These extraordinary Super 8mm home movies from the Vietnam War, come from a member of the “Ravens”. The Raven Forward Air Controllers, also known simply as The Ravens, were fighter pilots used for forward air control in a covert operation in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States in Laos during America’s Vietnam War. The Ravens provided direction for most of the air strikes against communist Pathet Lao targets and People’s Army of Vietnam’s infiltrators in support of the Laotian Hmong guerrilla army.
Scene list:
VIET-NAM:
00:00 Weaving cloth in a Vietnamese remote village.
1:00 “Grinding” rice.
1:40 Outdoor Market.
2:47 U.S. Consulate entrance, probably in Nha Trang.
3:00 Ferry boat transporting people on river.
3:50 Road and building construction crew near the MACV compound (Military Assistance Command Viet-Nam).
4:30 Raven-58 (me) at shop.
5:00 Home of Vietnamese family. Home is in countryside and is camouflaged. … Kim Chi in orange dress.
6:00 Lake inland from Route 1, the main Vietnamese highway along the coast, where there is a lot of good fishing. The railroad bridge can be seen in background.
6:21:07, an old Buddhist Temple can be seen on the mountain. Market along the highway. There are many shops along the highway between towns. People sitting are waiting for a bus. Fish market. Fish are caught and brought to the market every morning. Fishermen bringing their fish to the market.
8:00 Kim Chi with friend holding umbrella, and Kim Chi’s daughter Mai, in blue dress, on bridge overlooking road. The old Buddhist temple can be seen in the background. Probably in Nha Trang. … Kim Chi’s friend with Mai walking in park.
10:00 Cans of Nuoc Cham (fish sauce) being sold.
10:15 Soldier on motorcycle riding on road, and Kim Chi.
11:15 Kim Chi’s friend and daughter Mai walking near her home.
12:00 Horse swimming in river. … Buddhist temple on bank of river.
Monkeys running on road in park. … Monkey eating banana. … Monkeys running around in park.
13:50 Funeral procession.
LAOS:
14:00 Air recon of target … Marking target with a WP (Willie Pete / White phosphorus)
14:50-15:40 Army compound, PS-22 on Bolavens Plateau, aerial view, with dirt runway. … PS-22 was overrun and was bombed.
16:00 Flying over Bolavens Plateau in Laos filming thunderstorms and trying to get lightening strikes: @ 17:35:06 a brief strike, left-side (that’s it!) … Nice clouds, but no real lightening.
18:00 Ho Chi Minh Trail with interdiction bombing craters.
PS-22 again.
19:00 PS-38 with villagers waiting for evacuation before the N. Vietnamese overran the site.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
