[1965 VIETNAM WAR HOME MOVIE]

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1965

Description:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/FWOxHVKCOGE
Part 2: https://youtu.be/wBgjhbCxyeE

Shot by an unknown American military man or contractor, this home movie takes viewers to Vietnam, showing a slice in the day in the life of soldiers in an unidentified area (possibly Vandegrift Fire Base) near Da Nang in Vietnam. It shows a CH-47 Chinook making a delivery of cargo and picking up troops and some combat action. We believe this dates to 1965 but it could be later. NOTE: unfortunately, a large portion of this film was shot with lint or hair in the "gate" of the camera, obscuring a lot of the action.

This film opens with shots of an Esso gasoline semi-truck (:03). A military man in camouflage cuts in front of the camera (:08). A covered jeep runs down the line (:08). A truck delivers sand bags (:18). A woman rides on the back of a motorcycle behind a covered jeep (:37). A dark blue Citroen Traction Avant runs down the street (:37). A Vietnamese father and son ride a blue motor scooter (:41). A bus from Da Nang drives by (:59). Transport vehicles haul cargo (1:21); mountains rise in the background (1:21). A bazooka is fired off (2:07). The camera pans over lush vegetation and rolling hills which might be Happy Valley (3:23). Soldiers operate the radio (3:51). Another soldier waves a metal detector over the ground searching for buried land mines (3:57). Smoke billows up from the ground from an exploded mine (4:01). Planes cross paths in the sky (4:25). Another mine erupts (4:46). The camera follows a plane between trees (5:49). A helicopter zooms by (5:53). The butt of a helicopter is captured as it lifts off (6:15). A man is drug up by a rope into the helicopter (6:41). Troops fill a small boat (7:15). Smoke billows from a hilltop (7:34). Foot soldiers step from a small boat (7:37) into grassy lands. Troops paddle with hand oars across the water (8:46). A shirtless US soldier cleans his weapon (8:57) while half sitting in the weeds. A great shot shows troops in the camps; some meandering about and others sitting and working on equipment (9:10). Flare smoke rolls over the ground (9:16). A CH-47 Chinook peels from lush trees in the distance (9:23). Cargo is dropped by net (9:29). The Chinook appears again lowering to the ground (9:36). It lifts back off with soldiers from the campsite now aboard (9:41). A soldier pinches of several rounds of an automatic (9:59); shells pop all over. Another shot shows another man firing rounds as a soldier holds the belt (10:12). Red bullets race to their targets (10:17). A soldier stands with a machine gun belt around his neck (10:25). A dirt road cuts through the valley (11:57). Point of view footage follows as a car runs down the dirt road (12:18). Bouncy footage captures semi-trucks and cars running down the modern highway (13:10).