The Vietnam War (1959-1975) was bloody, dirty, and very unpopular. In Vietnam, U.S. soldiers found themselves fighting against an enemy they rarely saw, in a jungle they couldn't master, for a cause they barely understood. These pictures offer a brief glimpse into life during the Vietnam War.
Combat Action
Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
- Marine Corp flame thrower tank in action
- A soldier uses his flamethrower to clear an area
- A machine gunner and a rifleman firing at the enemy
- A U.S. Air Force HH-3 helicopter crewman firing a mini-gun
- Two soldiers wading through a muddy hole while on a search mission
- Marines take to water
- Soldiers clearing housing during patrol
- Napalm bombs exploding on Viet Cong structures
- A Viet Cong base camp being destroyed
- Aerial View of bombing Viet Cong structures along a canal
- An infantry patrol moves up to assault the last Viet Cong position
- Soldiers moving along a trail during an assault operation
- Marines riding on a M-48 tank
Entertaining the Troops
Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Soldiers
Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
- A Navy gunner mans his 50 caliber machine gun on a utility boat (close-up)
- Soldier taking a break (close-up)
- A soldier with his gas mask on (close-up)
- Young Marine private (close-up)
- A soldier paddling a three-man assault boat down the canal
- Members of the 101st Airborn Division aboard a USAF C-130
- Colonel Robin Olds Being Carried Away From His F-4 Phantom II After His 100th Combat Mission
- Personnel wait at the Bien Hoa Air Terminal for a National Airlines flight home
- President Lyndon B. Johnson Shaking Hands in a Crowd of Troops
Life in the Jungle
Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Wounded
Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
- Marines carrying one of their fellow Marines to the H-34 under heavy firefight
- A nurse tending a patient just out of surgery on a hospital ship
- A nurse checking the medical chart of an injured Marine aboard a hospital ship
- Two nurses talking with a wounded American soldier
- Medical evacuation patients on the deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli
- 1st Lt. Elaine H. Niggemann changes a surgical dressing
- President Lyndon B. Johnson decorating a soldier in a hospital
P.O.W.s
Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Women in the Military
Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
- The first five enlisted women in the Air Force arriving
- Staff Sergeant Ermalinda Salazar, a woman Marine who has been nominated for the 1970 Unsung Heroine Award, holds two youngsters
- A nurse tending a patient just out of surgery in the intensive care ward of a hospital ship
- Two nurses talking with a wounded American soldier wounded
- 1st Lt. Elaine H. Niggemann changes a surgical dressing
- A nurse checking the medical chart of an injured Marine aboard a hospital ship
- President Lyndon B. Johnson talking to nurses and children in Vietnam
Media
Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Views From the Air
Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Helicopters
Picture courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
- Helicopters waiting in a row
- Vietnam War refugees riding an Air Force helicopter
- A huge Sky Crane CH-54A helicopter
- Air Force F-105 Thunderchief refueling in the air
- A U.S. Army soldier directing a UH-1 helicopter
- UH-1D helicopters airlifting soldiers
- Medevac helicopter taking off
- A U.S. Air Force HH-3 helicopter crewman firing a mini-gun
- View from inside a helicopter
