Historical Photos

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During the early summer of 1968, E/51st stood down for a welcomed break and held a beach party in the company area. As Tet was over, and all of the cities and towns recaptured, most of the teams were in and able to attend festivities. This allowed quite a number of the men to enjoy a great time without sweating the chance of a mission at "O'Dark Thirty." Consequently all had the opportunity to taste real B-B-Q steaks, toss down ice cold beer and swap recent bush stories. No hint as to where the steaks and beer in such quantity came from though. There were even some South Vietnamese women present to partake in our fun.
The pictures seen in this section were donated by Bob Wheeler and this article was put together by him, Jerry Howard and Bob Simpson. It took all of us to put names with faces and we still didn't get them all. If we missed someone you know or a name is incorrect, please email in the name. In the photo above are from left to right: Bob Wheeler, Steve Chaney, Clyde Bonner and Bob Simpson. Click here to view the rest of the photos.

 

Photo Courtesy of Tower

Other photos of Hill 1362
 

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This chopper is taking a LRRP/ Ranger team off of Hilltop 1362, better known as LZ Pineapple or Mad Mac's Mountain. Because of the far distances of insertions of our teams, it was necessary to establish a radio-relay site for communication. Two teams would rotate on 1362, easy pickings for the NVA if they dared to mess with "the men with painted faces".

Photo Courtesy of Tower

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Marine and Navy personnel arrive on the scene secured by LRRP/Ranger Team Georgia and Oklahoma in the fall of 1969 in a body recovery of 2 F-4 pilots. While on the mission, the LRRP/Rangers also discover the remains of another crash of a navy-marine transport helicopter; taking several Americans off the MIA list.

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Team #6


Left to right standing:
Vic Valeriano,
Robert "Bob" Clarke,
Franklin T."Willie" Williams,
Paul A. "Killer" Rosselle,
and Earl Toomey;
kneeling left to right:
Anthony T. "Zucch" Mazzucchi
and Mark Brennan.

More Team Photos
 

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Cu Chi Tunnels

John Fritzinger issues instructions from a meeting room from deep within the Cu Chi tunnel complex. Located just outside of Saigon, the tunnels were started during the war with the French and were further developed during the "American" war. Over 100 miles of underground tunnels once existed, enabling the VC to wage war close to the capital city without being detected. Cu Chi was one of the heaviest bombed and defoliated areas in Vietnam. After the forest died, it was set on fire. The extent of the tunnels however remained essentially undetected throughout the war. Cu Chi was the AO of the 25th Division.

Photo courtesy Michael "Ho" Chu

Other photos and related story.

Nguyen the LRRP Dog

There may be some argument on this, but I think/recall his name was Nguyen. There may have been two dogs with that name, but this one was the first.

Photo courtesy of Tom Nash

 



More history:

196th LRRP Detachment: 1966-1967
In Country
Reunions