RECENT ENTRIES |
- • Flooding in Britain - 02.14
- • Sochi 2014 Olympics: Reaching the podium - 02.13
- • The 2014 Westminster Dog Show - 02.10
- • 2014 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Soch - 02.07

Translate into:
(Hint: Use 'j' and 'k' keys to move up and down)
March 25, 2013 |
A soldier's eye: rediscovered pictures from Vietnam
Charlie Haughey was drafted into the US Army in October of 1967. He was 24, and had been in college in Michigan before running out of money and quitting school to work in a sheet metal factory. The draft notice meant that he was to serve a tour of duty in Vietnam, designated a rifleman, the basic field position in the Army. After 63 days in Vietnam, he was made a photographer, shooting photographs for the Army and US newspapers, with these instructions from the Colonel: “You are not a combat photographer. This is a morale operation. If I see pictures of my guys in papers, doing their jobs with honor, then you can do what you like in Vietnam.” He shot nearly 2,000 images between March 1968 and May 1969 before taking the negatives home. And there they sat, out of sight, but not out of mind, for 45 years, until a chance meeting brought them out of dormancy and into a digital scanner. At first, it was very difficult for Haughey to view the images and talk about them, especially not knowing the fates of many of the subjects of his photos. When the digitization hit 1,700 negative scans, Haughey put them on a slideshow and viewed them all at once, and didn’t sleep for three days after. He’s slowly getting better at dealing with the emotional impact of seeing the images for the first time in decades. A team of volunteers has worked with Haughey to plan a 28-image show, titled A Weather Walked In, which opens April 5th in the ADX art gallery in Portland, Oregon. The difficulty of keeping notes in a war zone along with the passage of decades has faded the details behind many of the images, and the captions reflect this fact, with many shots of unknown people in forgotten locations at unspecified times. It is hoped that publication of the pictures can yield more information. More images from the collection will be released as the project progresses. You can follow the progress on facebook and Tumblr. Thanks to Chieu Hoi project volunteer Kris Regentin for preparing much of this introduction and the accompanying captions. -- Lane Turner (46 photos total)

Bowed head in truck: Soldier and location unidentified. Charlie's first response to this photo: "It was not uncommon to find anyone with a head bowed for a moment, more often when we were heading out than when we were coming back. Interesting that he has a flak jacket, he's taking precautions on both sides of the fence. M16, a steel pot, a flak jacket, and a prayer."

50 cal gun and head on hand: Main supply route convoy near fire support base Pershing, names and date unknown. Men relax in a truck while reading mail after a mail delivery. Many men would burn or dispose of mail after reading it, as the US Army did not want soldiers carrying personal information that could be used against G.I.s should they be captured. #

Two RTOs (Radio-Telephone Operator) and, possibly, a platoon leader, board a Huey. While many of the particles in this image are grass in the air, some of it is damage to the negative as well. Haughey developed his negatives in well over 100 degree heat in a Conex shipping container, and the images were stored in envelopes for decades, resulting in some damage to them. Names, location, and date unknown. #
More links and information
Charlie Haughey is not a combat photographer - chieu-hoi.tumblr.com
Charlie Haughey Photography - facebook.com
ADX Portland - Adxportland.com