Wartime photographs by Vietnam veterans, with words taken from the poem, Vietnam, They Ask, So What Was It Like, by Sgt Clyde B Canny of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
From an exhibition curated by Marissa Roth
Vietnamese fishermen heading out in their sampan to the South China Sea from the port in Nha Trang, Vietnam
Michael Olson — U.S. Army, Specialist 4, 981st M.P. Sentry Dog
Nha Trang, Vietnam 1969-70
Vietnam
They Ask
So What Was It Like
I felt so young
I felt so old
I felt so hot
I felt so cold
sometimes wet
sometimes dry
Joe Kempt, 1st Squad machine gunner from Louisiana, East of Tay Ninh, Vietnam July 1969
Bill Noyes — Sergeant E-5, 3rd Platoon, B Company, 2nd Battalion of the 22nd Regiment, 25th Infantry Division
Vietnam September 1968 – September 1969
still can hear
the choppers fly
a weapon fires
someone cries
some would live
some would die
the still of night
till cannons roar
knock mighty trees
to jungle floor
the smell of life
the smell of death
a newborn baby
draws first breath
it don’t mean nothin’ *
but that’s a lie
now there’s time
to stop and cry
take the hill
let it go
we still ask why
do any know
*This expression was commonly used to defer painful reactions to battlefield experiences to a time when they could safely be processed.
Unfortunately, for some, that time has yet to come.
USO performance at Fire Base Rawlins, Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam, November 1969
David Fahey — Spec 4, US Army, 25th Infantry, 4th Battalion, 23rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade
Vietnam and Cambodia, September 1969 – September 1970
Sergeant Burgie, my best buddy in Vietnam, Cambodia, May 1970
David Fahey —Vietnam and Cambodia, September 1969 – September 1970
Mortar batallion, Cambodia, May 1970
David Fahey — Vietnam and Cambodia, September 1969 – September 1970
Boy with his little man, Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam, November 1969
David Fahey — Vietnam and Cambodia, September 1969 – September 1970