johnh1944 Loc: North Las Vegas

US Air Force 1962-1966. 33rd Air Rescue station in Okinawa. Temp Duty in Thailand and Vietnam. In addition to rescue missions in South East Asia, we were involved with the rescue and recovery of the Gemini 8 landing.

steelcase

Went on R&R to Tokyo from RVN in 1968. Got my Nikkormat there and and am still going. Ordered a D810 and lenses a few minutes ago.

GAH1944 Loc: SW Mich.

1967/68 here. Danang, 600th photo sq., det 7, 366th tactical fighter wing. welcome home !!!

Stonehenge Loc: Payette, ID

Bought a Yashica at the Freedom Hill PX just outside of Danang "68". Had it stolen about ten years later. Took mostly color slides with it while in country and had most of the slides and pictures censored and taken away from me in Okinawa on the return home. You could see the same thing on the 5 o'clock news so can't figure that one out.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

I'm like you, don't have the camera but still have the pictures. I have about 3 albums of prints and several hundred slides.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Somewhere they changed that a little. Apparently you once had to prove you were exposed to Agent Orange. That didn't work well. Now the test is for "boots on the ground". In other words, a Navy person that stayed aboard ship is a Vietnam vet but does not qualify. Now, if you are a Vietnam vet that had your boots on the ground in Vietnam and have or had prostate cancer, you can be designated to have an "In Service Disability".

Alaska Dave Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

I guess DaNang was sort of a starting point, I had a Pentax (I believe it was) and a 300mm lens as well, bought before I arrived in country. Come to think of it I remember trying to get photos of the destruction from incoming rockets, where else can you get photos like that?? Some of the best and worst times. Dave

dmclean Loc: Virginia

Speaking of being of a "certain" age, I got my start in photography in Korea in 1952-1953. My camera was a Canon Model IIB (Version 1).

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

I was in Da Nang, briefly, in 1972 with a Chinook Company. Not my favorite place to be at the time. Things were hot and I was due to go home in a few weeks.

steve1949

Saigon 1969-70. I got the Yachica...First camera ever. Had it for about 5-6 years after returning to the states in November 1970.

I brought home about 2000 slides...Enjoyed them for years. Then one day after storing them of over 20 years or so they became a very, very brittle and faded light gray disaster.....Not able to reproduce or restore at the time. Wow. what a loss.

I gave it to my daughter after she grew up....she was about 20-21. She used it for a few years. Film hadn't gone out yet. I asked her one day if had had used it lately. She confessed she had lost it months before. Just left it one day during a trip and couldn't remember the last time she saw it. Boo!

(Download)

krl48 Loc: NY, PA now SC

This more precisely explains the Agent Orange claim rules for Navy personnel. See your local veterans' affairs office or a local veterans' organizations representative to help you determine if you qualify for compensation.

From the US Dept of Veterans Affairs website:

Eligibility - Service in Vietnam or Korea

VA presumes that Veterans were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides if they served:
•In Vietnam anytime between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975, including brief visits ashore or service aboard a ship that operated on the inland waterways of Vietnam
•In or near the Korean demilitarized zone anytime between April 1, 1968 and August 31, 1971

If you fall into either category listed above, you do not have to show that you were exposed to Agent Orange to be eligible for disability compensation for diseases VA presumes are associated with it. Check the list of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships that operated in Vietnam to confirm whether your service aboard a ship allows VA to concede you were exposed to Agent Orange.

Also, be sure you're knowledgeable regarding all the medical conditions that are recognized as having Agent Orange as a causative factor.

imntrt1 Loc: St. Louis

I was going through some things in the basement a few years ago and came across some undeveloped slide film. It turns out this film had been exposed around twenty years prior and was pictures of me racing motorcycles on frozen lakes in Colorado. I figured, what the heck, took it in for processing and even though the images were light they could be clearly recognized.

kibbles304 Loc: Indiana

Was with 720th MP Battalion at Long Binh Post 69/70. I was in Co. B. We were outside perimeter setting ambushes. I think Co. C were the river rats. Got to ride on the PBRs. Very cool. Felt like you could turn around in a bath tub! The electrically fired 50cal machine guns were deadly. They also had Boston whalers that moved our squads up and down the Song Dong Nai.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

A couple of people mentioned the Mamyia C330. I sure would like to get mine back!

Several have written they bought Nikkormats. Mine were Nikomats. They were the "Japanese" brand and the warranty was not good in the USA like for Nikkormats.

Several have mentioned USAA. It is an insurance company that was started by a couple Generals after retirement. They thought that insuring military officers carried a lower risk so they could charge lower premiums. All business was done by phone to a central office in Texas. There were no sales agents on commission and no branch offices. It is membership based and there is normally an annual refund based on profits.

USAA has grown and includes a lot more people than officers, but they expect a military connection of some sort. As it grew it added banking and other services.

This topic is growing long. Perhaps is could continue for awhile if we posted more photos. I have a couple shot on Ektachrome when on a really strange mission to Iran that I used my Nikormat and a 135mm lens.

kibbles304 Loc: Indiana

Hey Steve. I was at Long Binh Post 69/70. Got to Saigon twice. Once to buy my Asahi Pentax Spotmatic II. Second time I had more time and got to see a little of the city. Even got to walk down famous Tudo street. Still have the camera and Takumar 50mm f1.4 lens that I have tried to use on my nikon d7100 with no success.