My number had come up with the draft before my Jan 1968 graduation from Fresno State College, so I took a part-time job until I was eventually put into the United States Army in early June 1968, says Lance Nix. By the end of October 1968, I was on my way to Vietnam. As part of the PHOENIX Program, I was deployed to MACV Team 66 in the Mekong Delta. I returned from Vietnam in October 1969 and was assigned to a training unit with the 5th Infantry Division at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I completed my duty there and received my honorable release in early June 1970.
This is a photographic documentation of the people and places I encountered during my tour in paradise with MACV Team 66 and the Phoenix/Phung Huoag Program in Dinh Tuong Province, in and around the city of My Tho.
I try to recall Vietnam as a working holiday. A few photos from my “Working Part” of my “Big Adventure” in Vietnam, which lasted from November 1968 to October 1969. It was a war, we were constantly in danger, we saw, did, and experienced things that civilized men should not have to go through, but most of us survived, and now it is done and time to go on.
River Front Kids in 1969
At the Mekong River front in southeast My Tho, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam.ARVN soldier and his wife gleening the last fish from the drying rain ponds by the Binh Duc air strip west of My Tho in 1969. (Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam) (scanned colour slide)
My Tho Contrasts 1969.
I photographed these two females as they strolled through the military operations center at the south end of My Tho, across from the Navy port on the Mekong River, surrounded by sandbags and razor wire.Cuu Long Restaurant in My Tho — 1969
Captain Kozak, Luetenant Short and I had a nice Chinese lunch here. (Dinh Tuong Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta)
3 My Tho Produce Vendors 1969 at the My Tho market in the year 1969 (Dinh Tuong Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta).At My Tho’s downtown market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969. (scanned colour slide)
My Tho’s downtown market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969.
Decorative vegies for Tet at the My Tho market in1969. (Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam) (scanned colour slide)Flower vendors selling for TET New Year celebration at the My Tho market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969.
Busy with mid-day shoppers at the My Tho market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in 1969.
In My Tho’s eastside commercial district in 1969. (Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam).
Shopping district in eastern My Tho (Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam) in the year 1969.
A reminent from the French colonial days, the long loaves of french bread were plentiful in My Tho. (Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam)At My Tho’s market in 1969. (Dinh Tuong Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta) (scanned colour slide)
At the My Tho market in 1969. (Dinh Tuong Province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta) (scanned colour slide)
Local men take a mid-day break for a little card game. In northeast My Tho in 1969. (Dinh Tuong Province in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam) (scanned colour slide)
Noodle Gobbler in 1969
Seen on one of my My Tho walk-a-bouts in 1969. (Dinh Tuong Province, Mekong Delta of Vietnam) (scanned Kodachrome slide)
In My Tho on the Mekong River, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam.
In My Tho on the Mekong River, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam in 1969.
The public park fronting on the Mekong River at the southeast corner of My Tho. (Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969).
In southeast My Tho by the Mekong River in 1969. (Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam)At the southeast corner of My Tho where it fronts on the Mekong River.
Intel Staff from Saigon January 1969
On the ferry on our way to Kien Hoa Province. These guys were down from Saigon. They had heard about the Coconut Monk and invited me to go with them for a visit on a day off from the war. Seemed so weird in the midst of everything to just go sight seeing but then the daylight hours were generally safe. It was the night when things heated up.
South Vietnamese war boat on the south shore of the Coconut Monks island in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta near the city of My Tho.
Vietnam’s Coconut Monk in his tower at the east end of his “floating” platform refuge at the very eastern tip of his island in the Mekong River near My Tho, VIetnam.
Young Visitor To Coconut Monk in 1969
Coconut Monk devotees holding services on the “floating” platform. (Mekong Delta, Vietnam, January 1969)
Stern view of water taxi approaching Kien Hoa Province from Coconut Monk’s island.Approaching from the west, the entrance to the Coconut Monk’s complex and “floating” refuge as seen in the year 1969. (Vietnam’s Mekong Delta near the city of My Tho)
At the southeast corner of My Tho where it fronts on the Mekong River.
Street Brats in My Tho in 1969
On the street in front of the MACV Team 66 personnel residence, Hotel 1, in My Tho city, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam.
At the 5th Annual Veterans Day celebration sponsored by the Friends of the Fort Ord Warhorse and the City of Marina. This years event was in honor of the veterans of the Vietnam War.
