These extraordinary
Super 8mm home movies from the
Vietnam War, come from a member of the "
Ravens".
The Raven Forward Air Controllers, also known simply as
The Ravens, were fighter pilots used for forward air control in a covert operation in conjunction with the
Central Intelligence Agency of the
United States in
Laos during
America's Vietnam War. The Ravens provided direction for most of the air strikes against communist
Pathet Lao targets and
People's Army of Vietnam's infiltrators in support of the Laotian
Hmong guerrilla army.
SCENE #1: (00:00:00)
Riding in jeep and following bus down road in Viet-Nam with passengers just hanging on the best they can. Busses do not stop for men and they just have to jump on.
Motorcycles are often used, and whatever number of people they can fit on the motorcycle are taken. Pedestrians just walk wherever they want.
Americans have to learn not to run across a street so that cyclists and others can see them and drive around them.
Children shown wearing white are schoolchildren. This movie was taken as we were going north out of
Tuy Hoa and then toward the beach for a holiday—Tet. Whoever can make it goes to the beach to swim during Tet. Of course, wherever we go, the children want their picture taken.
SCENE #2: (02:14:05) Preparation for a funeral procession, and then the cemetery.
SCENE #3: (04:14:00)
Army compound at a Forward Operating
Location.
Troops planning operation.
SCENE #4: (04:50:05)
Vietnamese Army Forward Operating Location showing life in preparation for attacks. (06:48:05)
Firing of 105’s are shown.
SCENE #5: (
07:53:10)
F-100 going in to drop
500# bomb on target. (08:07:00) F-100 at altitude, taken from F-100 flown by “
Raven 58” (
Herb 31 flying F-100). (09:07:00) Reconnoitering for targets in Viet-Nam. … (10:29:10)
Targets bombed in Viet-Nam.
Smoke is from bombs.
SCENE #6: (11:16:10)
Trail coming off of
Ho Chi Minh Trail and into S. Viet-Nam in
Phu Yen Province.
SCENE # 7: (13:19:05)
Target marked for airstrike (white smoke) in Viet-Nam.
CBU (
Cluster Bomb Unit) dropped on target (fire flashes).
SCENE #8: (08:07:00) Reconnoitering for target—found structure hidden in trees @ (15:10:10), center-right. (
Brown object under trees.) Reconnoitering for targets at times is very difficult and it takes a lot of training to be able to discern a target at a glance.
SCENE #9: (15:17:10) Trail and rice paddies in Viet-Nam west of Tuy Hoa.
SCENE #
10: (16:19:15)
River at the base of the eastern edge of the Bolavens
Plateau. …
Rice paddies and bombed targets.
SCENE #11: (17:31:05)
Kim Chi and Mai at their home in Tuy Hoa. Mai is wearing new shoes, and has never worn shoes before, so she has a hard time walking. Kim Chi had one of the very few refrigerators and TV’s in town.
SCENE #12: (20:31:10)
Cows walking down the town street and out into the rice paddies. … (21:03:00)
Chop Chi, the mountain is shown in the background. It is a large mountain south of Tuy Hoa. … (21:22:15) Kim Chi (in red hat) and friends sitting on beach.
SCENE #13: (21:49:10) Kim Chi and Mai in Tuy Hoa overlooking town from their balcony.
And then, Raven 58 (Herb 31) with Mai on balcony. Mai, along with her sister
Phuong, were brought to the
U.S. in
1975 as
Parole Refugees during the evacuation of
Saigon. … (24:07:10) Kim Chi walking around balcony. … (25:02:10) A
Buddhist Temple can be seen in the background on a mountain top. … (25:58:00) Kim Chi going to market. … (26:44:05) Raven 58 (Herb 31) is seen walking to market. … (27:02:10) Kim Chi and Mai beside CINCFAC PHU
YEN jeep. … (27:34:05) Kim Chi and Mai with friends at beach
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting?
Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: "01:00:12:00 --
President Roosevelt is seen meeting with
Winston Churchill at the
Quebec Conference."
This film is part of the
Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the
USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit
http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
- published: 26 Jul 2015
- views: 2007