How many of you got started in Vietnam?
Nov 23, 2014 20:23:23 #
I think it was called stupidity!!! Our great leads didn't have a clue and some still don't!!!!
Erv
Erv
bsprague wrote:
Your photos are chilling.
Do we know why we had this war?
Do we know why we had this war?
Nov 23, 2014 22:18:47 #
bsprague wrote:
Your photos are chilling.
Do we know why we had this war?
Do we know why we had this war?
Wow, now that's a whole new question. 1. To keep South Vietnam from falling into Communism 2. Others thought it was over the possiblility of oil in the Gulf of Tonkin. There were two seperate incidents in the Gulf of Tonkin resulting in loss of life. The outcome of these two incidents was the passage by Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression." The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying US conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam.
Nov 26, 2014 20:29:08 #
Army, 1968-69. Had photo in college, but got much more real training in Saigon when we passed through. That Special Services trailer was indeed special. I was almost arrested for taking a picture of MPs frisking a GI for I don't know what. A Minolta 101 fit my hand better than a Nikon then, but since have grown into the Nikon system.
Nov 26, 2014 21:39:41 #
kibbles304 wrote:
....The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying US conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam.
if he had deployed forces as effectivly as he deployed his chronies business interests we would have won that action.
Nov 26, 2014 23:17:00 #
oldtigger wrote:
if he had deployed forces as effectivly as he deployed his chronies business interests we would have won that action.
Agreed!!!
Nov 27, 2014 09:44:17 #
wj cody
Loc: springfield illinois
oldtigger wrote:
if he had deployed forces as effectivly as he deployed his chronies business interests we would have won that action.
the sad truth of the matter is armies always fight the last war. just how it works. regardless of the West's view of Vietnam, among the Vietnamese it was always viewed as a civil war and a drive to unite their country. ho chi minh and his cadres fought the japanese, the french, U.S. and the chinese after we left.
we forgot that during our own civil war, the British were smart enough to stay out of it. and, strangely enough today, we are faced with the same political, cultural and economic dilemma in syria, iraq and afganistan.
no winning and no political solution. just endless conflict.
Nov 27, 2014 11:00:35 #
kibbles304 wrote:
Wow, now that's a whole new question. 1. To keep S... (show quote)
I was in Fredrickberg, TX a few weeks ago where the Pacific War Museum is. It's huge. My last thing I saw as I was leaving was a Nimitz quote saying something to the effect of, "My God help us if we are ever unprepared again." The 20 year old sailors and soldiers that went on in politics were only about 40 for Vietnam.
After Fredricksberg we went to the LBJ ranch. One quote went something like this: "If we don't stop them in Vietnam, they will soon be on the shores of San Francisco Bay".
When there was a bill to support LBJ's sending of troups to Vietnam, ALL but two in the House and Senate voted approval.
Justified or not, fear of invasion resulting from Pearl Harbor seems to be connected to our losses in Vietnam.
We still continue. We have about a dozen active Aircraft Carriers. The next closest nation has two. The Nimitz warning still seems to carry weight.
Nov 27, 2014 11:38:25 #
Wars often have multiple components for their origin. Guns and butter. Oil and the economic factors of military support. Petty political power games. Rarely are our motives nobel or honestly expressed. I served mostly on an air force base in VN, and the lies armed forces radio told everyday sickened me. I remember hearing once "It was quiet today with only two planes lost" when our base alone had lost two F-4s and I watched a helicopter crash and burn just at the edge of our base. If politicians that voted for war were made to fight them, armed to the teeth and put in space against the champions of the opponent, bet there wouldn't be very many. Instead our best young people, all shiny eyed and idealistic fight nobly for causes they seldom understand.
Nov 27, 2014 11:57:07 #
The New York Times has an online article today that describes how we are fighting ISIS with the current version of political limitations.
"U.S. Adds Planes to Bolster Drive to Wipe Out ISIS"
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/us/us-adds-air-power-but-isis-presents-elusive-target.html?emc=edit_th_20141127&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=52356555
"U.S. Adds Planes to Bolster Drive to Wipe Out ISIS"
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/us/us-adds-air-power-but-isis-presents-elusive-target.html?emc=edit_th_20141127&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=52356555
Nov 27, 2014 15:13:31 #
Thats exactly what we did in WWII we supplies planes to the RAF only in this war we are flying them. You see how that turned out. 453,000 americans Died in WWII and over 50 million in all of Europe. If you want to kill them Do it now and stop pussy footing around as always
Nov 27, 2014 16:24:04 #
While I didn't start in Viet Nam, I started during it. I was stationed in HI and had a friend buy me a Asahi Pentax Spotmatic w/ a Super Takumar 55 mm lens. I loved that camera and took some great photos while living in HI. Unfortunately my ex destroyed them all and the camera was stolen years later. Film or not, it was a great camera and one that I miss to this day.
Mar 28, 2017 15:17:48 #
I learned in Vietnam also. I took a Petri (from the PX at Ft. Rucker) to Nam and bought a
Topcon RE Super in Vietnam for $400. NO telling how many photos and slides I took. I was lucky and got based in Saigon. I was a Huey pilot and had a super job flying VIPs all around three and four corps. I lived in a real Villa, two guys to a room, with a bathroom that I turned into a darkroom. Lots of stuff available in the PX there.
I need to convert my slides into digital. I started a good thread on that several weeks ago and got lots of great ideas on how to do it. Thanks folks.
Topcon RE Super in Vietnam for $400. NO telling how many photos and slides I took. I was lucky and got based in Saigon. I was a Huey pilot and had a super job flying VIPs all around three and four corps. I lived in a real Villa, two guys to a room, with a bathroom that I turned into a darkroom. Lots of stuff available in the PX there.
I need to convert my slides into digital. I started a good thread on that several weeks ago and got lots of great ideas on how to do it. Thanks folks.
Mar 28, 2017 15:34:49 #
Born in Vietnam. Didn't own a camera back then. At age 10 or so I started using my father's Petri 7s and Minolta 16 which incidentally he bought while in training in the US when he was a captain in the South Vietnamese corp of engineers. He later became a colonel but after the fall of south Vietnam he was captured and died in the so called reeducation camp.
Mar 28, 2017 16:31:12 #
I'm sorry to hear about your father's death. I'm pretty sure he was killed by the his captors. I have talked to several Vietnamese who were able to make it out after the fall. Apparently it was a blood bath. I have often wondered about the people we had working for us as cooks, drivers, guards and maids there in Saigon. From what I have heard, if they worked for the Americans, they had a very hard time if they even survived. Many of those were executed as well.
Mar 28, 2017 16:54:48 #
Dickt
Loc: Central Massachusetts
Didn't start photography in Vietnam ,but did get my first SLR there. A Minolta SRT 101. Also several lenses . I was in a Army bridge company so I was driving a 5 ton dump and had room for a lot of equipment in he cab. Shot mostly slide film them.
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.