War Stories from Vietnam Combat photographers
All week we've been telling "Untold helpful" As a salute to experienced persons of the Vietnam war. most of those stories contained photographs and film from an elite group of photographers known as DASPO. DASPO is temporary for "Department of the Army Special photo taking Unit, Hundreds of men willingly subscribed to this dangerous assignment, to stand in the line of fire and capture the "facets of War, Here are the stories of still shooter Dick Durrance, And battle cameraman Ted Acheson. But my personal mission was to try and realise what it was that lay behind man's urge to fight.
I toted a camera of my own. those individuals I shot for the army went to the Pentagon. i never saw them. we might see contact sheets, and that's all.
Most memorable for me was the very first day of the Tet offensive. I is at Da Nang. And on the list of attacked the base that [-censured-=https://www.bestbrides.net/signs-that-vietnamese-women-like-you/]vietnamese girls[/-censured-] night, blown up a fuel depot, So giant big fire. and subsequently morning the ARVN rangers and the US troops pushed the NVA back out of the village. business women who'd been wounded in the fighting were coming at us.
I came back printed them up 1968 and the number of individuals who were interested in a soldier's story in 1968 did not call forth a single finger. Nobody was attracted. I put 'em off of. i did not look at them for 19 years.
Ted Acheson / DASPO erectile dysfunction Cameraman 1968 69
"A still cameraman usually requires a shot and jump down. A motion guy has to stand there for about 10 12 seconds to take the image. And then not simply one picture, He has to take another picture because you've got to build a sequence right? it, You're doing this and you're exposing your body to incoming.
I came in 2 weeks after the Tet pungent in 1968. And that camera's probably for the lens on it about 40 pounds. The belt was another 15. for that reason, you need sweat dripping down. palms are in a bag changing this stuff. Putting it back into the digital camera. You are absolutely steeped. plus you've got to get back up and shoot some more. Cause in Vietnam if you went purchasing firefight to cover you never found one. But if you weren't browsing one, The darndest moments it would happen.
to be honest, the primary times in there, An role play game, the rocket propelled grenade, They probably saw this huge lens sticking out and thought it was a weapon. They shot an RPG in, Blew myself and an ABC cameraman about 100 feet from where we were rising. i didn't get a scratch on me, definitely,
Ken Clarke / Pritzker Military Museum and Library ceo and CEO
"It is now that the men of DASPO and the men who served during the Vietnam war need to start thinking their legacy, And start collecting their archives that are in their attics or basements and making sure those are put in good hands for generation x. And it's really now for them to tell their story. About a year and half ago we started working with some Vietnam war veterans who were combat professional photographers to put on an exhibit featuring their photography. ended up more than 200 guys in this unit. I think the Vietnam war is not very well realized,
wang Durrance: "What I think I would like people to get is to be able to the human cost of war. the money to the soldiers, The cost to the civilians, The cost to the.
We're nearly 50 years later and now there's an interest in really trying to keep in mind war as a way of trying to understand all wars. And so I'm delighted these wonderful pictures all these guys took is a great way to introduce people to the face of war.
We're pleased with what we did here, Many soldiers are proud of the things they're doing. And it comes often at a horrible cost,
you can look at Dick Durrance's still photographs and Ted Acheson's film footage in the "facial looks of War" Exhibit at the Pritzker uniform Museum and Library on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It runs now by means of May. and in addition, You can read more about DASPO and see all of our Untold Stories, As well as Tribune's hour documentary, By simply clicking these links.