then ambush them on their way to the camps.
0423. Support troops from the US 25th Division take cover from the force of a US helicopter's rotor wash as it lands near Duc Co, Vietnam, 1965.The red soil of the country was infamous among the soldiers, the fine sand/dust would penetrate everything leaving a red color everywhere.
0424. An American soldier casts a sideward glance at a fallen comrade, a look that reveals more than words can say. Tay Ninh, South Vietnam, June 4th, 1967. The soldiers push on after heavy contact with a North Vietnamese force, six miles east of the Cambodian border in War Zone C. The men are members of C Company, Second Battalion, Sixteenth Infantry, Second Brigade, First Infantry Division.
0425. General William C. Westmoreland Commanding general of MACV and U.S. ground forces in South Vietnam from 1964-1968