# before you were born



## The_Traveler

this was taken in 1967 with Pentax Spotmatic and tri-x, developed in whatever was in the brown bottle. I have no idea what the shutter speed or aperture was.

I was out in my jeep doing MedCap on civilians when I inadvertently (believe me) ended up in the very middle of a helicopter assault and a fierce firefight. Only dared to take this one and then hid my head until tanks and more troops came up and the area was secured.

Negative long gone, just this one battered print remains.


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## mpython77

d***, what a time to have a camera. Awesome picture my friend. :thumbup:


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## snownow

WOW, great shot. Glad you kept your head down.


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## The_Traveler

If you look at it, the technical values aren't much at all and composition isn't maximum but what it does have is immediacy and reality - (completely by accident).  A viewer just knows that life is happening big time right in front of the camera.

I was lucky to be there with a camera.


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## Garrentee

amazing!!!

what a great capture!!  I cant even imagine what you guys went through over there!

thanks for going and protecting this country!

garrentee


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## The_Traveler

Garrentee said:


> I cant even imagine what you guys went through over there!
> 
> thanks for going and protecting this country!
> 
> garrentee



I had it easy, believe me.
It was the grunts that suffered.

and I didn't go to protect the country.  I went because politicians made me; pols who weren't afraid of a little blood and guts - as long as it wasn't their own. I spent 24 years in the service - retiring as a full colonel. Whatever failings the individual soldiers have, they are willing to put their lives at risk in the line of duty for the concept of love of country. For whatever virtues a politician has, he or she won't risk their career for anything.

To paraphrase Wm Buckley, I would rather be governed by 500 people chosen at random from the telephone book than the 500 people in Congress who have, in general, sold their honor to get where they are.


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## lasershot

lol, the title had me thinking something for a minute... 

Great pic though, I just appericate it so much when pictures like those are shared...


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## newrmdmike

this is one for the history books! its awesome


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## schumionbike

Hey The Traveler, very nice shot, I didn't know you were that old! lol.  

My father flew that chopper, the UH-1 Huey, for 5 years (1970-1975) during the war in Vietnam.  Logged in a total of 4600 hours.  Serve 7 years in POW camps after the war for that. Thanks for sharing the picture.


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## The_Traveler

Gunship platoon of 118th AHC/145 Combat Avn Bn
Rocket tubes on side of UH-1 Huey
scanned from 40 yr old slide.

Gunner fires M60 machine gun from door, hulls and links ar on the floor of cabin.(M60s leaning on rocket tubes)


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## The_Traveler

Reloading the 'Blooper' or 'Pooper'; it fired 40 mm explosive rounds.

The actual instruments of destruction are strangely interesting perhaps because of their intricate lethality and their foreigness to most people.


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## myopia

incred


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## The_Traveler

Since some are interested, here are two more

Checking rockets from storage tubes






Paddies behind compound. (picture below text)

For any of you who are interested in history this was the American Club compound where [SIZE=-1]John Paul Vann lived. He was the protagonist in a famous non-fiction book about the Vietnam War called 'The Bright and SHining Lie" by Neil Sheehan.  I never knew who the mysterious man was who lived in a guarded villa across the street until years later when I read the book. 

The entire compound was about the size of a football field and was under siege for 3 days during the Tet offensive in 1968 until we were literally rescued by the cavalry  - a platoon of tanks from the 11th Armored Cavalry  rolled through our gates on the morning of the 3d day  to my and others everlasting relief. Altho the VC were never serious about overrunning us, they threw the odd grenade at the walls and shot at anyone at the walls. 

Their main attack was at the air base where over 500 VC were killed in a running battle over 3 days. They came close to reaching two big AF bunkers wher 500 unarmed airman were sitting out the attack and were only driven off when the attack on the helicopter airstrip was foiled and the gunships actualy got into the air. The pilots had been lifted [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]by helicopter  [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]off of the American Club compound where we lived - we tore down some fences to make an impromptu pad just big enough for a Huey to get in. That left a skeleton crew of non-combatant officers, including me, and some enlisted men in charge of defense.

Lucky for us, the  difficulty of approaching across the paddies and the presence of helicopters from nearby Bien Hoa air base (3 km) prevented any serious attack on our compound after the first day although it was a scary, surreal experience. 

I went back to see the place in 1998 and it is entirely gone, although Cong Ly Street, the street that ran down the center of the compound[/SIZE], still exists. War is interesting in retrospect but nasty, ugly, bloody things when they are happening.


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## jim44

Nice shot!  By the way, I was 23 when that shot was taken.


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## loser101

I like them, i love war photography in general so this is my kind of stuff.


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## Ockie

this has to be my favorite topic on here...
great photographs...

I was -20 when first shot was taken...


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## clarinetJWD

That first shot is just so powerful!  There are all sorts of things you could say about it technically, but that's not what it's about.  What I love about it is the uneasiness that breaking the compositional norm creates.  Everything is moving OUT of frame, rather than into it, so lookingat the picture, it creates a sense of the unknown.  I love it!


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## New Hampshire

Very nice Traveler!  The first one has that personal feeling that makes one feel like they are in the heat of the moment.  Its quite similar to a lot of WW2 combat photography.  A blurry, out of focus picture would normally be considered a blooper.....but a blurry, out of focus picture of a half submerged soldier crawling along to the beaches of Normandie on D-Day......historic gold!

Brian


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## bnz506

Excellent series, that first one is amazing I can feel the intensity of the situation as if I was actually there.  

I wish I had a film camera back in Iraq to take dirty pictures like these.
I have some disposable pictures but they didnt come out too well.


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## The_Traveler

Over the next few months will try to clean up some other shots and post them to this thread. Nothing nearly so good as this, though. During Tet, I was generally too scared to think about pictures and most other times, well, bullets don't have music to announce them in real life.


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## The_Traveler

Rainy season.

Bad shot but it gives you exactly the idea of what it's like


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## The_Traveler

A typical govt building out in the provinces. one story stucco. not very fancy
Deserted because the VC controlled the area.


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## The_Traveler

The prison camp at Long Binh post where the VC captives were held.
Not very inviting


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## The_Traveler

Fortune-teller in the market place

tarot, hand-reading, etc.


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## The_Traveler

Boys playing in the paddies behind the compound where I lived.

There is a long involved story involving a 3 AM alert that culminates with me not shooting a drunken Korean engineer who was late coming back from his girlfriend's home and was staggering towards the gate along the wall in the background, not responding to calls to halt.

But that was the punchline to the story.

If anyone has ever been in the dark, holding a gun, being afraid, you know that awful temptation to pull the trigger just to end the waiting and the tension. If there had been any random bang, the entire thing would have cascaded downhill from there.


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## Stan (AG)

For the first shot, I like how it's positioned towards the left, showing that it's an urgent action shot; it looks like a capture from an anti-war film.


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## Stretch Armstrong

Great shots Traveler. Thanks for sharing those. :thumbup:


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## mylegacy412

wow. the first shot is one of the most awesome shots i've ever seen.
incredible. thank you for sharing that.


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## mysteryscribe

Great stuff.... a few years ago I transferred some slides to prints for a mud marine, made me glad I wasn't doing his job.

Again great stuff lousy memories...


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## Seefutlung

Your shutter speed in the first snap was around 125 maybe 250 because you have slight prop blur.  As Vietnam Vets never were given the respect and welcome home they deserve ... 

"Welcome home Colonel."

I was there in '67 and '68 as a correspondent.  Spent a lot of time in I Corp.  My brother was a door gunner with the 25th out of Cu Chi. 

Unfortunately/Fortunately, UPI has all my negs ... but here's one from Central America ... another country, a different time ... but it's all the same.  





Good Luck,
Gary


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## PNA

WOW!!! I was living in VA Beach back then, Oceana Naval Station was just around the corner. I was in the motel business and many of the naval pilots and their families stay with us. Some with incredible stories.


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## benan

great stuff!  my grandfather was in the air force during the korean war, i loved looking at his old pics.  theres a sense of history there that shines through no matter what the technical details.  thanks for sharing these, and i'm glad you made it back safely.
beth


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## quad b

fantastic photographs, keep them coming!


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## The_Traveler

Seefutlung said:


> Your shutter speed in the first snap was around 125 maybe 250 because you have slight prop blur.  As Vietnam Vets never were given the respect and welcome home they deserve ...
> 
> "Welcome home Colonel."
> 
> I was there in '67 and '68 as a correspondent.  Spent a lot of time in I Corp.  My brother was a door gunner with the 25th out of Cu Chi.
> 
> Unfortunately/Fortunately, UPI has all my negs ... but here's one from Central America ... another country, a different time ... but it's all the same.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Good Luck,
> Gary



Same issue.
technical 'defects' don't hurt, and may even add to, the impact of this great shot.


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## noescape

The first picture is the most amazing shot I have ever seen.


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## The_Traveler

Thanks for all comments.
For any of you who are war photo buffs I recommend you look into some of the books of  great war photos besides which this one is really only snap.

Lew


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## The_Traveler

Found this one in a bunch of old papers.
These are soldiers from Regional Forces Camp who were our guards when my assistant and I were out on the Medical Civic Action. They are carrying 30 calibre M1 carbines.  Anyone who has seen The Quiet American with Michael Caine and Brendan Frasier will recognize the typical Vietnamese rural roads, compacted red dirt that run next to or between paddies.

The paddy water was incredibly polluted with fecal bacteria from all sources, not the least of which were the water-buffalo who refused to wait till they got to a rest stop and who pooped indiscriminately while pulling plows.


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## Rick Waldroup

These are excellent.  It has been a great pleasure viewing them.  Great documentary work.  And that shot by Gary is just stunning.  Thanks for posting these.


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## BeCaptivated

It is pictures like these that sparked my passion in photography and started my short career in the US Coast Guard.  

I used to sit in the library for HOURS looking at pictures from the Vietnam era.  I was mostly intrigued by Larry Burrows work, unfortunately the hilo (chopper as I think you guys call it) he was in was shot down and he was killed.  I wanted to be a war photographer, but did not score high enough on the ASVAB to go that rate...I'm an on-the-job learner, I don't test well.  

THANK YOU FOR SERVING.  I SALUTE YOU!


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## hamster

Would it be appropriate for me to share photos that my grandfather took during WWII? Let me know. Thanks!


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## WNK

Wow... what amazing photographs!  That's one thing I really love about prints -- they're such a link to our past!


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## The_Traveler

hamster said:


> Would it be appropriate for me to share photos that my grandfather took during WWII? Let me know. Thanks!



Yes, absolutely.
And if/when I find more pix I will add them here.


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## hamster

Thanks Traveler - 

I'm posting the link to the gallery instead of posting the photos because there are photos of dead concentration camp victims included, and I want people to be able to choose not to see them.

http://cherie1h.smugmug.com/gallery/3361472#187541149


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## The_Traveler

hamster said:


> Thanks Traveler -
> 
> I'm posting the link to the gallery instead of posting the photos because there are photos of dead concentration camp victims included, and I want people to be able to choose not to see them.



Interesting pictures.  Are the negatives available to you?


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## hamster

The_Traveler said:


> Interesting pictures.  Are the negatives available to you?




Unfortunately, not right now. My grandfather committed suicide about 22 years ago, and my Grandmother has Alzheimer's. We may be able to look for them after she passes.


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## droyz2000

I would agree with what was said, about the rushed and not technically sound features adding to the pictures. In those types of situations, a nice "clean" pictures does not translate the urgency or in some cases fear that must have been felt at those times.


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## timethief

The_Traveler said:


> this was taken in 1967 with Pentax Spotmatic and tri-x, developed in whatever was in the brown bottle. I have no idea what the shutter speed or aperture was.
> 
> I was out in my jeep doing MedCap on civilians when I inadvertently (believe me) ended up in the very middle of a helicopter assault and a fierce firefight. Only dared to take this one and then hid my head until tanks and more troops came up and the area was secured.
> 
> Negative long gone, just this one battered print remains.



I just listed the most replied threads in the BW gallery, this is how i came across this picture. this thread was at the top. absolutely fantastic shot. so sad that you don't have the negative though. Looks like a scene that popped out of scene from "Platoon" 

appreciate you sharing this picture.


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## stsinner

The_Traveler said:


> I had it easy, believe me.
> It was the grunts that suffered.
> 
> and I didn't go to protect the country.  I went because politicians made me; pols who weren't afraid of a little blood and guts - as long as it wasn't their own. I spent 24 years in the service - retiring as a full colonel.



Regardless of your views, thank you for your service.

That picture is priceless!


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## Tayfun

Great shot. That made me feel like I have been there. Thanks for sharing this.


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## The_Traveler

Those of you who enjoyed this post when it was first made, might be interested in a story I wrote about meeting a former VC when in Vietnam.

I have many other photos of SEA at LewLortonphoto.com


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## Conner41

Very nice.


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## The_Traveler

Thanks, I was beginning to think that no one reads any of my posts.
I'm happy you like the article - if that was what you were replying to.

Lew


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## kundalini

Hi Lew.  Good to see you post.

Very interesting read about the restaurant in the small village.


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## Andres Ibarra

This is simply amazing!


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## FoggyLens

Loved the story Lew.. It was well written.. I cant imagine how strange that must have been to be standing with that farmer.. I was born about 12 years after the 1st shot that was posted.. These types of photos are very humbling to me. I loooove old photos of any kind.. These though always, always seem to make me cry.. lol always.. lol.. Thank you for sharing!


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## The_Traveler

thanks for all comments.

Lew


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## Vautrin

The_Traveler said:


> If you look at it, the technical values aren't much at all and composition isn't maximum but what it does have is immediacy and reality - (completely by accident).  A viewer just knows that life is happening big time right in front of the camera.
> 
> I was lucky to be there with a camera.


 
You know what?  It's an awesome picture, period.

Some photos are great because they're art.  They're carefully composed and are moving because they're beautiful.

Others are great because of what they are pictures of.  This is one such picture, and it is awesome.


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