LONGHORN 77 LAI KHE & PHU LOI SOUTH VIETNAM
1ST AVIATION BATTALION, 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION
RICK INCROCCI
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Another helicopter crash. It was a small observation chopper. Two men were aboard. We found an American body not far from the crash with a bullet in his head. I believe this was June 27, 1967. I also learned that one of the men was Capt. Alfred Murphy.
An injuried Vietnamese with his family.
VC suspects. We had a Vietnamese informant sitting in a jeep with a sandbag over his face. We had all the males of this village file out one-by-one. If he shook his head "yes", then they were put aside. The soldier on the left is simply putting the suspected VC's head down. Contrary to popular liberal belief prisoners weren't abused or beaten. They were taken away after this and questioned further. The Americans are of the 1st Infantry Division. Great soldiers- well trained and well disciplined.
Same VC suspects. I think we ruined their entire day.
Captured weapons.
This civilian bus hit a land mine that was meant for one of our tanks. I believe most everyone was killed- old men, women and children. I was sickened by the sight of it. You only hear of these events when it's our fault. You can see a passenger frozen in position at his moment of death - brain matter was dripping out his head. According to Wikipedia, this was on June 27, 1967. Twenty-three civilians were killed when their bus struck a VC mine in Binh Duong Province, southeast of Lai Khê.
More bodies from the same civilian bus.
Same civilian bus. There were body parts all over the road. I seriously had to watch where I stepped.
BANG! Take that! It's good not to be on the ground there.
KAA-BOOOM! Take that, too!
The rest of these photos are not for joking, and not for the faint of heart. They were soldiers, like us, and deserve the respect that the fallen are entitled to. I took these photos to record the war, and not to disgrace the dead.
May they all rest in peace.
This last group of photos were taken at a Special Forces camp at Bu Dop that the VC attempted to overrun. The idiots.
More Bu Dop.
RIP. More Bu Dop. You must give credit to the enemy. They really did loose far more soldiers than we did, yet they never gave up. I would have hated to have been on their side- there's nothing worse than being under American fire power.
Well, it was fun while it lasted. But all good things must come to an end. MG Hay pinned SGT. E-5 stripes on me a few weeks before I was to go home. Then, sometime in late January, 1968, I said good bye to my comrades and my "other friends". Never to return....
It's hard to believe that today Vietnam is actually a vacation spot. Holy shit! 50 years ago we were killing each other, and today we're like old friends. Well, I shouldn't be surprised. Look at Japan and Germany.
For the record, I really liked the Vietnamese people. They were kind and friendly- except those that shot at me.
PHOTO GROUP FOUR
I would never fly in a helicopter again, I mean, WHY....?
GRAPHIC IMAGES
Approximately 12,000 helicopters saw action in Vietnam, and logged 9,713,762 flight hours. It's believed the Huey and the AH-1 Cobra have more combat flight time than any other aircraft in the history of warfare. 2,709 were killed in the Huey. 1,074 pilots, 1,103 crew members and 532 passengers.