During my tour of duty in Vietnam, I documented the harsh reality of war by taking numerous photographs, some of which are displayed in this website.

    In August 1968, I was transferred up north to Camp Eagle, in the Phu Bai/Hue, I Corps area. At Camp Eagle, I was assigned to HHC, 326th Combat Engineer Bn, where I became involved in 2 more successful combat operations, known as Nevada Eagle and Somerset Plain. These operations were targeted against the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Vietcong (VC). Operation Somerset Plain involved the 101st Airborne Divisions Assault on the fabled "NVA Red Sanctuary" the Ashau Valley, AKA: The Ho Chi Minh Trail. The Ashau Valley was a critical supply route from North Vietnam to the South, which was vigorously defended, by the NVA and VC.

    My job involved the initial assault of mountain tops which ring the Ashau Valley to clear and dig out defensive positions for the Infantry, Artillery and etc, to use as temporary operation centers for combat operations being conducted in the dense jungle valley below. I used demolitions to clear trees from the steep mountain tops which were then pushed over the edge of the mountains with my Mini Dozer. While clearing these mountain tops with the Mini Dozer, and the NVA below coming up after us, I felt like a moving target in an arcade shooting gallery, moving back and forth across the open mountain top. The Mini Dozer was a prime target of the enemy and a vital part of the Fire Support Base Operations.

Staying on top of a mountain in the Ashau Valley was very eerie especially at night. There were no roads leading off the foggy mountains and the only way out was by helicopter, which didn't fly there at night. These mountain Fire Support Bases were frequently attacked and were like pieces of food on top of large ant hills and the ants (NVA) were continually heading up to devour us. At night, the Ashau Valley floor would light up from the headlights of enemy trucks bringing war supplies down South from North Vietnam. The truck headlights would be quickly turned off by Artillery, B-52 Bomber arclight airstrikes, and Naval gunfire from USS New Jersey, which continuously echoed throughout the valley.

    I was involved in building several of the Fire Bases in the Ashau Valley, some of which are depicted in my photographs. Being a Vietnam Veteran of the Ashau Valley combat operations has become a distinction among combat veterans.

    I left Vietnam on May 20, 1969, after spending a couple of days near the base of Hamburger Hill (Hill 937) during Operation Apache Snow.

     I have both good and bad memories of Vietnam and have seen things that most people only have Nightmares about. Vietnam was an endless succession of miseries, death, wounded, steaming heat scorched jungles, Agent Orange spraying, rain, exhaustion, malaria, dysentery, jungle rot, armies of insects, poisonous snakes, leeches, snipers, body bags, rain, fog, mud, and the never ending fear of death from an incoming mortar or rocket round which had your name on it.

To many Veterans, the war was the best time of our lives and almost the only time. Life was intense, you grew up fast and then it was suddenly over. One day you were in Vietnam fighting a war and within a 20 hour airplane flight you were landing in California without any time to decompress and adjust to your new so called peaceful environment. Veterans came home and suddenly the world seemed to stop dead in the water.

    Suddenly the Vietnam war was gone and veterans were among soft, proper people who knew nothing of what they (Vets) had done, seen, and who, truth be told, didn't much like them. Nor did some of us much like the people at home, though it was not at first a conscious distaste. Men came home with wounds and terrible memories and dead friends to be greeted by squalling liberal war protestors and the media to find a country that, having sent them to Viet Nam, now viewed them as criminals for having been there. This brainwashing propaganda was generated by turncoat hate monger war antiwar agitators like John Kerry, Jane Fonda and etc.  

    We looked around us with new eyes and saw that our return from Vietnam generated scorching lasting memories of how Vets were treated by the cowardly and shameful media and protestors. Men who bore arms and did so with honor, came home to be brushed aside while less courageous, less honorable men rose to represent that era. These Animals still prowl among us and have not to date been prosecuted for their Traitorous Lies & Acts.

    "Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR and DIGNITY".



    Soldiers don't start wars, politicians do. Soldiers do what they're told even though they might bitch and moan. But when duty calls, they pack their bags and go, fully knowing they may not come back.

         Despite the severe limitations and absolutely insane "rules of engagement" and "body counts" imposed on us by both our weak kneed civilian and military "leadership", we did our best but became pawns in this war game. It's hard to fully comprehend how U.S. forces never lost a major battle but lost South Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos to the communists. America's political and military leadership simply lacked the will, the honesty and the courage needed to have a successful outcome. If the spineless political leaders and hippie anti-war protestors had half the same courage as the warriors, many lives could have been spared and the war would have come to a successful conclusion.

        Bonds of Brotherhood in combat never die and we were never so alive as we were with the men we faced death together with in Vietnam. When I meet other Vietnam Veterans from all branches of the military, I immediately feel a close Bond, a Brotherhood that only we who had been there can understand. My life would be missing a part if I did not have this comradeship with my fellow Veterans. Non Vets say "it's been thirty-five years, forget about it." I am here to tell you that you can not forget the defining episode in your life that sets you apart from others. How can you forget something as life changing an experience as the War in Vietnam.

        The history of the 101st Airborne Division is something we can all be proud of and I've always been extremely proud to wear the Screaming Eagle Patch on my uniforms. Serving with the 101st Airborne has probably been the highlight of my 20 year military career, and I don't believe there is a finer combat division in the US Army.

The Vietnam adrenaline "edge" that Vets acquire from combat really never leaves. Some Vets have a sharper and stronger "edge" than others. To maintain this edge, I joined the Military Police Corps, where I instantly became a Military Police Investigator and then graduated to the rank of US Army Criminal Investigator (CID Special Agent). In November 1987, I retired from the Army after 20 years as a Chief Warrant Officer.

Soldier

"I was that which others cared not to be. I went where others feared to go and did what others failed to do. I asked nothing from those who gave nothing. And, reluctantly, accepted the thought of eternal loneliness- should I fail. I have seen the face of terror, felt the chill of fear, warmed to the touch of love. I have hoped, pained, cried. But, foremost, lived in times others would say best forgotten. At the very least, in later days, I will be able to say with greatest pride, that I was indeed a Soldier"

Author Unknown