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The War in Vietnam – A Story in Photographs

The war in Vietnam has been described as the first “living room war”—meaning combat was seen on TV screens and newspapers on a daily basis. Newspaper and television crews documented this war much more intensely than they did earlier conflicts. This willingness to allow documentation of the war extended to the military’s own photographers—who captured thousands of images that covered every aspect of the conflict between 1962 and 1975.

When you finish analyzing, categorizing, and captioning all of the photos, you will be asked to curate an exhibit about U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

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Photograph Analysis Questions

Study the previous photograph for 2 minutes. Then answer in the response box that follows:

List the people, objects, and activities you see.
Where is it?
What was happening when this photo was taken?
Why was it taken?

Then:

How might you categorize this photograph — what topic of the war does it cover? (For example: battle tactics, weapons, jungle warfare, or roles of women)
Write a caption for the photograph (one or two sentences describing the image and how it relates to the topic).

Vietnam….Marines riding atop an M-48 tank cover their ears as te 90mm gun fires during a road sweep southwest of Phu Bai

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Operation ‘Yellowstone’ Vietnam: Following a hard day, a few members of Company ‘A,’ 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division, gather around a guitar player and sing a few songs.

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Operation ‘Oregon’ Search and Destroy Mission

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Vietnam….A Sky Trooper from the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) keeps track of the time he has left on his ‘short time’ helmet, while participating in Operation Pershing, near Bong Son

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Soldiers Carry a Wounded Comrade Through a Swampy Area

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Vietnam….Marines of Company H, 2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment, walk through a punji-staked gully

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Wet going – Marine Private First Class J.L. Collins keeps a battery pack dry as he wades through a muddy hole while on a search mission with ‘I’ Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 12 miles south-southwest of DaNang Vietnam.

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Vietnam….A Marine stands watch in an observation tower as Lieutenant Commander McElroy, the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines chaplain, holds mass on Hill 950

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Vietnam….’Home is where you dig’ was the sign over the fighting bunker of Private First Class Edward, Private First Class Falls and Private First Class Morgan of the 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment, during Operation Worth

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Republic of Vietnam…Members of U.S. Navy Seal Team One move down the Bassac River in a Seal team Assault Boat (STAB) during operations along the river south of Saigon

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South Vietnam….Loretta Clause plays cards, talks, etc., with Marines of H&S, 1st Marine Division. She is a volunteer worker for the Red Cross

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Navy Nurses. Lieutenant Commander Dorothy Ryan checks the medical chart of Marine Corporal Roy Hadaway of Calera, Alabama aboard the hospital ship USS repose off South Vietnam.

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South China Sea….A nurse tends a patient just out of surgery in the intensive care ward of the hospital ship USS Repose (AH-16). The ship is steaming off the coast of Vietnam a few miles south of the 17th parallel.

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When you're done

Military photographers took these pictures to document military operations, equipment, and personnel — but their photographs also tell a story. It is a story about America’s sons and daughters, young men and women who fulfilled their duty to their country by serving in the war in Vietnam.

You are a curator who has been asked to use these images to plan a photography exhibit. The exhibit should help people understand the impact of U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

Write one sentence summarizing the main message of your exhibit.
List the sections that the exhibit will be divided into (these should be based on the topics of the war that you identified for the various photos).
Under each topic, list the names of the photographs that fit in that topic and the captions you wrote for them.
Think of other resources that you could use to learn more information about the war to provide more historical background in your exhibit.

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Interactive Data

To the extent possible under law, National Archives Foundation has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to “The War in Vietnam – A Story in Photographs”

Vietnam….Marines riding atop an M-48 tank cover their ears as te 90mm gun fires during a road sweep southwest of Phu Bai

Operation ‘Yellowstone’ Vietnam: Following a hard day, a few members of Company ‘A,’ 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division, gather around a guitar player and sing a few songs.

Operation ‘Oregon’ Search and Destroy Mission

Vietnam….A Sky Trooper from the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) keeps track of the time he has left on his ‘short time’ helmet, while participating in Operation Pershing, near Bong Son

Soldiers Carry a Wounded Comrade Through a Swampy Area

Vietnam….Marines of Company H, 2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment, walk through a punji-staked gully

Wet going – Marine Private First Class J.L. Collins keeps a battery pack dry as he wades through a muddy hole while on a search mission with ‘I’ Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 12 miles south-southwest of DaNang Vietnam.

Vietnam….A Marine stands watch in an observation tower as Lieutenant Commander McElroy, the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines chaplain, holds mass on Hill 950

Vietnam….’Home is where you dig’ was the sign over the fighting bunker of Private First Class Edward, Private First Class Falls and Private First Class Morgan of the 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment, during Operation Worth

Republic of Vietnam…Members of U.S. Navy Seal Team One move down the Bassac River in a Seal team Assault Boat (STAB) during operations along the river south of Saigon

South Vietnam….Loretta Clause plays cards, talks, etc., with Marines of H&S, 1st Marine Division. She is a volunteer worker for the Red Cross

Navy Nurses. Lieutenant Commander Dorothy Ryan checks the medical chart of Marine Corporal Roy Hadaway of Calera, Alabama aboard the hospital ship USS repose off South Vietnam.

South China Sea….A nurse tends a patient just out of surgery in the intensive care ward of the hospital ship USS Repose (AH-16). The ship is steaming off the coast of Vietnam a few miles south of the 17th parallel.

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