I find myself desperate for more pictures, videos, or memories of my dad. I can’t create any new memories and so I search for the old. I have a hard drive of photos and videos that got fried and I’ve been searching for someone to fix it because Dad might be in there. In fact, I know he is. I made a mug with pictures of him on it so he could go places with me (the quality was disappointing but the pictures are still Dad). The wallpaper on my phone is a picture of him and I together. His smile reminds me that he lived, he loved, and he was loved.
I still can’t quite get my head around his death. Grief is a part of my everyday. I don’t look for reasons to be sad about it, I just know it is. He’s gone and my brain doesn’t recognize that story.
Henri Nouwen said, “We celebrate their life and death. We think about them every day. We have their pictures on the wall… They continue to send their spirit and their love to me. They continue to tell me what life is about. The more I hold on to their memories, the more active they are in my heart and in my life. I need them to help me live my life just as they needed me when they were with me. They continue to teach me something about who I am and where I am going and to Whom I belong.” (From Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit)
This quote comforted me so much, reminding me of the “cloud of witnesses” that surrounds us all. I know dad is in that cloud and I wonder who else is there as well? How much do they get to see?
Until I can figure out how to get my fried hard drive working and recover more of my dad memories, I decided to share some memories he shared with us about his time in Vietnam. He had a photo album from his time in Vietnam and my husband made the valid and wise point that one day there would just be this album and if we didn’t know what the pictures were about, we would be missing a piece of history. Together, we went through the pictures, letting him make the captions for them.
Maybe you know or knew someone who was in Vietnam. Maybe they would enjoy this peek into history. My dad was in the United States Air Force and served in Vietnam doing radio communication. The pictures are from Vi Thanh, South Vietnam IV Corps MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam) from 1968. These are some pictures he took and his own commentary on them.
I can still see him sitting on the couch by the window typing out his captions for the photos, a glass of red wine on the windowsill, chuckling to himself. When I read these words, I can hear his voice trying to add details verbally that I insisted he type instead. His sense of humor and sarcasm are evident in so many of the captions.
He lived. He loved. His life has value. So does yours.
Army Spec.4 radio operator Gary Pike. Standing beside a VC flag. 1968.
Unnamed Army personnel on left and Spec. 4 Gary Pike in U.S. Army radio room.
U.S. Army personnel on left and Vietnamese personnel on right.
U.S. Army Pfc radio operator.
U.S. Army personnel relaxing in his Hooch(living quarters).
Left to right(Staff Sgt Howard-Airman E3 Torba- Sgt E4 Singleton-Maj. Pyle (FAC Forward Air Controller pilot.)
Visiting USO entertainers.
Co(unmarried female)compound worker.
unknown Vietnamese woman walking with parasol in traditional dress of
Ao Dai.
Sgt E4 Wolfang (Bob) Becker A1E Birddog crew chief.
Sgt E4 Garry D. Singleton(radio operator) Sgt E4 Thomas (Intelligence Personnel)
L-R man and woman on left are USO entertaining personnel-man on right is U.S. Army personnel.
USO personnel entertaining.
More USO entertainment.
Sgt Singleton and Sgt Thomas entertaining the photographer.
Sgt Singleton in the USAF radio room. No shirt indicates warm environment.
Sgt Becker and Airman Torba relieving stress at the expense of one of the compound
Co’s.
U.S. Army radio operator.
Unknown Army personnel from Army Engineers unit. Man on right is a Sgt E6.
Man on left is in civilian clothes-in uniform he was a Army recon aircraft crew chief-in civilian life he was corporate jet pilot. USO personnel and U.S. Army personnel on right.
Another of the Co’s (unmarried women) who worked in the compound. (A married woman was addressed as Ba)
The devious duo-crew chief’s Sgt Becker and Airman Torba.
L-R Airman 2nd John Harper(Intelligence) middle Army Spec4 Gary Pike-far right Sgt Thomas(Intelligence)USAF.
L-R Army Spec.4 Gary Pike radio operator and unnamed army E7.
USO personnel and army volunteer.
On the left is a container called a connex for storage-behind the connex is sand bagged bunker-the jeep is a specifically constructed Mark105(MK105)communications vehicle(containing VHF-UHF-FM-HF radios with a whip antenna). The tower was for communications as well night time guard duty(it was quite a climb in the dark at 2am to 5am).
Sgt. E4 Garry D. Singleton radio operator USAF. Background to the left the aforementioned comms tower.
Army Spec.4 Gary Pike radio operator.
Ssgt. Howard USAF ranking communications NCO(non-commissioned officer).
Another Co who worked in the compound.
To the left Airman 2nd Harper (Intelligence); to the right Maj. Pyle ranking FAC (forward air controller). Aircraft is an A1E birddog used for recon and directing airstrikes. The barrels in background are 55 gal. double stacked for protection from incoming mortar or recoilless rifle shells.
Unknown Vietnamese army personnel in their comms. room.
Vi Thanh airstrip with jeeps and Hueys(helicopters) during a division operation.
Area surrounding Vi Thanh airstrip with barrels to protect from incoming rounds-large hose for refueling Hueys.
Vi Thanh air terminal in background and Vietnamese military and jeeps in foreground.
Huey helicopter making a delivery with young Vietnamese girls trying to sell some fruit slices and rice rolls wrapped in bamboo.
More offloading of supplies from Huey.
Vietnamese comms. center.
Another view of the Vietnamese comms center.
U.S. Army Chinook helicopter lifting a damaged Huey helicopter for transport for repairs.
Chinook lifting Huey off Vi Thanh airstrip.
U.S. Army single engine recon aircraft foreground. Chinook above tail of recon aircraft in background with numerous other military during division operation.
Huey helicopter lifting off during division operation.
Distant view of USAF C123 making approach to Vi Thanh airstrip.
Huey crew off loading and on loading materiel.
One of the 2 O1E birddog recon aircraft that Maj. Pyle would use to search for VC(Viet Cong) activity from the air.
One of the birddogs that tried to take off too soon after a C123 had taken off previously and was flipped due to the C123s backwash.
Crew chief Bob Becker assessing the damage to the O1E that was flipped due to C123s backwash.
Crew chief Torba securing the engine coweling on one the O1Es prior to takeoff. 2 unknown Vietnamese on the right and not sure who is piloting or who is in the back seat.
C123 off loading cargo.
Hueys in background awaiting orders during division operation.
Tail of C123 on left and another C123 taking off in background. C123s would roll large rubber bladders containing fuel for Hueys during a operation.
Air America aircraft taking off from Vi Thanh airstrip. Air America was alluded to be a CIA(Central Intelligence Agency) operation.
Air America aircraft taxing.
Spec.4 Pike standing in front of an APC(Armored Personnel Carrier). Don’t know the status of the engine or other mechanical parts to the right.
Outside view of the inside of the compound-numerous bunkers surrounded by double stacked 55gallon barrels filled with sand for protection from incoming rounds.
The MK105 communications jeep.
Another C123 taxiing.
Buddhist Pagoda across the water.
Unknown Vietnamese soldier on left with military truck in background inside the compound.
Unknown Army personnel inside Army comm center.
2 Co s who worked in the compound. Co Mai on the left and unknown Co on the right.
View of some of the civilian housing of Vi Thanh.
View looking out from the Vi Thanh airstrip.
Vietnamese family navigating the river in their sampan.
Vietnamese girl who was always hoping to sell some of her coconut-pineapple-rice products during operations at the airstrip.
Airman 2nd Trageser with another of the cute Vietnamese girls selling food at the airstrip.
Vietnamese women on the dirt streets of Vi Thanh.
Vietnamese girl vendor at airstrip.
Vietnamese rice field worker.
Assuming from the cross the structure is Catholic but never heard.
View of unknown river that flowed thru Vi Thanh.
Vietnamese women walking one of the streets in Vi Thanh.
Another picture of one the girl vendors at the airstrip.
Crew chiefs Airman Torba on the left and Sgt. Becker on the right assessing the damage to the O1E birddog that was flipped after hitting the backwash from a C123 that had taken off.
Vietnamese Navy river gun boat.
Assorted river craft.
Army engineers caterpillar that didn’t make it across bridge.
Sampans and other water craft on the river.
Another view of the Vietnamese gunboat.
Another river view.
Lots of river gun boats.
Another view of a gun boat.
Cutting up a down tree on side of the river with gun boat in background.
Aerial view of Binh Thuy airfield. Binh Thuy was near the city of Can Tho.
Storage structures along the river in Vi Thanh.
Aerial view of Binh Thuy airfield with a Chinook on the lower left.
Aerial view of the river with Vietnamese storage structures on the left.
Vietnamese building in Vi Thanh with roof damage from mortar attack.
Aerial view of the river and Vi Thanh surroundings.
Aerial view of Vietnam approaching Binh Thuy airfield from Vi Thanh.
Aerial view from one of the O1E birddogs.
Sgt. Singleton playing ping pong.
Man on left and blonde woman were part of a USO group that were performing the day Sgt. Singleton was about to medevacd to Army infirmary for a week for food poisoning. Sgt. Singleton is in the bed.
Vietnamese Co s doing their chores in the compound.
Sgt. Singleton visiting with the compound Co s.
Co s taking a break.
Army guy-I remember him but not his name.
Army guys I remember but not their names.
Vietnamese compound worker.
