Vietnam Journeys "Relics", Page 1

I wandered around many old firebases, camps, and battle sites in three trips I made back to Vietnam in the mid-1990s. These places are all quiet now.
I have stood in the jungle just off the summit of
Hamburger Hill and listened to the wind rustle through the jungle canopy above me.
I walked the old airstrip at
Khe Sanh, vacant except for rows of infant coffee trees trying to purchase life through the rock hard surface of the old runway.
I looked out the firing slit of an old bunker still standing at
Con Thien toward the distant Ben Hai River with the DMZ shrouded in a foggy mist.
I walked around the base of
The Rockpile to the sounds of distant dynamite explosions in a rock quarry sounding much like ghostly 105s.
I kicked around what is left of the overrun Special Forces Camp at Lang Vei.
I came down the spectacular An Khe Pass.
I walked among the quiet of My Lai.
I stood at the entrance to Camp Holloway near Pleiku, amazed that all that was left of this sprawling base was the cement traffic island at the entrance.
I searched in vain for what was once the Headquarters of the 5th Special Forces Group in Nha Trang only to find that the area is now a thriving village with none of the old buildings left standing.
At times, as I traveled the country it seemed like we, the Americans, had never been there. Today there is little evidence of our past presence save for some still decent roads and bridges.
These are some of the images and found items from those places.

I found this juxtaposition of some old ARVN boots and Ho Chi Minh sandals about 200 meters southwest of Con Thien.

This bit of wire was found on the perimeter of the Lang Vei Special Forces camp overrun by NVA tanks on February 7, 1968. This was one of the older Special Forces Camps and this type of wire pre-dates the later "razor-wire" usually found at former U.S. military sites.
This wire was found at Khe Sahn.