dien bien phu

Dien Bien Phu

Complete victory of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign 7.5.1954

Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk, burns himself to death on a Saigon street to protest alleged persecution of Buddhists by the S.V. gov., June 11, 1963.

President Lyndon B. Johnson greets American troops in Vietnam, 1966., Photo Credit: Still Picture Records LICON, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives.

Crew Chief James Farley, with his guns jammed and two wounded comrades aboard, shouts to his gunner. (LIFE) This photo was the LIFE Magazine cover on April 16, 1965.

Men of H Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, move along rice paddy dikes in pursuit of the Viet Cong., 12/10/1965.  Department of Defense. U.S. Marine Corps. NARA Photo.

NARA PHOTO -- Stunned by the viciousness of a Viet Cong attack on their village, Vietnam war refugees ride an Air Force helicopter to a safe area near Saigon., 03/1966. 

Soldiers of the U.S. First Air Cavalry Division point their weapons at villagers whom they flushed from the brush along the riverbank.

Hueys at an LZ

Members of U.S. Navy SEAL Team One move down Bassac River in a SEAL Team assault boat, November 19, 1967.

VC captives being marched through the rice field.

Vietnam...."Home is where you dig" was the sign over the fighting bunker of Private First Class Edward, Private First Class Falls and Private First Class Morgan of the 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment, during Operation Worth., 1968. Natl. Archive Photo.

Following a hard day, a few members of Company "A," 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division, gather around a guitar player and sing a few songs., 01/18/1968. NARA PHOTO

US Army Photo: Tunnel Rat Americal Division South of Chu Lai.

USS Oklahoma City - Gulf of Tonkin

Wet going - Marine Private First Class J.L. Collins keeps a battery pack dry as he wades through a muddy hole while on a search mission with "I" Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 12 miles south-southwest of DaNang Vietnam., Natl. Archive Photo.

In the Rice Paddy

The Tet Offensive

A Turning Point

US Army Photo: Navy assault Boats pick up 9th Division troops (TET '68)

Wearing a bloody bandage over the left side of his face, medic Thomas Cole of Richmond, Va., tends to a soldier of the First Cavalry Division. This picture is from an unforgettable sequence of one man's dedication.

As Yankee Papa 13 approaches the landing zone, Crew Chief James Farley opens fire with his M-60 machine gun.

Khe Sanh under fire.

S. Viet. National Police Chief Brig Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a VC officer w/ a single shot in the head in Saigon on Feb. 1, 1968. Carrying a pistol and wearing civilian clothes, the VC guerrilla was captured near Quang Pagoda, identified as an officer, and taken to the police chief.

An ammunition dump struck by a shell explodes in front of U.S. Marines.  This picture was on the cover of Newsweek on March 18, 1968.

First-aid center, where wounded Marines were treated before being helped to air-evacuation points. (Life)

In a supply shack, the tragic and frustrating mission over, Crew Chief James Farley weeps. (LIFE)

My Lai Massacre:  On March 16, 1968 the angry and frustrated men of Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, Americal Division entered the village of My Lai. "This is what you've been waiting for -- search and destroy -- and you've got it," said their superior officers. A short time later the killing began.

Amtracs coming into the LPD during training exercises involving the 1st Amphibious Tractor Battalion., 04/19/1968.

Marines riding atop an M-48 tank, covering their ears, April 3, 1968. Natl. Archive Photo

Nixon and Vietnam

The Slow US Withdrawal

from SE Asia

Henry Kissinger

Asst. to the Pres. For National Security (1969- 1975)

Secretary of State (1973- 1975)

Soldiers carry a wounded comrade through a swampy area., 1969. Natl. Archive Photo: Office of the Chief Signal Officer.

US ARMY PHOTO:  SHERIDAN LIGHT TANK NEAR CHU LAI,   AUG.  1970

The Cambodian Incursion

US begins secret bombing of Cambodia

Students gathered on the quad during the strike in 1970 following the bombing of Cambodia.

Kent State University- 1970

Mary Ann Vecchio gestures and screams as she kneels by the body of a student lying face down on the campus of Kent State University, Kent, Ohio in this May 4, 1970 file photo. Ohio National Guardsmen had fired into a crowd of demonstrators, killing four.

Kim Phuc, center, was 9 in 1972 when she and others fled a napalm attack on their village in S.V.  Pulitzer Prize photo.  

Fighting a Guerilla War

The Tunnel Systems &

Booby Traps

The Viet Cong built an elaborate 250km maze of tunnels in and around Cu Chi, to fight the American/South Vietnamese troops.  This model shows the multi-level tunnels

An infantryman is lowered into a tunnel by members of the reconnaissance platoon, April 24, 1967.

We experienced the tunnels first hand.  In this set of tunnels, we 'crawled' 100m from one entry point to another.  Note that this particular section of tunnel had been dugout about 18 extra inches to make it more tourist-friendly.

This 50m span of tunnels had not been dug out, so we got the real experience of how tiny they were.

Although the tunnels were dugout to be more tourist-friendly, walking the length of a football field, traveling down over 30 feet underground, with tons of mosquitoes, was mentally and physically challenging.  We can't imagine doing it with bombs and bullets exploding overhead.

The real entrances to the tunnels were well hidden and kept very small, too small for the typical American soldier to enter.  Imagine walking as a soldier through these woods, and having an enemy soldier pop out of this hole with a gun.

We saw many examples of the booby-traps placed all through the woods to wound/kill the American soldiers.  Hearing the details and purpose of their specific design was depressing.

Quite sobering to think about facing an enemy who could expertly disappear and re-appear anywhere using the tunnels, and at any point you could fall into these booby traps.

The Anti- War Movement

National Guardsmen stand guard on the other side of a steel mesh fence erected May 15, 1969 by University of California officials around a "People's Park" at Berkeley, Calif., while some of the thousands who marched in protest pass by. The fencing precipitated a riot in which police fired shotguns at demonstrators and one person was wounded fatally. Governor Reagan then ordered the guardsmen into the city. (AP Photo/files)

The Fall of Saigon

US withdrawal from Vietnam

President Ford meets in the Oval Office with Brent Scowcroft, Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; Graham Martin, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Vietnam; Army Chief of Staff General Frederick Weyand; and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger to discuss the situation in Vietnam. March 25, 1975.

American POW returning home to family; 1973 Pulitzer

Memorializing the Vietnam War

The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Wash. D.C.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Wash. D.C.

“What do you mean ‘you can’t help him’? I thought you said you were a vet.”

“Choosing Bombing Targets”

LBJ tends to the olive branch of peace

The Best and the Brightest?