Photos US Forces

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Helicopter pilot Scott Alwin, a native of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, with his UH-1 ("Huey"). Alwin spent five tours of duty in Vietnam from 1967 to 1972, serving in one of the most dangerous assignments of the war. He is believed to have clocked more air time than any other American in the war. He was awarded two bronze stars, a distinguished flying cross, a purple heart, and 70 oak leaf clusters. Alwin received a field commission to 2nd lieutenant and was promoted to captain. He resigned the commission in order to remain in flight status. Scott Alwin was killed by a drunk driver in 1976.

Source: Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans Association via wisconsinhistory.org

 

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January 31, 1968.

U.S. troops fire on Viet Cong sappers attacking bachelor officers quarters in Saigon during the Tet Offensive.

 

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“We reached the base camp by mid-afternoon, and it was indeed abandoned, but there were signs that someone had recently been there. We began searching each of the bunkers. I was surprised at how clean the enemy had kept the camp. Unlike our camps, there was no trace of a cigarette butt, a scrap of paper or any other detritus of occupation.

Suddenly I heard an outburst of shouting, and I ran toward the sound. An enemy soldier had been found hiding in a spider hole, and I immediately felt sorry for him. He looked so young (a thirty-year-old male could easily pass for fifteen or sixteen years of age till you got to know the people better), clad only in shorts. He was barefoot and unarmed and clearly terrified. None of us could speak Vietnamese and he had no idea what was being shouted at him. Sgt. Gibson quickly took control and secured the prisoner’s hands behind his back. I had met my first enemy soldier.
I lit a cigarette and walked over to him and placed it between his lips. He was plainly grateful, and in a short time we freed his hands so he could eat. Once he realized that we were not going to harm him, he became very friendly, smiling and nodding in appreciation. We called for a helicopter for the prisoner and set about securing a clearing for the chopper to land. As we heard the chopper in the distance, there was a sudden explosion. the prisoner had stumbled into one of his own booby traps and blown himself up. I never knew if he did it on purpose or by accident. One of our men was slightly wounded, but the prisoner was badly blown apart since he had absorbed most of the blast.
It dawned on me then that men die in obscure places that have no significance, in total anonymity, with no headstone or marker, and no one to tell their families. There was no honor in that kind of death. I was just glad that I had been kind to him. I vowed to myself that I never wanted to be accused of mistreating a captured soldier.
Under my breath, I prayed an Act of Contrition for him, and then tried to put the incident out of my mind. A memorable day. My first glimpse of an enemy soldier and my first glimpse of a battle casualty, all on my first patrol, and on the same day.”
- Charles Chapman, US Army, Vietnam.
Resource: An American Odysseus, by Charles R. Chapman

 

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HAL-3 crewmember reloads one of the flex mounted M60 machine guns on a Huey while on the deck of USS Harnett County (LST 821) on September 10, 1969. Firing 7.62mm rounds at over 2,800 feet per second from four flex mounted M60s, HAL-3 pilots were well equipped for strafing as part of their rapid response fire support mission (in addition to their rockets). Later in the war, HAL-3 gunships used miniguns instead of the M-60s. Door gunners also used a variety of machine guns to lend more firepower and protection to the Navy gunships.

Original description and photo sourced by: https://www.history.navy.mil/ and https://history.army.mil/documents/vietnam

 

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25 Dec 1968, Somewhere in North Vietnam: U.S.A.F. Lt. right, kills Christmas Turkey in North Vietnamese prisoner of war Christmas day 1968. This color photo of American Prisoners was obtained from Japanese sources and North Vietnamese communists would not say where the prisoner of war camp was located.

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Thanks for this photo! Those 3 POWs are (from left) Air Force Lts: Joe Crecca (holding the turkey from behind), I believe that is Jim Shively partially obscured in the middle, and Loren Torkelson wielding the butcher knife. I believe this was taken at Hanoi's "Plantation" internment camp. The date in the caption noted 25 Dec 68. This meal would have been one of a very small handful that would be remarkably different than the every other day meals of these men's miserable existence in the prison camps of NVN. The average meal (twice per day) through Sep '69 (the month of Ho Chi Minh's passing) generally consisted of a cup of rice and pumpkin or cabbage soup. After Ho's passing, the systemic torture program in the Northern prisons was significantly curtailed, and food and conditions improved slightly. As a side note, Lts Shively and Torkelson have passed on, but they were 2 of several POWs featured in an East German propaganda film from '67 called, "Piloten im Pyjama (Pilots in Pajamas)", which you can find on YouTube. Worth the watch if you enjoy Vietnam War history.

Cheers!
RL

 

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12/25/1968-Somewhere in North Vietnam- U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander waters vegetables in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp on Christmas Day, 1968.

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That is then-LCDR Richard "Dick" Stratton, aka "The Mad Bomber of Hanoi", an onimous title provided to the world press by Stratton's NVN captors. This picture was taken at Hanoi's "Plantation" internment camp. Stratton was in bad shape from torture when he finally acquiesced to NVN demands to visit a delegation of reporters from various countries. That event was filmed, and Stratton did his best to ruin the propaganda value of the forced press conference. Not wanting to risk Stratton's saying something publicly, they forced him to tape a statement that would be played to the assembled reporters while Stratton stood silent in front of them. The tape was obviously coerced, as Stratton's statements were read off a prepared NVN script, which no Westerner would have written that way. Anyways, the beauty of the press conference was Stratton's idea to "play the Manchurian Candidate" in front of the press, with the intention of conveying "I'm not doing this of my own free will". To this end, Stratton was told to bow by one of his guards (all POWs were forced to bow to prisoner staff when in their presence), which he did -- and did so multiple times, at 90 degree angles from his waist, and to "every point on the compass". He did so in a stoic fashion, never changing his facial expression, and "looking off into the distance" the entire time. The assembled journalists included a few Westerners, and they sensed that something was not right. The follow-on reporting in the Western Press essentially posited to the world, "Are the NVN brainwashing American POWs??" Thus, this propaganda stunt backfired on the NVN, and likely secured Stratton's life, as the NVN would have to produce him at the end of the war. Dick Stratton retired as a CAPT from the Navy -- a true American hero!!

Cheers!
RL

 

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327th Infantry soldiers waiting for helicopter extraction from FSB Veghel, date unknown.
Source: 327infantry.org

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No magazines in several rifles????

 

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The Marines rest at An Hoa Church. Vietnam. May 1967 Vietnam War.

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These boys look utterly exhausted.

 

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Capt. Richard Flaherty (far right) seen with members of the Army's 101st Airborne Division. Flaherty, who had to obtain a waiver to join the Army during the Vietnam War because of his size, was a paratrooper and platoon leader with the 101st and received a Silver Star for leading his platoon on a flanking assault of an enemy bunker. Capt. Flaherty would also earn two Bronze Stars, a Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, and five Purple Hearts during his two tours of service.

Source: military.com

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he is a small size, works at rat tunnel is better paratroop!

 

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"The smell of death". A US paratrooper from the 173rd Airborne Brigade who had survived the Battle of Hill 875 "Dak To", November 1967.

 

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Private First Class Ruben Zapata (Fort Worth, Texas), point man for a reconnaissance team, leads the way for a six-man patrol just south of the Demilitarized Zone. 3d Reconnaissance Battalion uses small recon teams extensively to scout enemy positions and movement throughout the 3d Marine Division area of operation. Vietnam, 1969
(official USMC photo by Lance Corporal Bob Partain)
From the Jonathan F. Abel Collection (COLL/3611) at the Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division.

 

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American women who volunteered to serve during the Vietnam War through the Red Cross as part of a program called Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO), better known by our brave military men as “The Donut Dollies”. Armed with nothing but cookies and home-made entertainment programs, the Donut Dollies risked their lives every day as they tried to fulfill their mission and cheer up the US troops. Despite their service and sacrifice, their stories and contributions in Vietnam have gone largely unnoticed.

Front row, Jane Smith and Jenny Young. Back row, Tara de Arrietta, Linda Bryant and Linda Driscoll. Photo taken 1969.

To find out more about the women of this program please visit www.donutdollies.com

 

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Medics rush Lt. Col. George Eyster on a stretcher toward a helicopter after he had been shot by a Viet Cong sniper at Trung Lap, South Vietnam, January 16, 1966. Eyster, 43, of Florida, died 42 hours later in a Bien Hoa hospital. #vietnamwarfootageandstories

Source: AP Photo/Horst Faas

 

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U.S. infantrymen pray in the Vietnamese jungle Dec. 9, 1965 during memorial services for comrades killed in the battle of the Michelin rubber plantation, 45 miles northwest of Saigon.

Source:AP Photo/Horst Faas

 

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Private First Class Dan Bullock joined the Marines, deployed to Vietnam, and was killed in action less than one month after arriving in country. Astonishingly, he was only 15 years old...
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Bullock wanted to join so bad that he altered his birth certificate in order to enlist. Given his larger height and weight, his age wasn't questioned. He arrived in Vietnam with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines in May 1969. On The night of June 6-7, shortly after midnight, the NVA launched an assault on An Hoa Combat base where Bullock’s company was stationed. Bullock made several trips bringing ammo to the front lines for his fellow Marines. On one of these journeys, he was struck by a burst of small arms fire and killed. After Bullock’s death, his true age was discovered. He was the youngest US service member killed the in the Vietnam War.
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Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Platoon, 5th Marines. Vietnam. Jim Baldwin, Dave Goreman, Dave Palomares, Cy Wilson, and Robert Alvarez – Two center Marines unknown.

Source: alphaonefive.com

 

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Richard Odenheimer 101st 2/327 68-69 Pointman, I corp, Ashau Valley, 1968 - 1969.
Photos sourced by George Odenheimer.

 

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2d Lt. Robert Drieslein heading out on a patrol from "CaLu" firebase, December 1967

Source: US Marine Corps

 

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Members of the 1st Platoon, Co ‘C’, 4th Bn., 47th Inf., 9th Inf., Div., pause for a radio check during a patrol. The soldier in the foreground carries an M79 Grenade Launcher. October 1968.

Source: US National Archive

 

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TF116 Brown Water Navy RIVDIV 512 & 552 WIA Sept.68 and medevac