Activities during the Vietnam War of United States Marines in Hue, Vietnam during the 1968 Tet offensive. United States Marines prepare to fire a 106mm M40 recoilless rifle. The marines fire a 3.5" M20 rocket launcher. A marine in a flak vest kneels down on the ground and inspects a M29 81mm Mortar. A marine bent over the M29 81mm Mortar assists him. Other marines with camouflaged helmets look at nearby building. A damaged building. Columns of smoke rise from the building. The M29 81mm Mortar team fires a mortar. A marine sticks a ramrod down the tube of the mortar and then pulls it out. A marine places a 106mm recoiless rifle on the tripod. He adjusts the 106mm RR for firing out of a window. A marine stacks fallen lumber. Trees in the background. Marines carrying M16 rifles stand near a brick wall. A dirt road in the foreground. The barrel from a 106mm m40 recoiless rifle moves. A building in the background.
Elements of B Company, 2/47th Infantry (Mechanized) and C Company, 4/39th Infantry, clearing North Vietnamese Army regulars from "Widows' Village" (a hamlet of housing provided by the government of the Republic of Vietnam for widows and children of fallen ARVN soldiers). The action occurs January 31st, 1968 (on "Tet", the Vietnamese Lunar New Year holiday). U.S. troops firing small arms as they proceed across tall grass into the hamlet. Several M 113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) are seen accompanying the troops. A soldier, who has been hit, lying prone between two other soldiers, tries to get up. Flames consuming huts. Riflemen moving cautiously. A slightly wounded soldier, lying on the ground, smiles as he points to his leg as another soldier helps him. APCs advance, firing 50 caliber machine guns. Riflemen staying close behind. Views of a number of huts, in the hamlet, that have not been destroyed. (Note: According to Colonel Sonny Craven, then leader of a combat photo team on the scene, these combat sequences was filmed by soldiers of the 221st Signal Company [Pictorial]). Craven and another photographer, were both wounded in the engagement.) (Vietnam War period).
A U.S. Army helicopter gunships being readied for a mission, at Soc Trang, Vietnam during the Vietnam War. A sign reads 'Welcome To Viking Island, Home Of The Blue Diamond, Devils Of The Delta'. A UH-1B Iroquois helicopter parked at the base. The fronts of the helicopters display a big blue diamond with a caricature of a Viking holding a machine gun under each arm spouting flame. These belong to the 13th Aviation Battalion, 121st Assault Helicopter Company of Tigers and Vikings at Soc Trang, Vietnam. (Tigers had lift misssion and Vikings were gunships.)
Scenes of Vietnamese people as they flee Hue during communist siege of the city in 1968 Tet offensive during the Vietnam War. Refugees with belongings run as city is bombed. Houses burned. Woman cries after crossing remains of a destroyed bridge over river. Scenes changes to one year later: Long line of Vietnamese on way to newly discovered mass grave on March 25, 1969. Vietnamese civilians dig and on March 27, 1969 they begin to uncover bodies in the sand which show signs of torture. Locals try to identify dead. Second mass grave uncovered. Dead bodies and body parts. Third mass burial uncovered. Men at local authorities meeting. Assembly point for hundreds of coffins. Incense burning. Mourners at coffin. Coffin opened and woman looks at remains. Flowers and incense burning on coffins. Buddhist ceremonies shows coffins prepared for procession. Women grieve. Shrine at cemetery.
101st Air Cavalry Dv. of Operation Somerset Plain. U.S. Soldiers inside the ditch, filling sandbags with shovels for making bunkers. African American soldier digging sand. Soldiers seen adjusting and standing near the hows. Supplies hanging on copter CH-47 which is flying. August 1968. (Vietnam War period).
101st Air Cavalry Dv. of Operation Somerset Plain. U.S. Soldier speaks on the telephone. August 1968. (Vietnam War period).