Yeah ... That's me in the front, Young and Innocent. Things changed over the next 12 months while I was in "Nam" as we called it. We used to say we were in country. An Adventure I would not like to experience again, lost some friends, saw some things. It's taken years to be able to talk about it. The family with me lived near the north part of Da Nang near the Vietnam coast. The gentleman up front was a Lieutenant in the South Vietnamese Army. He asked me to take the girl just behind me in the center of the pictuce back to the U.S. He was very afraid for her safety, who wouldn't. Unfortunately I couldn't take her back. I had a long way to go myself. 8 or 9 months before I would be able to go home, if I made it of course. Took a lot of courage for him to ask me to take his daughter. Many of the pictures on the following pages are of my fellow Marines I served with in Nam. I can't even remember some of their names. I found out it wasn't a good idea to get to attached to anyone. They could soon be gone, sometimes killed, sometimes wounded, but it meant they were gone. Few came back. If you watched the firefight (battle scene) in "Forest Gump" you have a good idea of what it was like in a firefight. You could actually see the bullets some time. You couldn't get out of the way, but your mind can go a thousand miles a hour when you're in a battle for your life. My love for photography began in Vietnam, just photographing fellow Marines, and landscapes. Not a very friendly place, but something good came out of it, I'm quite sure now that God had something better for me. I wish more of us could of come back. When we did we were'nt met with much kindness. We were the black sheep of wars I guess. Our country didn't really know how to treat us, thanks to very ignorant people such as Jane Fonda. The people were very cold most the time when we returned. It's really too bad, most of the young men who made it were good men. We deserved better. Next time you meet a Vietnam Vet try to show him a little kindness. It goes a long way for his healing. Oh, and please don't ask him if he killed anyone, what a stupid question that is, not to mention insensitive. If we did kill someone while in a war, you would know that we had already thought about it.

The year was 1968. The war was really in high gear at this time. The NVA ( North Vietnamese Army ) were putting pressure on the American troops as they prepared a build up of forces for their "TET" offensive in the early part of 1969.

I can't believe I actually saved this note we found on a trail while on patrol near Da Nang. As you'll see they suggested we go home. I was in agreement with them, but Uncle Sam thought otherwise.

"2nd Warning" Old Camera & Pictures

This was my first camera, I purchase it in Singapore. The camera was a Olympus 1/2 frame camera. I could get 72-80 pictures on a regular roll of 36 exposure film. I thought this would be a good idea since there wasn't many film or camera stores "In Country". This is where my love of photography grew. I took pictures of everything. I won't inflict the totality of that upon you. The pictures I've included are of the kids, the people and the landscape of Vietnam. Also included are fellow Marines, and of course the equipment. When you're young and impressionable these things mean a lot. Remember the pictures have just celebrated their 33rd birthday, some are a little discolored so be kind with your opinions.

My first beard, aaaah yes the freedom of not having to shave ! Most the innocence was gone by this time, I was now a real grunt, keeping myself and my squad alive became my primary motivation. Trying to get back home !

This is a Vietnamese Cross of Galantry Award with Bronze Star. This was the only personal award that I recieved while in Vietnam. If you can believe this, I never actually recieved the metal, just a letter, and the certificate. Nice ~ Real special treatment don't you think. There were unit awards also, I never received those either, I was told if I wanted the metals I could get them when I got back to the U.S. at which ever military base I was sent too, at my cost of course.

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