68-69 through the eyes of a young man

[Ambrosia76]

First if this is in the wrong section I apologize, please move it. I felt it didn't fit in SYS since the actual Photos aren't mine but my Dad's.

For the past several months I have been working on an editing project for my Dad. He wanted photos he had taken during his time in Vietnam scanned and saved to a disk. I did that and with his permission edited them to include a border and the words he had written on the back of most of them.

These are pics he had originally sent home to his parents.I think doing this project I learned a little more about what made my Dad the man he is today. As I went through the pics and saw the things he saw I tried to imagine how it felt to be a young,southern,small town boy that had never traveled to more than a few states, being half way around the world and seeing and experiencing these things for the first time.

One thing I did notice as I did these and that is most are pictures of happy times,sites he saw, fun he had with his buddies, things a young man would send home to ease the mind of his worried mother. There were no pics of the horrors he saw,the fear he felt, the things I had heard him talk about in stories with other war heroes over the years, the things that still keep him up at night sometimes. He didn't need those pictures to remember,those images are forever burned into his mind.

My father is a hero in my mind. Not because of the purple heart or other medals he earned. But because he left here a vibrant young man and came back with a broken body and shattered mind, and yet he is proud to have served his country, proud to be an American soldier.

Ok I will get on with the pics before I make myself cry again.

Here is the set on flicker:

Vietnam


Some of my Favorites:

[metallion58]

Just went through the whole series on Flickr.
Incredible piece of history there, not mentioning a big load of work for you.
I'm just at a loss for words.
Hats off to you and your Dad !

BTW, Loved the caption an Scan 41 "I was in a hurry and didn't focus right"
To think that we still use that excuse over 40 years later...

[Bruce A]

I'll get to the pics later, but what you wrote is a really beautiful tribute to your father. He should be as proud of you as you are of him.

[Ambrosia76]

Yeah there were a few that were so out of focus I didn't bother scanning them. But I also thought it telling that he kept even the most blurry ones, while now we are so quick to through them away,they were his memories even if they weren't 'perfect'. Most were taken with a Polaroid camera,and a few with a 35 mm.

[Ambrosia76]

Originally Posted by Bruce A

I'll get to the pics later, but what you wrote is a really beautiful tribute to your father. He should be as proud of you as you are of him.

Unfortunately most of the time I don't think he is, but I understand as I am as hard to please as he is,I inherited his OCD perfectionism. Also my mother has done her part to try and destroy any relationship he has with anyone. So I just except what I get and love him anyway.

[lunathea]

I checked out the whole set, it was incredible. He captured so much in those photos, I went through a variety of emotions while looking at them: from being in awe at the beauty of what he captured to chills of his injuries to laughing out loud at the pictures of him and his mates. Thanks so much for sharing, it is inspiring. You did a lovely job putting that print in as well, it adds so much to them

[MindyRaeL]

This really is amazing. So touching, and a great piece of history. I'm sure it was a lot of work to put it together, but thank you so much for sharing!

[Ambrosia76]

Thank you all. It was a long project. I laughed, I cried, and I was in awe.

[WooD]

I checked them all out, nice set.

I've got a box of old pictures my cousin gave me that he took while there. His wife found them, and she didn't want them in their house. Not happy moment shots like yours.

[Krusty79]

That's a project to be proud of! TFS.

It's a shame that the returning veterans were treated like villains when they should have been treated as heroes. Unfortunately, many did not get the medical/psychological help they needed. I don't think the term PTSD existed back then.