Hai Van Pass, South Vietnam 1968. This was a very dangerous road. We lost a lot of men taking and holding this road. Our unit repaired and completed the road through the pass connecting Da Nang and Hue.
Wow! A hard hitting shot and very grim story. ~BV~
Victor Budnik
03-Apr-2024 06:07
GET SOME !! WAS WITH 3/1 LIMA CO. COMMING OUT DANANG TO GO UP TO HILL #190, ON TRUCK'S, MARCH 1968! MADE SURE THE VC & NVA SAW THE 💀!!AWESOME! SEMPER FI!
Guest
22-Nov-2022 02:07
Thank you for letting us share that experience and for your service my father was retelling the haunting story of his time clearing thunder road in '68-'69 which led me here. Such a profound capture of war.
Wim Grundy
11-Feb-2021 19:32
please comment on a reply where I use your pic to illustrate my war memoir at wimgrundy.wordpress.com.
Thanks!
Wim Grundy
11-Feb-2021 19:31
I am using some of your photos to illustrate my memoirs in a blog, Richard. Please check out
wimgrundy.wordpress.com and make a reply soon I can give you full credit! Thanks!
This is a great photo Richard. The highway as you guys completed it is still in use today following the same route except for the top 12 mile section that was replaced by a 4 mile long tunnel in 2005. Some photos from December 2018 from the pass appear in this gallery:
One image sys more than a thousend words. You sure learned how to recognize the utmost beautifull things in life as we can see via your Photo's from Today.
What a terrific capture. Excellent composition and subject. My big vote.
Guest
25-Aug-2007 07:01
I guess you just can't say much if you weren't there........ astonishing photograph is about all I've got...
Guest
10-Aug-2007 23:57
Wow doesn't really cover it. What I meant to say is this is an excellent shot. Amazing!!!
Guest
10-Aug-2007 23:57
WOW!
Guest
10-Aug-2007 22:51
So its like this, photos like this turn up to make guys like me never stop snapping pictures. It is photos like this that spread the disease that is having your camera on you at all times, and hoping to get to "that spot" to take "that picture." First mage i have ever "voted" on.
What a picture, it is a story and a warning all in one. It is amazing that you had the foresight to take these pictures back then. People don't realize that photography was not as popular as it is now. Great Great Capture : )
Richard, I had seen this photo before, but I did not know who the photographer was. I am pleasantly surprised to come across it here. You did a fantastic job thirty five years ago capturing the horrors of war. Big Vote.
Guest
29-Mar-2007 20:33
Discovering this gallery. Better late than ever. Am impressed that decades later you are still very much into photography. I would have imagined that when you start photo in such an environment it would be very difficult to keep the passion once back to "normal" life. Voted
Jean-Luc Rollier
15-Feb-2007 14:00
La mort ne peut pas être plus présente que dans cette image.
Impressionnant !
This is a brilliant capture...a chilling image! V.
Guest
27-Jan-2007 02:39
Thank you for the gallery.
Thank you for your stories.
Thank you for your *service*.
Thank you to ALL of you who experienced this first hand in some way, shape or form.
Thank you to ALL of you who are experiencing something like this even as I type.
This one i did not Vote on yet, so that means no comment.
Great expressive shot, if you make a book this really should be the cover picture.
This is the sign for what happend in this War as far as i know by books etc.
There was an invasion with a lot of death and no victory......
the realities of war need to be available through uncensored mediums, such as this... the true eye is always open. the government and media machines would never show us these things. your humanity is unnerving and appreciated.
thank you.
Powerful indeed.
A good thing time goes by and these days Hai Van Pass means; slow trucks and time to enjoy the beautiful vistas towards Danang and Lang Co Beach/Lagoon.
Voted.
Powerful image, Richard. Your description is very good too. It helps a lot for us that never experience this to understand what you guys went through. Thank you for sharing.
Guest
23-Mar-2006 23:53
i still wonder why i left this image without commenting, though i´ve seen it so many times before, i have a feeling that my usual simple comments dont fit at all for this shot,as i believe this one might be so special to you.i´ll just Vote instead.
very impressive image. it talks by itself. bravo and voted.
Keith Liner
29-Jan-2006 23:30
I used to drive trucks up through that pass and the turns were so sharp that you could change the lights in the trailer behind you, ha! Not quite that bad but it was slow going and spooky. I was usually alone and was glad to get over it. I was with a seabee group and we moved lots of equipment around in that area from Danang to Hue and Quang Tri. Lots of pretty country out there, but not like coming home.
Johnny Katchoolik
28-Jan-2006 21:37
really excellent photo.
Guest
28-Jan-2006 19:03
Very haunting and powerful picture. Unforgetable image from an unforgetable time. Voted.
Guest
27-Jan-2006 20:43
I went over the Hai Van after Tet wtih the 35th Combat Engineers. This photo brings back a lot, good and bad. Ronald Gripp, West Hartford, CT
The memories came back in a rush and washed over me like a tidal wave. I spent a lot of time on the Hai Van Pass between 1969-1970. This is where a Marine popped an M40 at me. The grenade landed at my feet and I wasn't able to scoop it up and toss it back like in the movies. I stood frozen as my life literally passed before my eyes. I saw the bad things and the good things, I saw the past, the present and the future but most of all, I saw a huge, neon sign in my mind's eye flashing,"40mil, Oh shit!" It's amazing how powerful the memories are after all these years. Your photos are the real thing, to that I can attest. I'm typing this through tears as I remember my buddies. Welcome home, brother.
Guest
15-Dec-2005 09:19
haunting image. i see a child's face within the adult skull. almost spooky. incredibly well done photo & gallery. thank you so much for sharing & serving.
God knows the horror behind this image!!! Fantastic stuff!! these things need to be awakened. It has certainly stirred my emotions such a powerful picture.
This image goes way past ‘powerful’, stirring the most profound personal feelings. If this were my last vote I would still cast it here. You have done your job well.
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