CBS Sunday Morning ran a fantastic story today about Army photographer Charlie Haughey who served in Vietnam and packed away his photos from that infamous war in a shoebox for decades. Those images were recently pulled out and printed for display. They are really amazing.
Vietnam used to be a war I really didn’t want to know anything about. I was more curious about World War II and the heroes of that war. Lately, I’ve found myself reading more and more about Vietnam. Completely fascinated. It’s its own special time. There it is.
This haunting image was the one that left me frozen on my couch. There is something about the photo, the smoke, and the white eyes looking right back at me that captures something ancient about the infantry.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about some of the special qualities that makes an infantryman an infantryman. A lot of it revolves around darkness, and letting go of your own humanity. It’s scary stuff. And this image comes close to exposing it.
Here is a link to the photographer’s website. And here is a link to his Flickr page. It is well worth exploring. Every photo is magnificent.
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Carrying the Gun 