Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: nam

Roscar Siminski, Gil Wall, and Hoot Headrick meet the local rice farmers. This photo was taken just a few yards from the concertina wire boundary which separated us from Vietnam.... According to Jim Lovins, we who served in SSDP could be sorted into two groups--the Townies (most of whom drank), and the Heads (few of whom went into town with any regularity). There's some truth to the claim, though it oversimplifies what was actually a rather complicated social arrangement. And Gil Wall wouldn't fit into such a breakdown; unlike most of us, he avoided everything mind-altering. FWIW, Jim was a Townie; I was a Head. Mostly, though, we were just two guys running teletypes in a hostile environment. Now we're older guys with heart problems who occasionally trade emails. Even we Heads sometimes had native encounters. This was one. It's one of my favorite Vietnam pix. Pleiku, Republic of Vietnam, 1971.

My first sports photo , from the second roll of film taken with my then-new Minolta SR-T 101. Pleiku, Republic of Vietnam, 1971. If I'd got the focus right, this would have been a terrific picture.

Got up early one morning to shoot pix of the choppers at sunrise. (It's likely, actually, that I'd just gotten off-shift. Mostly worked from 6pm to 7am....) Pleiku, Republic of Vietnam, 1971.

The supply room for Signal Support Detachment Pleiku, Republic of Vietnam, 1971.

Gil Wall, out exploring; taken on the outing which began with this photo and includes this one . Pleiku, RVN, 1971. Our communications center was a fairly high-tech operation for the time, and Gil was one of the folks who kept the equipment operational. Since my email address is quite public, every now and then I hear from my Vietnam colleagues. Gil and I traded a few notes about a year ago; he'd evidently found this entry in my since-abandoned weblog. He's still doing technical work, I gather; here's his website . He's living in suburban Denver, these days. Taken with my brand-new Minolta SR-T 101.

Pleiku, Republic of Vietnam; 1971. All I can tell you for sure is that this hut was on the hospital complex. Camera: Minolta SR-T 101.

Where I lived in Vietnam: Ward 1 of the 71st Evacuation Hospital, in Pleiku. By 1971 the 71st was but a pale ghost of itself, and most of the hospital complex had been either ceded to the local Signal Corps folks (that would include me) or completely abandoned. So I spent my Vietnam year living in a hospital ward. This was the social area, between the wards. If I'm not totally disoriented, the building to the left was the latrine (better than the word implies, but...) and that on the right was Ward 1. Beyond the fences, and up the hill, you can see a corner of one of the large tropospheric antennas which apparently mean Pleiku to everyone who was stationed in the Central Highlands. Camera: Minolta SR-T 101

A Veterans Day memory. Memories, unfortunately, are fragile.... Members of Signal Support Detachment Pleiku, or perhaps its predecessor Company A of the 146th Signal company, relax out in front of the barracks in late 1970 or early 1971. This view shows one of the walkways at the Pleiku Army Hospital, with Tropo Hill a rather ghostly presence in the background. Although I recognize most of these faces, I can't seem to come up with any names. Sorry, guys; if you want to help, feel free. Photo by Jim Lovins Lots of notes on the Flickr copy of this photo . Worth a look.

Pleiku's 71st Evac was still a functioning hospital in 1971, but it had become a small-scale operation by the time I and my mates arrived. All in all, we Signal folks thought the medical operation a mysterious and wonderful thing; we shared the complex but had little interaction with the professional staff, and less with the patients. Here's one of those patients out catching some rays as he recovers from his injuries. I remember this as a unique event; it was pretty rare for us to see the evacuees except as they arrived or left the complex. We did see, and admire, the Medevac crews. This chopper's crew is on-board and the chopper's ready to leave on another rescue. The scenery beyond the helicopter pad is the Pleiku Airbase. Camera: Minolta SR-T 101 Revision 12/8/05: Replaced the original photo with a far better scan. Hadn't previously noticed that the rotor was turning....

All dressed up; no place to go.... Leaving Nam, 1971: A bunch of strangers, and a few friends, waiting for the Freedom Bird to take us home to the States. In my experience, Cam Ranh Bay was sand, cheap shacks, and lots of G.I.s. My Vietnam near-year started at Cam Ranh on January 30; it ended at the same post on December 15. One of my very favorite pictures. Camera: Minolta SR-T 101. Updated to newer scan 11/27/05. Unfortunately, both the only existing print and the negative are damaged beyond my ability to fully repair them. Added to Cream of the Crop as my (current) personal favorite picture 1/8/06. Explored #22 (7/23/2007) on Flickr. Thanks, everyone!

Vietnam in the morning, 1971. This is Ward One of the 71st Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku, RVN; home of Signal Support Detachment Pleiku at that time, but once a crucial part of a large hospital. In the background are the water tower and a corner of one of the large tropo antennas everyone associated with the Signal Corps in Pleiku. During my year in Nam, I first lived in Ward Two, then moved to Ward One when a less public room, suitable for NCOs (and real people, for that matter), became available there. Camera: Polaroid SX70

"The war ... has been over for a long time; there are names and events people knew they would never forget which, by now, they have forgotten they ever knew." ---Randall Jarrell Members of Signal Support Detachment Pleiku (SSDP), or perhaps Company A of the 146th Signal Company (two names, same outfit), posing by one of the wards at 71st Evac. Jim likely took this fine photo in early 1971. Unfortunately, neither he nor I can attach names to these faces; my memory, I've learned, is more fragile than I'd like to believe. Do notice the nice puppy. Several years ago Jim and I pooled our Vietnam pictures and shared what little we remembered on a website, which we called "Welcome (back) to SSDP." That site's gone, the victim of an ISP switch. Perhaps someday we'll rebuild; meantime, here's a piece of our past. If you recognize these folks, please annotate the picture. Thanks! Camera unknown Photo by Jim Lovins