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Jack Walters in 1965
Xuan Loc South Vietnam 1966


Today
More on photography and the Vietnam War..........



Arriving in Vinh Long, South Vietnam in mid 1965, Jack was assigned to the 114TH Assault Helicopter Co. Working on the unit's U-6 DeHavilland Beaver until it was returned to the Signal Corps (where it was supposed to be!), Jack worked in the 544TH Maintenance hangar on UH-1 Huey Helicopters and engines.
Flying as fill in for both Crew Chief and Door Gunner positions, Jack was able to get some great shots and some great  photos, too!

Being trained for maintenance on Single Engine Fixed wing aircraft, Jack was transferred to the 221ST AVN Co.(O-1) in Vinh Long for a few months before  finally being transferred to the 74TH Recon Airplane Co. O-1(RAC) in Phu Loi, a little North of Saigon (now known as HO CHI MINH City) .  After a very short time he was transferred to the 2ND Platoon of the 74TH located in the small hamlet of Duc Hoa -- ten miles due west of Saigon, and very close to the Cambodia border.   Most of the next two years were spent there, and many of his photos came from, and around there as well.  Jack was finally working on the Cessna 305A,D,E,F or as we knew it, the O-1D model aircraft as seen in the photo above.   Jack's  daughter's name (Lori) was stenciled on the nose cowling of his aircraft for good luck.

It worked.

  Jack quickly acquired the desire to capture the somewhat strange images he encountered on a day-to-day basis. 

With Cameras and other photographic equipment relatively inexpensive (no duties to pay),  Jack assembled the almost obligatory pile of Cameras,  tripods, light meters,  gadgets,  gizmos,  and, of course, "a Mountain of film."

    Serving as a Door Gunner,  Mechanic, Crew Chief, and Recon for both Fixed and Rotary winged aircraft,  Most of the photographs in this series were taken during and around actual recon operations and combat missions.

Photographing  in mostly off limits territory,  he assembled literally thousands of candid images during his 27 month stay in Southeast Asia.  A few have been published in his eBook - "Through a Soldiers Eyes" -Geography and Humanity of a Nation at War, and still more are due out in Volume II in 2008.  Subsequent volumes will follow.

As each photograph was composed, an attempt was made to accurately depict the extremely high temperatures of the area, the gentle people whose country was torn by war, the intensity of combat, and even the strange smells and sounds of this otherwise beautiful country in Southeast Asia. 

1st Aviation Brigade


1ST Aviation Brigade Shoulder Patch
74TH RAC Unit Patch

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