The beginning.

In 1967 I was on the verge of being drafted and the Vietnam conflict was raging. I decided to take control rather than have the military decide my destiny. I went to the local Army recruiting office and began to look at the types of schools I could sign up for if I enlisted. This would mean an extra year of active duty but I believed it was the only way I could have some control of where I was going.

At the recruiting office I looked through the book that listed all of the Army service jobs. The book listed every job in the Army and it was as thick as a big city phone book. When I got to P I came across a listing for Motion Picture Photography and Still Photography. Now these sounded like great jobs and much more interesting and safer than being in the infantry.

I enlisted in the Army with a written contract giving me a guarantee that I would be enrolled in the Army school for Motion Picture Photography. I was on my way. I had learned about the "contract" from my older brother who had a bad experience in the military but had gained valuable knowledge which he passed on to his younger brother. Thanks Perry, for this invaluable information. It gave me the control I was looking for.

Off I went to Basic Training at Fort Benning, Georgia where I would see lots of red clay that turned into red dust in the heat of late Spring. After completing Basic Training I came back to Rochester for a short leave then headed for the Army School of Photography at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. When I arrived I was told that the Motion Picture school was closed out and I would have to wait several weeks to get in. If I was willing to take Still Photography instead I could start within a week. Remember, I had a contract, so it was my choice.

I decided that I didn't want to wait several weeks for the motion picture program so I decided to take Still Photography. That was the beginning of my new love. When I started I had no knowledge of photography but quickly found that it was a way to express my heart and soul and my view of the world in the images I created.

After completing the Army's 13 week Still Photography training program I received my first assignment. When I was at the end of Basic Training we were asked to fill out a "Dream Sheet" indicating where we would like to be assigned when we completed our advanced training. I thought if this is a real dream sheet why not shoot for the moon. So I put down Germany. My thought was if I choose somewhere other than the US I would have a better chance and maybe I could avoid Vietnam. Well, my dream came true and my first assignment was just outside of Frankfort, Germany.

For the next year I served as a photographer and assistant editor of a battalion newspaper. For the most part, my job was a lot of fun. I continued to learn more about photography as well as how to write and publish our little paper. During this year I also had opportunities to shoot several sports car races including the Grand Prix of Germany. Somehow my buddies and I found a way to get free press passes into the pits for these races as Army Press Photographers. Go figure. Well, I was still managing to have some control of my life.

As I neared the end of my year in Germany I had been told (by trusted friends) to avoid spending more than a year in any duty station. The reason being, once they got to know you, the people in charge would find more for you to do that may not be so enjoyable. So it was nearing my time to move on. The one place that I knew I could volunteer to go was Vietnam. That was a slam dunk. By this time I had done enough research to know that a photographer was no more in danger in Vietnam than living in most big cities in the US.

After calculating the time needed to process my request, I submitted my paperwork, asking to be reassigned to Vietnam. My request was approved, what a surprise, and my orders were ready to be cut for my departure from Germany. The great thing was that I had many friends in Headquarters Company. They asked me when I would like to depart and how long of a leave I wanted in the US before being trained and shipped of to Southeast Asia. Again I had some control of my situation. I departed from Germany just before Thanksgiving and was home until the first week of January. What a great stroke of luck and good planning. I was home for Thanksgiving, my birthday, Christmas and New Year's.

One other benefit of my timing was something that President LBJ had done. He had legislation passed that said that anyone serving in Vietnam that returned with less than 6 months remaining on active duty would be discharged early. Well, I knew a good thing when I saw it. Of course, my planing to be reassigned to Vietnam included returning to the U.S. with less than 6 months left. Bingo!

In January 1969 I arrived at the 124th Signal Company on a large Army base in the central highlands of Vietnam. While attending photography school someone, who had just come back from Vietnam, told me how he had become a scavenger for scarce supplies. This gave him the opportunity to travel all over Vietnam. He told me how he was able to catch rides on choppers and planes to where ever he needed to go. Shortly after getting settled in my new home I told the officer in charge of the photographers that if he needed anything I would be able to get it for him. Because many of my friends had been reassigned to Vietnam I had contacts all over the country and they were more than willing to help me get what ever I needed and would put me up for a week or so while I was visiting their unit. For the rest of my year in Vietnam I spent as much as a week or two every month visiting my friends in many exotic locations in Vietnam.

In January 1970, I was returned to the reality of the U.S. to a rude and unexpected cold shoulder from my country and friends. While I was gone the "war" had become very unpopular. Anyone who served in Vietnam was guilty by association of supporting the war. I quickly learned to keep my mouth shut and not mention my service in Vietnam. I was back and that was all that mattered.

More to come in my next posting. I have posted a couple of images I was able to keep as a reminder of my work as an Army Photographer in Vietnam.

This was the beginning of my journey as a photographer. Much more to come as I fill in the next forty two years. Stay tuned.