Big Mike 65
USS Geiger
The hold of the troop ship USS Geiger showing how soldiers were 'stored' during the three week sailing from Oakland, California to the port of Vung Tau, Republic of Vietnam.
Former artillery officer Christopher Gaynor, now 70, took the images in 1967 and 1968 while deployed.
They stayed hidden away for more than 40 years before he reopened them and relived old memories.
By Kieran Corcoran For Dailymail.com
Published: 18:07 GMT, 29 August 2015 | Updated: 08:19 GMT, 30 August 2015
These candid images show life on the front lines of the Vietnam war through the eyes of a young soldier, who rediscovered the collection decades after the conflict ended.
In the images by former artillery officer Christopher Gaynor, helicopters swoop down in high-risk troop deployments, convoys rumble through the booby-trapped countryside and infantrymen make tense dawn patrols.
Gaynor, now 70, spent more than a year in Vietnam between 1967 and 1968, taking photographs as he went. As well as showing scenes of battle-ready soldiers and equipment, he also showed his war buddies in their down time.
Images, which Gaynor shares on his Facebook page, show fellow soldiers relaxing between missions, and even playing a baseball game at Dau Tieng base camp.
Gaynor notes that several of the young men he pictured were killed in action not long after. He told TIME magazine that the thought of being reminded of his war days led to him keeping the photos locked away until 2007 - nearly 40 years after his deployment.
Of looking back on them for the first time, he said: 'I looked at them and they all came alive again. It was completely overwhelming. All my buddies from 40 years previously [were] looking at me from these pictures, even the guys who weren’t with us anymore.
'Looking at the pictures put me right back into the jungle as if I were a 21-year-old soldier again.'
The experience also kindled a desire to start reconnecting with old Vietnam comrades and working with veterans, and also to become a consultant for In Country, a re-enactment film about the war.
USS Geiger
The hold of the troop ship USS Geiger showing how soldiers were 'stored' during the three week sailing from Oakland, California to the port of Vung Tau, Republic of Vietnam.
Former artillery officer Christopher Gaynor, now 70, took the images in 1967 and 1968 while deployed.
They stayed hidden away for more than 40 years before he reopened them and relived old memories.
By Kieran Corcoran For Dailymail.com
Published: 18:07 GMT, 29 August 2015 | Updated: 08:19 GMT, 30 August 2015
These candid images show life on the front lines of the Vietnam war through the eyes of a young soldier, who rediscovered the collection decades after the conflict ended.
In the images by former artillery officer Christopher Gaynor, helicopters swoop down in high-risk troop deployments, convoys rumble through the booby-trapped countryside and infantrymen make tense dawn patrols.
Gaynor, now 70, spent more than a year in Vietnam between 1967 and 1968, taking photographs as he went. As well as showing scenes of battle-ready soldiers and equipment, he also showed his war buddies in their down time.
Images, which Gaynor shares on his Facebook page, show fellow soldiers relaxing between missions, and even playing a baseball game at Dau Tieng base camp.
Gaynor notes that several of the young men he pictured were killed in action not long after. He told TIME magazine that the thought of being reminded of his war days led to him keeping the photos locked away until 2007 - nearly 40 years after his deployment.
Of looking back on them for the first time, he said: 'I looked at them and they all came alive again. It was completely overwhelming. All my buddies from 40 years previously [were] looking at me from these pictures, even the guys who weren’t with us anymore.
'Looking at the pictures put me right back into the jungle as if I were a 21-year-old soldier again.'
The experience also kindled a desire to start reconnecting with old Vietnam comrades and working with veterans, and also to become a consultant for In Country, a re-enactment film about the war.