This gallery of photos was assembled from some slides that I took during my tour in Vietnam as a US Army Pilot. The slides were mostly Ektachromes and Agfachromes. The slides were in faded condition even though they had been carefully stored in an air-conditioned environment for over 30 years. The second law of thermodynamics always holds true. The slides were duplicated with a digital camera and reconditioned in Photoshop CS. I suppose a better job could have been done in the restoration but the law (another one of those laws) of diminishing returns set in after about 300 hours of work.

The photographs and narration of this gallery were prepared for my friends and family who have asked me what I did during the Vietnam War.

We were all volunteers. We all went to war for various reasons and I doubt if any one that I knew, as well as my self regrets it, except for one possible caveat. At that time of my life I was not a Christian. I thought I was but I was not, for I did not know my savior or His word and consequently all of my understanding and actions were according to the standards of the world. My chief motivation was personal pride, the glorification of my self and not the LORD Jesus Christ, the creator of all that is seen and that which is not seen. Because I did not know my creator I did not know my own heart and I consequently could not truly have compassion and love for my fellow man.

I had a commercial pilots license and a flight instructor ratings when I joined the Army. I received flight training in the Army that would have been impossible to obtain in the civilian world. In Vietnam I was fortunate to fly an aircraft in a mission situation that was comparable to flying for a small airline during the golden age of civil aviation. As a young man I was given the responsibility of an aircraft a crew and mission. We received our assignments and we were pretty much left to our own resources as to how we got the job done. We were given a freedom of operation that amazes me today when I think back on it. I was the aircraft commander and no one ever questioned or second-guessed my decisions. As young men we were given a lot of responsibility and the requisite authority. We were well trained and the system worked.

I enjoyed learning from and working with everyone that I served with from basic training, through Warrant Officer Candidate flight school and my Vietnam service. Don’t get me wrong there was a lot of hardship and tough times but the people were great to serve with. To the "old hands" who went before us and paved the way, I say thank you.

Notice:
All of the photographs at this site as well as the narration for the photographs are protected by copyright and no one is authorized to download or copy any of the photographs or narration from this site without the express written permission of the author. To contact the author please use the “comment on this gallery” provision at the bottom of this page or the page of the photo in question. I will add new photos and review comments from time to time. Thanks for visiting and please come back.