Real War Photos
...memories preserved
REAL WAR PHOTOS
P.O. Box 414
Somerset Center, MI 49282
United States
ph: (734) 327-9696
mail
Vietnam War -
Note: New this week on our Galleries website....more Vietnam War photos.......
check them out by clicking on the line below:
Parachute with Real War Photos and the U.S. Airborne Infantry into the rugged jungles of Vietnam, stomping through elephant grass to engage the enemy.
We've added (and continue to add) many more photos from the Vietnam War. Click here to go to the new Real War Photos Galleries to view, purchase and download photos.
F-100D loaded with napalm (the silver tanks) at Phan Rang Air Base, Vietnam, in 1971. The big painted tanks are external fuel tanks. The big probe on the side is for aerial refueling. We also had four 20 mm cannons and 1,600 rounds of ammunition for strafing. (Photo courtesy of Bruce Gordon, personal collection, USAF, Alaska, Korea and Vietnam.)
Preparation for takeoff - the arming area at Phan Rang Air Base, Vietnam, 1971. The arming crew pulls out the red safety pins in the bomb racks, so the bombs can be dropped. The arming crew also pulls cables which arm the guns by putting rounds into firing position - from then on, there is no safety - the 20 mm cannons will fire whenever the pilot pulls the trigger. To keep the ground arming crew safe during this procedure, pilots put their hands up where the ground crew can see that the pilot does not have his hands on any switches! I took this photo from my own F-100, which was also being armed. The pilot in this photo was killed a few weeks later during a combat strike. We think he was hit by anti-aircraft fire. (Photo courtesy of Bruce Gordon, personal collection, USAF, Alaska, Korea and Vietnam.)
A routine strike on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The bright white smoke is from the Forward Air Controller's white phosphorus rocket to mark the target. The fresh explosion just above the white puff is my bomb exploding on the Trail. You can see the Trail coming from the right of the photo and crossing a small stream between the smokes. It looks like the Trail splits just before crossing the stream, so there may be two small bridges across the stream. The old smoke is from a previous bomb. (Photo courtesy of Bruce Gordon, personal collection, USAF, Alaska, Korea and Vietnam.)
The Vietnam War (also known as the Second Indochina War or the Vietnam Conflict) took place from 1959 to April 30, 1975, and was fought between the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), supported by its communist allies, and the US-supported Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).....
V26665A Members of the 2nd Bn, 22nd Mech Inf, 25th Inf Div, cross a rice paddy during a dismounted sweep operation, Go Dau Ha, Vietnam, Oct 16, 1968. Photo courtesy of NARA.
The Vietcong, the lightly-armed South Vietnamese communistinsurgency, largely fought a guerilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The North Vietnamese Army engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large-sized units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search-and-destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery and air strikes. The United States and South Vietnam also conducted clandestine operations throughout the war using special operations units and Central Intelligence Agency operatives.
The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam (as part of a wider strategy of containment during the Cold War), beginning with military advisory missions in the early 1960s and escalating to full warfare with the deployment of combat units from 1965 onward. By 1973, almost all U.S. troops had left the theater and in 1975, communist forces assumed control of South Vietnam. North and South Vietnam were reunified shortly thereafter.
The war, and the failure of the United States to achieve its objective, had a major impact on U.S. politics, culture and foreign relations. Americans were deeply divided over the U.S. government’s justification for the war and conduct during the war. Opposition to the Vietnam War formed the basis for the counterculture youth movement of the 1960s.
The Vietnam War exacted a huge human cost as well. In addition to approximately 58,000 U.S. soldiers killed, 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, and 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians lost their lives.
Vietnam-4th, 9th, 11th, 25th Infantry & 173rd AB DivV26669A - Members of Co "B" 3rd Bn., 8th Regt., 4th Inf. Div., move through elephant grass after a combat assault Northwest of Dak To, March 13, 1968. Photo courtesy of NARA. The troopers of the 173D Airborne Brigade (Sep) wear their combat badges and decorations with pride. During more than six years of nearly continuous combat, the brigade earned 14 campaign streamers and four unit citations. 13 Medals of Honor and over 6,000 Purple Hearts were awarded; The Herd conducted the only combat parachute assault of the war; over 1700 names of Sky Soldiers are on THE WALL. The Brigade was deactivated on January 14, 1972 at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky.
The 4th Infantry Division deployed from Fort Lewis to Camp Holloway, Pleiku, Vietnam on September 25, 1966 and served more than four years, returning to Fort Carson, Colorado on December 8, 1970. Two brigades operated in the Central Highlands/II Corps Zone, but its 3rd Brigade, including the division's armor battalion, was sent to Tay Ninh Province northwest of Saigon to take part in Operation Attleboro (September to November, 1966), and later Operation Junction City (February to May, 1967), both in War Zone C. After nearly a year of combat, the 3rd Brigade's battalions officially became part of the 25th Infantry Division in exchange for the battalions of the 25th's 3rd Brigade, then in Quang Ngai Province as part of the division-sized Task Force Oregon.
To purchase catalogs go to PayPal. Click here to go the new Real War Photos Galleries to view, purchase and download photos.
- $
- In stock
9th Infantry Division
V2772 - Members of the 3rd Bn. 60th Inf, 9th Inf Div.
commanded by lt. Col. Peter B. Peterson, stnad in
formation upon the arrival at McChord AFB from Vietnam,
7/8/69. Photo courtesy of NARA.The 9th Infantry Division was an important unit of the United States Army in World War II and the Vietnam War. It was also activated as a peacetime readiness unit from 1947 to 1962 at Fort Dix, New Jersey and Fort Carson, Colorado, and from 1972 to 1991 as an active-duty infantry division at Fort Lewis, Washington. Nicknamed the "Old Reliables," the division was eventually inactivated in December 1991.
To purchase catalogs go to PayPal. Click here to go the new Real War Photos Galleries to view, purchase and download photos.
- $
- In stock
1st Cav. Division, Air Mobile
V2248 - An Khe, Vietnam, men of the 1st Ca. Div., pause on
top of a huge boulder on patrol in the Lao Valley during
operation "Pershing", 1967. Photo courtesy of NARA.The division saw combat during the Vietnam War. No longer a conventional infantry unit, the division had become an air assault division as the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), commonly referred to as the 1st Air Cavalry Division, using helicopters as troop carriers. The division's colors and unit designations were transferred to the 11th Air Assault Division (Test), then at Ft. Benning, Georgia, in July, 1965, and began deploying to Camp Radcliffe, An Khe, Vietnam that month. The division, along with the 101st Airborne Division perfected new tactics and doctrine for helicopter-borne assaults over the next five years in Vietnam.
The unit's first major operation was the Pleiku Campaign. During this action, the division conducted 35 days of continuous airmobile operations. The opening battle, the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, was described in the book We Were Soldiers Once...And Young which was also the basis of the subsequent Mel Gibson film We Were Soldiers. The unit also earned the first Presidential Unit Citation (US) presented to a division during the Vietnam War.
Most of 1967 was spent in Operation Pershing. This was a large scale search of areas in II Corps which saw 5,400 enemy killed and 2,000 captured. The division re-deployed to Camp Evans, north of Hue in the I Corps Tactical Zone, during the 1968 Tet Offensive, involved in recapturing Quang Tri and Hue. After intense fighting in Hue, the division then moved to relieve Marine Corps units besieged at the Khe Sanh combat base (Operation Pegasus) in March 1968. The 1st Cavalry Division next conducted major clearing operations in the Ashau Valley from mid-April through mid-May, 1968. From May until September 1968 the division participated in local pacification and "MedCap" (Medical outreach programs to offer medical support to the Vietnamese local population) missions I Corps.
In the autumn of 1968, the 1st Cavalry Division relocated south to the III Corps Tactical Zone northwest of Saigon, adjacent to a Cambodian region commonly referred to as the "Parrots Beak" due to its shape. In May, 1970, the division was among U.S. units participating in the Cambodian Incursion, withdrawing from Cambodia on June 29. The division thereafter took a defensive posture while the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam continued. The bulk of the division was withdrawn on April 29, 1971, but its 3rd Brigade was one of the final two major U.S. ground combat units in Vietnam, departing June 29, 1972. Its 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, as the main unit of Task Force Garryowen, remained another two months.
To purchase catalogs go to PayPal. Click here to go the new Real War Photos Galleries to view, purchase and download photos.
- $
- In stock
PBR's (River Patrol Boats)
V26682 - PBR's await dispatch orders at Base One near
Tan My, Feb 1969. Photo courtesy of NARA.Patrol Boat, River (also referred to as Riverine and Pibber), or PBR, is the US Navy designation for a type of rigid-hulledpatrol boat used in the Vietnam War from March 1966 until the end of 1971. They were deployed in a force that grew to 250 boats, the most common craft in the River Patrol Force, Task Force 116, and were used to stop and search river traffic in areas such as the Mekong Delta, the Rung Sat Special Zone, the Saigon River and in I Corps, in the area assigned to Task Force Clearwater, in an attempt to disrupt weapons shipments. In this role they frequently became involved in firefights with enemy soldiers on boats and on the shore. PBR's were also used to infiltrate Navy SEAL teams.
The PBR was a versatile boat with a fiberglass hull and water jet drive which enabled it to operate in shallow, weed-choked rivers. It drew only two feet of water fully loaded. The drives could be pivoted to reverse direction, turn the boat in its own length, or come to a stop from full speed in a few boat lengths.
The PBR was manufactured in two versions, the first with 31 foot length and 10 foot, 7 inch beam. The Mark II version 32 feet (9.8 m) long and one foot wider beam, had improved drives to reduce fouling, and aluminumgunwales to resist wear. It usually operated with four enlisted men, of which the most senior crewman was designated the boat commander. Often, however, a junior officer would be assigned as boat commander.
To purchase catalogs go to PayPal. Click here to go the new Real War Photos Galleries to view, purchase and download photos.
- $
- In stock
V2249 An Khe, Vietnam, 1st Cav. Men take a break while patrolling Lao Valley, during operation "Pershing", 1967. Photo courtesy of NARA.
V2253 Men unload supplies at Co "C", 7th Cav., 1st Cav. Div. during operation "Thayer II" near Qui Nhon, Vietnam, 10/29/66. Photo courtesy of NARA.
Vietnam War resources:
Vietnam Veterans Home Page
www.vietvet.org/
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
thewall-usa.com/
Vets With A Mission - History of the Vietnam War www.vwam.com/vets/hisintro.html
Vietnam Veterans of America
Vietnam War Stories
http://www.war-stories.com/aspprotect/ws-nav-index-menu.asp
Call, write or email uswith your area of interest or special request and we'll forward via U.S. Mail a free custom catalog complete with 'thumbnail- sized' photos to see what you are ordering, plus descriptions, dates and an order form.
REAL WAR PHOTOS
P.O. Box 414
Somerset Center, MI 49282
United States
ph: (734) 327-9696
mail