General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNever before seen photos of the Vietnam War, taken by a drafted soldier too traumatized to view them
before now.
The images are the work of Charlie Haughey, a soldier who was ordered to take photographs of the U.S. Army's operations to raise awareness and boost morale.
After returning from the war he had 2,000 negatives, but he stored them in a box, unable to revisit the harrowing memories of his tour of duty.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2303845/Never-seen-images-Vietnam-War-eyes-soldier-hid-photographs-decades.html#ixzz2PX7ltgQo
Downtown Hound
(12,618 posts)JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)So sad, that whole debacle. Thanks for posting this great find though! Posts like these, where I see amazing things I may not have otherwise seen, are a big part of what makes DU great.
Julie
Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)in the mid 1980s, when one of my students brought treats for his birthday. When I asked him how old he was, he said "Nineteen," and I remembered that the average soldier in Vietnam was 19.
Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)And that is a point that I've made on this forum many times.
First, I served as an Infantryman in Iraq in 2004. I was 24 at the time and most of the guys in my platoon were probably around 20-22 years old - probably a little older than the average age of the guys in Vietnam if I had to guess.
In movies we always see wars fought by manly men who look to be in their late 20s and early 30s. They never display boyish and youthful features like Soldiers in real life. Wars are presented to us as "adult" affairs and we neglect to see them for what they really are. In reality, we send people who are just barely out of childhood to fight and do our bidding.
This is one of the major points Kurt Vonnegut wished to give his quintessential war book when he gave it Slaughterhouse Five the secondary tittle of Or the Children's Crusade.
Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)I remember how after this fact became known, the DoD instituted a policy of sending no one under the age of 18 to Vietnam, as if that was any better.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50711FE3C5C137A93C1A8178DD85F4D8685F9
premium
(3,731 posts)lying about one's age to enlist.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)It didn't happen until I was 21. Every young man of my generation had to think about war and make a decision. I fault none for whatever they chose.
russspeakeasy
(6,539 posts)11 Bravo
(23,926 posts)by an AK-47 round. Some things you never forget.
UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)There are no words. I missed that war by 5 years.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)That's me on the left, with Dan (center)and Russ. Russ was KIA the day before I was wounded.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Especially from trauma, you never forget it.
For me it was the urban landscape, but not a bullet.
This sixty something was hit by a taxi at close to 70 MpH. His two leggs were almost completely traumatically amputated above the knee.
We took him to the trauma center. He coded in the ambulance. I could not eat meat for a year...his legs were ground up.
I was 18... Three weeks out of training. Oh and a week later we had the gas explosion to kill all others. People literally were vaporized by the fireball.
tones fucyes
(48 posts)spanone
(135,844 posts)Mr.Bill
(24,303 posts)"Madness"
Thanks to the OP for the link.
littlemissmartypants
(22,692 posts)Love, Peace and Shelter.
lmsp
malthaussen
(17,204 posts)Charley Haughey is a hell of a photographer.
-- Mal
The Wizard
(12,545 posts)Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)but I am not sure how these would "boost morale". Then again, I am not sure what you could have done to boost morale. That was a dirty war.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)frylock
(34,825 posts)knr
Canuckistanian
(42,290 posts)He really is a good photographer.
premium
(3,731 posts)some good, some bad.
I had just turned 18 when I landed in Da Nang Air Base in the RVN in 67. I was a scared U.S. Army private who was trying to figure out just what the hell I was doing here.
I left back for the world in 68 as a Sgt.
Thanks for posting this.
Bucky
(54,027 posts)(it's not really stealing; as an educator I'm covered by "fair use" laws)