Army Photo Album

July 1968: Back from R&R in Japan with chopsticks in my pocket and an umbrella in my hands. I still have the chopsticks. The bunker belongs to my squad, and was used as a sleeping as well as fighting position.

Checking what's left of an enemy bunker after a battle involving a air strike. Note how the vegetation is most likely destroyed.

Members of my platoon hunkered down after a firefight--low enough to avoid becoming targets yet high enough to see what's going on. Except for the guy standing up on the left taking a leak.

Displaying a captured AK-47 from the back of our squad's armored personnel carrier (M113). I'm wearing new boots; my original pair had worn out. I wore that set of fatigues, the only one I had at the time, for about three months until they rotted off my body.

Firing my captured AK-47 on full automatic. Note my toes--the recoil is throwing me backward. In a year of combat I never fired my weapon in combat on full auto. I did this time only for a photo opportunity.

Three members of my squad waiting for darkness before embarking on an ambush patrol. I'm on the left wearing my normal combat equipment including four hand grenades and 16 magazines of M16 ammunition. Over my shoulder is a belt of M60 ammo for our machine gunner.

A medical evacuation (called dust off) of wounded soldiers following a firefight. Not a good day.

Each squad had an armored personnel carrier, and we always rode on top because of mines and RPGs. Drivers came from our infantry ranks. Crossing rice paddy dikes was a skill our drivers mastered--eventually--climb slowly, then balance on top before descending on the other side. Any deviation ended up with riders thrown to the ground.

My disassembled M16. At first we were issued the original M16s, which jammed frequently. The replacements, which we received in December 1967, were a lot better, but I still cleaned it every day. When sufficient time was available, I even took apart the trigger assembly, as shown.

A friendly poker game by soldiers recovering from wounds in our division base camp at Cu Chi. Note crutches along the wall, and the hint of a bandage on the chest of the soldier on the right, a friend named Bob Ordy.

The Black Virgin Mountain, Nui ba den in Vietnamese, dominated the skyline of our division's area of operations. With minor exceptions, it was the only rise in the landscape, and is etched forever in the memories of soldiers who fought in its shadow. Nui ba den, translated, means Black Lady Mountain. Occasionally we set up at the mountain's base, providing security for a company of engineers who worked there crushing rocks into gravel. I snapped this photo as we were leaving for an operation. The track (armored personnel carrier) behind us is maintaining the proper distance in this area where land mines and ambushes were a concern.

My platoon returning to our company perimeter (right) after a sweep during a hot afternoon. We relaxed as we approached safety, as can be discerned by the way weapons are carried. That's our lieutenant walking in front of the RTO (the guy who carried the radio). Both were prime targets if we made contact. To slay a dragon, chop off its head. Next, cut off communication.

Our company perimeter during the monsoon season from the air. Sandbag bunkers and tracks line the perimeter while the mortar platoon, HQ, and our company's cooks are on the inside. Although it appears haphazard and unruly, it was highly organized and effective.

Our company's chow line in the field. Stations are spread apart in the event of a mortar attack. Our chances of surviving such an attack increased if we were not clustered together.

An afternoon squad patrol while providing security for Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base.

In the rear recuperating from my fourth and last wound, the brass casing from an AK-47 round that penetrated to the bone in my arm during a battle on 19 August 68. I recovered full use of my arm after a month, and because I was due to return home shortly, didn't return to the field.