This silent film from Vietnam begins with footage of a Bird Dog L-19 type airplane being checked out prior to a flight. These planes were built by Cessna for observation purposes and known as the 305 Bird Dog. At 1:40 rockets attached to the plane are checked out. At 1:50 the aircraft takes off and flies into the combat zone. At 2:20 aerial footage of South Vietnam is shown.

The Cessna L-19/O-1 Bird Dog was a liaison and observation aircraft. It was the first all-metal fixed-wing aircraft ordered for and by the United States Army following the Army Air Forces’ separation from it in 1947. The Bird Dog had a lengthy career in the U.S. military, as well as in other countries.During the course of the Vietnam War, 469 O-1 Bird Dogs were lost to all causes. The USAF lost 178, the USMC lost 7, and 284 were lost from the U.S. Army, South Vietnamese Forces, and clandestine operators. Three Bird Dogs were lost to enemy hand-held surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

At 2:57 a slate indicates the film is shot at Dongtam on July 6, but no year is shown. Đồng Tâm Base Camp (also known as Đồng Tâm Army Airfield) is a former U.S. Army and Navy and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base west of Mỹ Tho in the Mekong Delta, southern Vietnam. At 3:10 a plane called the Deuces Wild (with nose art ) is shown. At 4:05 a Huey helicopter lands at the base.

At 5:45 views of Vietnam from the air, shot from a Bird Dog. At 6:44 the pilot looks out the window. 7:30 shots out the rear window of the aircraft.

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”

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, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com