Rare Photos of Pleiku, South Vietnam (1966-68)

For today’s post, I have included a few rare photographs that were just recently digitized this year and uploaded to the worldwide web. There are more at the Facebook page.

Photo Credit:

Vietnam Vets – Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vietnam-Vets/112727128745728   <–go there for more.

 

Nothing is more frustrating to me than the thought of all of the great photos in the world that are still sitting in a shoe box, resting in someone’s closet or attic. Old classic photos must be seen, and I am grateful to have seen these and to the person who shared them and scanned them in… I hope you like them too. The images were uploaded to share, inform and educate by a former U.S. Army soldier’s wife. Since not everyone uses Facebook, I wanted to simply share a small gallery below for you here today.

Vietnam is such a beautiful and mysterious country. Most of the photos show men from a U.S. Military Police unit, making their rounds and going through their daily activities and patrols in Pleiku, central Vietnam.

Background on Pleiku, South Vietnam:

Pleiku was strategically important during the Vietnam War because it was the primary terminus of the military supply logistics corridor extending westwards along Highway 19 from the coastal population center and port facilities of Qui Nhơn. Additionally, its central location on the plateau, between Kontum in the north, Buôn Ma Thuột to the south, and the North Vietnamese Army‘s base areas inside Cambodia to the west made Pleiku the main center of defense of the entire highland region of the Republic of Vietnam. This was obvious to both sides; the U.S. established an armed presence very early in the conflict at Camp Holloway, and the Việt Cộng attack on this base in early 1965 was one of the key escalating events that brought U.S. troops into the conflict.