Photos taken in 1970 firefight seen for the first time

[evangilder]

Wow! This guy has one heck of a good eye. Some really great shots in this article.

Vietnam War photos reveal moment U.S. troops unleashed hell on Viet Cong sniper in hills above an Army camp | Mail Online

 

[vikingBerserker]

Those are amazing!

 

[rochie]

brilliant

 

[Wildcat]

Wow, amazing shots.

 

[Gnomey]

WOW! Great shots!

 

[mikewint]

Really spectacular photos. VC tracer fire was green. A night fight was a bit like xmas (not really) as tracer rounds were exchanged

 

[A4K]

Amazing photos...and it sounds like he still managed to escape somehow, albeit wounded...incredible! Thanks for posting Eric.

 

[Wayne Little]

Strewth!

 

[tyrodtom]

Everybody seemed to assume any blood trail was human. Not necessarily so.
That was a jungle, there was still some wildlife left, even in 1970.

 

[Njaco]

I nicked your link on Facebook and added the pics to my Amazing pics thread!

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/pe...crazy-amazing-jaw-dropping-pics-11205-60.html

 

[tyrodtom]

That sort of reminds me of time exporsures of "Mad Minutes" that they'd have at some firebases in Vietnam.
They'd get everybody up at some ungodly hour, like 3am, put everyone on the perimeter, and everything would fire outward into the bush for one minute.
It made for some impressive pictures.
One of the mad minutes was rumored to have caught a sapper attack coming through the concertina wire just by chance.

 

[A4K]

Everybody seemed to assume any blood trail was human. Not necessarily so.
That was a jungle, there was still some wildlife left, even in 1970.

Good point. Hard to believe he could escape that lot without a scratch though.

 

[mikewint]

Not sure of your use of "mad-minute" I can never recall getting up in the middle of the night "just" to shoot at nothing. However, when a Recon unit was trapped and surrounded a "mad-minute" would be called to pin the VC down for a time allowing the unit to break out and run away as fast as we could along some pre-planned route to an extraction site

 

[tyrodtom]

I've seen the mad minute used at more that one firebase. The idea was to shift the timing of it around so the NVA never knew when it might happen.
Some units would use it to get rid of their basic load so it would be replaced with fresh ammo.

 

[A4K]

Some units would use it to get rid of their basic load so it would be replaced with fresh ammo.

Sounds bloody risky.... what if the resupply was delayed??!

 

[rochie]

Hal Moore mentions doing a mad minute a couple of times in " we were soldiers "

 

[tyrodtom]

Sounds bloody risky.... what if the resupply was delayed??!

They do it AFTER their new basic load is on hand.

 

[mikewint]

If you've never been involved in a guerilla-type war, the frustration level is impossible to convey to anyone else. One lone VC with one AK drove an entire camp over the edge. All our actions were small unit so a "Madminute" was an act of desparation

 

[Procrastintor]

That wasnt a fun day for the sniper for sure. "Just another couple bursts, just like yesterd-ooolyyy shiii..." Except in Vietnamese.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Wow such amazing pictures!