Whats the best site for South Vietnamese and Cambodian army stuff

[zvezdah1]

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[zvezdah1]

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[zvezdah1]

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[zvezdah1]

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[zvezdah1]

dear old dad, he was a major at this time and was with MATA Team 43 (Military Assistance Training Advisor) they operated in the Hau Nghia province at this time, Hiep Hoa was HQ and my dad's section was in Don TOn My.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

[hochiminhtrail]

Hau Ngia province was that not the province were john Paul Vann was an adviser?
Was it not the province were Doug Ramsey was taken as a POW and held captive for over 8 years??

Chris,

I m sure you have read the Bright Shinig Lie by Niel Sheehan.


Ps

great picture you have there.

cheers

Alex

[hochiminhtrail]

Chris

i just got back into the book Bright shining Lie, and yes Hau Ngia was the province were John Paul Vann served, but i think that Van served there in 1965, so i m not sure if your father have met him there???

has your father ever mention him or even Doug Ramsey??

Cheers

Alex

[Patrick Dempsey]

Hello Chris,

there is a wealth of detail for a collector to pore over in those images!

Very interesting to see the Vietnamese OG-107 fatigues with the rank badges on, and the wide variety of headgear being worn.

Just superb.

He did tell me that his first rotation as an advisor in 64-65 was before the best of his tours there, only a half dozen americans and they actually lived in the hamlet with the locals. He liked the intimate contact with the vietnamese people, by the time his second tour in 69 that had all ended.

That is a very interesting observation indeed. I wonder if that was due to orders from above, or a change in the attitudes of the Vietnamese themselves?

Once again for sharing such precious memories of your Father with us, it is quite an honour i can assure you.


Patrick.

[zvezdah1]

Thanks for the kind words.
Hau Nghia province (bright shining lie an exc book) is also the province where Hiep Hoa was overrun in Nov. 1963 and several SF guys were captured, some who later escaped. I think Ike Camacho, Nick Rowe were to of the later escapers captured there. Not sure when Vann arrived, but my dad was there from around august 64 to aug 65.

Dad rarely talked about any of his experiences. But I think the reason it changed, the vietnam war in the very early 60s when it was mostly US advisors with a relatively minor us presence. It was easier to be accepted into the vn community, think that's why he enjoyed that tour best. In this period the US was truly in an advisory role working closely with vN forces, not to be confused with mid-late 60s when american ground forces were there in large numbers and fought exclusively of the vns. One really neat story dad told me was how his two bodyguards carried thompson submachine guns with the stocks removed. He was more afraid of them when they started firing then being captured!

The quality of these pics is rather poor, and camera reproduction has improved now so they can make images directly from slides without having to go to a negative first. So the clarity will be far better, will sort that next week.

I've tried to track down some of his fellow team members but to no avail.

Chris

Hello Chris,

there is a wealth of detail for a collector to pore over in those images!

Very interesting to see the Vietnamese OG-107 fatigues with the rank badges on, and the wide variety of headgear being worn.

Just superb.

That is a very interesting observation indeed. I wonder if that was due to orders from above, or a change in the attitudes of the Vietnamese themselves?

Once again for sharing such precious memories of your Father with us, it is quite an honour i can assure you.


Patrick.

[hochiminhtrail]

were was you dad on his second tour ??

well i guess that later on the things were completly different.

Cheers

Alex

[zvezdah1]

HI Alex,
His second tour, most of his assignment was with USARV (replaaced macv) operating out of long binh, his role was to go to all the firebases, evaluation conditions, equipment, etc and develop new weapons and equipment. I've several hundred slides from his second tour that I've yet to catalog, they too will be printed and I'll have them put on cd and copies to you and Patrick as you both seem very interested and knowledgable on this subject.

And as Patrick mentioned, amazing information can be gleaned from amateur pictures from the era for present day collectors
!Chris

[pete]

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Ive got a 100 missions f4 flight jacket im trying to find the value of. Belonged to a DFC winner. Thought i was fake but ended up getting into contact with the family and it was not fake at all!

[zvezdah1]

Ive got a 100 missions f4 flight jacket im trying to find the value of. Belonged to a DFC winner. Thought i was fake but ended up getting into contact with the family and it was not fake at all!

You might email the vintage productions guy or one of the other reputable dealers listed in this thread, they can probably give you a ballpark.

Chris