Found Collection of VN Combat Art, Negatives, Contact Sheets

[noexpert]

GI

[noexpert]

At one point one of the guy's in 2/39th asked to take crack at being a "combat artist" himself and drew this portrait of me in one of my sketch books. I'm adding a photo in the next panel for comparison...

[noexpert]

I think he did a pretty good job...

[noexpert]

One of the better condition surviving slides. In the Plain of Reeds, sometime late in 1968.

[noexpert]

Sp 4 Wayne Campbell, PIO took this pic of me w/ Charlie Co. 2/39th...

[noexpert]

Alpha Co., 2/39th @ Rach Kien ready to board. The last man on the far left is Lt Mann, 4th Plt commander who would lose his leg several weeks later. There is a famous photo (taken by the PIO guy who replaced Wayne Campbell) of him being carried on a litter by the Battalion commander Lt Col Schroeder and others through hip deep water to a dust off. He was a great officer and remained in the service after and was one of the officers who helped to rebuild the Army from the wreck it was in the 70's.

[plick27]

outstanding work!!

these works should be in a book, they are definitely worthy of being published.

Thank you for sharing.

 

RJ

[noexpert]

Pen & Ink, colored inks...

[noexpert]

Talk about a blast from the past. These next two definately don't fit into the "combat art" catagory for a number of reasons, but primarily they do not because I did them before I joined the CAT. These were done for Division Psyops during Tet 1968. I was still with the 9th MI Det and our CO volunteered me to provide my "talents" to Psyops on an "as needed" basis.

It was a royal p.i.t.a. because I wound up having to cover two jobs at the same time. I think I did about 20 or 30 of these things...or at least it seemed. At one point the Captain I was laboring for (not with, for) said that a lot of them were being sent to the S. VN Army and then being re-drawn. Probably by some poor schmuck as happy as I was.

 

This clipping is from my local newspaper. Sent one home to my HS art teacher who wrote me up as the Audie Murphy of propaganda artists.

 

These were moments in time happily forgotten until I rediscovered this trove...

[noexpert]

Another leaflet...

 

this one was definately re-drawn....

 

There's also printing on the reverse.

[noexpert]

I don't remember all of the circumstances of this situation...or if I ever knew them...Loache's were supposed to draw fire (great job, right) and this one got hit and went down. I think the co-pilot was hit. At any rate gunships came in, a dust off came, all in the middle of a small firefight. They got the ship up again.

All in a day's work...yikes.

 

Charlie Co. 2/39th

[noexpert]

Track Commander 3/5th

[norwegian blue]

wonderful work, this deserves much better than your cellar, even if it hurts your modesty!

[noexpert]

wonderful work, this deserves much better than your cellar, even if it hurts your modesty!

 

 

Thanks again, to you and everyone else, for all of the kind words. It isn't modesty, trust me but honesty. I never met anyone who makes a living in art who didn't think their work could be better.

 

As a kid my heroes were Harvey Dunn, Tom Lea, John Groth, Alfred Waud, Winslow Homer...and, of course, Bill Mauldin (who wasn't literally a combat artist, but who was one of the greatest ever at portraying the combat soldier.) So when my turn came, I wanted to jump right into those boots... Ya gotta be 19 to have that kind of unmitigated ambition.

 

Whatever else about the Army, there's no other organization that would have said, sure kid, you've never been to art school, never worked in the art field, don't know how to paint, have never used a 35mm camera...come on, we'll publish your work, let you roam around the division wherever you want to go, whenever you want taking pictures and we'll give you these nifty baggy green clothes to wear for free. :thumbsup:

[noexpert]

From some found negatives...

 

Lt. Col Schroeder and Capt. Harden, CO of Alpha Co.

[noexpert]

Capt Harden guiding Schroeder's ship in...

[noexpert]

Col Schroeder's ship approaching...gunships visible in background

[noexpert]

Capt Harden on the Company horn...

[noexpert]

Wayne Campbell from PIO, one of Alpha Co's Tiger Scout's and a "detainee"....taken during monsoon season.

[316th FS 324th FG]

From some found negatives...

 

Lt. Col Schroeder and Capt. Harden, CO of Alpha Co.

 

Looks like a Randall knife on his hip, maybe a model 14?

[noexpert]

Looks like a Randall knife on his hip, maybe a model 14?

 

 

 

I'm not a Photoshop person, so this may be ugly...

[collector]

Photo of a drawing I did of VC POW's...

 

 

Very powerful image.

[noexpert]

Big Daddy

[noexpert]

From The Old Reliable, the division newspaper....This came out in March of '69. I left country in November of '68.

[noexpert]

Spot Award