THE SHOOTERS IN VIETNAM More often than not, the ‘Shooters’ didn’t carry weapons since

their shooting equipment was heavy and cumbersome. If they

did arm themselves, a holstered .45 caliber automatic was their

weapon of choice. Yet, everyone understood if a ‘Shooter’ ever

needed to use his weapon it was most likely too late to save the

day.

Working as lone wolves or in teams of two, the ‘Shooters’ were

the privileged characters in Vietnam. Mostly enlisted men, they

were not hampered by typical

Army red tape, the SNAFU

dilemmas, bureaucratic Catch-

22 traps, and were able to

deploy instantly whenever and

wherever fighting broke out. A

‘Shooter’ did not need orders,

could hop on any chopper, and

had authorization to bump

anyone below the rank of

colonel from an Air Force

transport. If necessary, they

resorted to civilian transportation and wore civilian clothing

more often than not. Considered a Special Forces unit, of sorts,

they served as the cameramen of DASPO (Department of the

Army Special Photographic Office).

The father of DASPO was an

upstaged and fairly irritated

Army Chief of Staff, General

George Decker. After attending

a 1962 briefing in which Air

Force Chief of Staff, General

Curtis LeMay, an egotistical

showboat, had given a flawless

presentation with impeccable

photos, General Decker asked

his staff, “Why can’t we do that?” With authorization from

President John Kennedy, the Army hierarchy at the Pentagon

gave Major Arthur A. Jones the task of creating a new command

to provide state-of-the-art films and photographs to Congress,

the Joint Chiefs, and the Pentagon’s upper brass. Three

detachments were developed: DASPO CONUS (Continental

United States), DASPO Panama, and DASPO Pacific. DASPO’s

Pacific OIC (Officer in Charge) Bill San Hamel made their mission

plain and clear: “You will not be covering parades or change-of-

command ceremonies, and no marching bands…you’re going to

shoot documentaries, training films, and you’re going to cover

combat. You are not going to be a public information unit.”

DASPO Pacific was based at Fort Shafter on Oahu and divided

into three teams: Team Alpha in South Korea, Team Bravo in

Thailand, and Team Charlie in South Vietnam. Carl Hanson, a

Team Charlie still photographer, recalled, “I graduated at the top

of my Army cinematography class at Fort Monmouth and was

thrilled to receive an important assignment to a unit in Hawaii. I

thought about sun, surf, and girls, but upon arrival I was told I’d

be spending the better part of my next two-and-a-half years in

Vietnam.”

Career men (lifers)

and new recruits filled

the ranks of Team

Charlie in Vietnam.

The only thing they

had in common was

the fact they had

nothing in common.

The unit was a

mélange of different

talents and skills: They

included the best students from the Army Signal School, Van

Hamel who worked for three years in a movie studio, the famed

photographer Dick Durrance who had already been published in

National Geographic before being drafted, and Bryan Grigsby

who was drafted right out of the University of Florida while

studying television production. The men of DASPO captured

some of the most captivating and revealing images of the

Vietnam War.

THE VILLA

Ted Acheson and Joe Primeau, DASPO cameramen

For a ‘base’, Team Charlie rented a three-story gated house in

Saigon’s Gia Dinh neighborhood, a short two-minute drive from

the huge airbase at Tan Son Nhut. The ‘Shooters’ dubbed their

off-base office/barracks “The Villa.” Two or three-man teams

rotated into the field with a new team ready to depart upon the

return of the previous one.

Naturally, there were other combat photography units such as

the 221st Signal Company in Vietnam, but unlike the military

photographers who served a typical twelve month tour and were

assigned to only one unit, DASPO personnel rotated in and out

of country every three months. Plus, they traveled to all four

corps in Vietnam to cover stories, just like their civilian

counterparts. When a battle was brewing, Team Charlie was

there.

When a Team Charlie

member arrived ‘on

scene’ he became a part

of the unit they were

covering. They withstood

what the unit endured

and stayed with it until

the mission was done, or

they ran out of film.

Tough, flexible, brave, and

dedicated, the men of

Team Charlie followed

Harry Breedlove, combat photographer

units into the jungle, urban combat, mountains, swamps, deltas,

or rice paddies to capture the war from a soldier’s-eye view.

The ‘Shooter’s’ material was classified. However, as the war

dragged on, about a quarter of their material was offered to

newspapers, magazines, even television networks. One of the

toughest assignments landed on the shoulders of the soldier

with dreams of sun, surf, and girls; Carl Hanson, and a retired

Hollywood cameraman, Stewart Barbee. These two men and

other personnel participated in a months-long shooting of a

1969 training film for Army Mortuary Affairs. The filming took

place during a time in the conflict when approximately 320

bodies per week passed through Graves Registration in Saigon.

Every member involved in the shooting was never the same

again. Hanson said, “I’ve never seen the photographs I took, nor

Barbee’s film. Nor do I ever want to.”

And consider this: A still

cameraman can pop up

during a fight, take a

quick shot, and drop

back down. The poor mo

pic guy (motion picture

cameraman) has to

stand steady for about

10 or 12 seconds to take

a mo pic, plus has to take

more shots to build up a sequence of events or action. Standing

still in battle in not an ideal situation. To add to their

predicament, DASPO personnel usually didn’t wear helmets

since they held cameras up to their faces.

And weapons? Barbee stated in an interview, “Guys would ask

me where my weapons was. I’d respond, ‘Do I look like I’ve got

room to carry a weapon? And don’t worry, if it gets to a point

where I need to put down this camera and pick up a weapon,

there will be plenty available,’ which was the truth.” DASPO

personnel never developed their own film; film was packed up

and shipped to the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama or to the Army

Pictorial Center in New York. The men in the field did not have

any input into which shots were printed or not printed.

IT’S OVER

With the end of American involvement

in Vietnam, the military and DASPO fell

victim to downsizing, as happens to the

military after any war. DASPO Pacific

shut their doors in December of 1974

and transferred to DASPO CONUS. In

due course all three DASPO units were

reassigned to Fort Bragg, NC and

absorbed into the Army Special

Operations Pictorial Detachment. Today

the mission that began in 1962 is carried KERMIT YOHO - KIA

on by the Army’s 55th Combat Camera Company at Fort Meade,

MD.

In all, about 325 soldier cameramen, officers and film editors

served in DASPO during its brief history. Their work, however,

lives on as educational and historical information for future

generations. Two DASPO members were killed in the line of

duty: Charles “Rick” Rein and Kermit Yoho.

The film history of war in books, film, even on TV, were ‘shot’ by

cameramen who put their lives on the line to document the

sacrifice, the humor and the horror of war. The next time you

watch a suicide plane (kamikaze) approaching an American

aircraft carrier in WWII or watch a documentary on Vietnam,

remember: brave men and women were behind the lens doing a

job few people have the pluck to do. They are the ‘Shooters’ of

history.

THE INTERVIEW

Robert C. Lafoon was born in

Washington, D.C., grew up and

attended school in Virginia, and

now lives in McDonough, GA. He

joined the Army straight out of

high school in 1964.

Lafoon said, “I served with the 2nd

Armored Division at Ft. Hood for

one year then took what’s called a

‘short reenlistment’ so I could get reclassified. I always loved

photography so I received an opportunity to attend photography

school at Ft. Monmouth, NJ. While there, I received orders for

DASPO. They scrutinized us very closely and took what they

considered the top of the class, the top 10%.

“I guess one reason they picked me

was my infantry training. A couple

of other guys had gone through

Special Forces, another through

ranger training, that kind of stuff. I

was sent to Hawaii in October of

’65. I was assigned my first three

month rotation to Vietnam with the

Southeast Asia Pictorial Team in

January of ’66. My first combat

mission was with the 1st Infantry

Division during Operation Crimp,

north of Cu Chi. As we flew into the

company CP (Command Post), we immediately came under fire.

I guess that was my baptism under fire, and I’m sitting there on

the chopper thinking, ‘What the hell have I gotten myself into?’

“You know, in photo school I thought I’d be covering parades,

change of command ceremonies, things like that, but then the

next think I knew I was in Hawaii being told by my commanding

officer, ‘You’re going to hate my guts. No need to unpack your

things because you’re not going to be her long.’ That was one

Robert Lafoon in Vietnam, humping with the 1st Infantry

Division

more ‘what the hell have I gotten into’ moment. Then he said,

‘You’re guaranteed six months of every year you’re here to be in

Vietnam.’ Between rotations to Vietnam, we covered events in

Thailand and South Korea.’ It was wild, I mean, one day I’m in

Korea then the next day I’m on a Presidential tour to Vietnam

with President Lyndon Johnson. We wore civilian clothes on the

Presidential tour so nobody would know who we were.”

Did you wear civilian clothing in the field?

“Yes, we could. My MOS was

84b20, still photography. As

soon as I got off a Slick (Huey

chopper) I’d start clicking. I

remember humping all day

and choppers flying overhead

shooting at our own troops.

Not a great day. I was lucky,

never got hit during my

rotations, but on my last photo

shoot with the 199th Light

Infantry Brigade in November

of ’67, I participated in a huge helicopter assault. The choppers

hovered over the rice paddies and we had to stand on the skids

then jump down. When I hit the ground, a Punji stake (sharpened

bamboo stick, sometimes dipped in poison or human waste)

went right up my boot laces but didn’t penetrate any skin.

Robert Lafoon in Vietnam under his rain poncho

Another time napalm hit so close it singed my hair and nose hair.

Luckily, I never earned a purple heart.”

Did the rotations get any easier?

“I’d say they were about the same, but I felt more at ease, I

suppose. I mean, you’re back in the field, but after you check in

you just go and do your job. The stress factor may have gotten

lower simply because you get sort of use to it.”

Name some units you served with.

“The 1st Infantry Division

two or three times. The 1st

Cav a few times, the 101st

Airborne several times, 11th

Armored Calvary Regiment,

173rd Airborne, and the 25th

Infantry Division fairly often

because they deployed out

of Hawaii.”

How old were you on your

first rotation?

“Barely 19. I went over on a

troop ship, young and naïve.

I’m thinking, ‘Wow, I’m

going to Hawaii, life is good,

how lucky can a guy be.’ Well, the 1st Infantry Division was also

on the troop ship and they told me they were heading to

Robert Lafoon traveling on the Rach Gia River with a Special Forces “A” Team

Vietnam, and I’m thinking, ‘Where the hell is Vietnam?’ So we

arrive in Hawaii and about 30 people get off. I see a guy holding

up a sign that reads “LAFOON” so I walked up to him and said,

‘I’m Lafoon,’ and he says, ‘My name is Kermit Yoho, and I’m here

to pick you up.’ So he…..”

Yoho? He was one of the two DASPO men killed in Vietnam.

“Yeah, this is kind of hard for me. Can I have a few seconds to

regroup?”

Absolutely.

“…….Yeah, this part is pretty rough. Yoho was my sponsor and

my friend. He’d already been on several rotations to Nam but

didn’t say much about it. They called Yoho ‘Junior’ because he

was the youngest until I reported in. He was 21 and I was 19 by

a month. Do you know who Joe Galloway is?”

Joe and I are friends. We email often.

“Okay, I saw Joe a few months back when

he spoke in Newnan, GA. Of course, he’s

famous for “We Were Soldiers Once…..and

Young,” about the Battle of the I Drang

Valley. He was there but didn’t know then

that two of our team were also there at

the same time, Tom Schiro and Jack

Yamaguche. They even got a mo pic of Hal

Moore, the celebrated commander at I

Drang. There is a Vietnam Virtual Achieve

at Texas Tech with many of our photos and mo pics. There’s also

a great website: Fold3.com, with all the stuff from the National

Achieves. Enter DASPO in the search box and you’ll see about

10,000 of our photos.”

Tell me about some of your experiences.

“Well, Operation Crimp was my baptism under fire. During that

one I learned how nice the Air Force boys were; they made us

instant swimming pools out there. I learned when you’re going

through the jungle you’d better hope the guy behind you is a

buddy or a good person, because when the ants fall off the trees

and go down your jungle fatigue and start biting you all at once,

you need a good friend behind you to help kill the dang things. I

think the ants had a

commanding officer

who ordered, ‘Okay,

let’s all bite at once.’ I

was also introduced to

the caves and tunnels

and spider holes that

hid the enemy. I took a

shot of a ‘Tunnel Rat’

(soldiers who explored

the caves and tunnels)

coming out of a tunnel…he was killed two weeks after I took his

picture. I also took a photo during Operation Buckskin of a

soldier on the back of an APC (Armored Personnel Carrier)

holding a small puppy that he found. The photo is on display

and the Military Museum in Chicago. Then on Operation Van

Buren I won an award for a photo of a religious ceremony with a

pastor in a bright white robe and big gold crucifix on the back.

During the second ceremony they received incoming mortar

rounds. I’ve talked to his wife on FB, she said after the mortar

attack he never wore his religious garb again in Nam, convinced

the enemy had zeroed in on his white robe.”

Tell me about Yoho.

Robert Lafoon, right, receiving an award for this pictorial coverage of a religious ceremony in Vietnam

“A great guy. Kermit Yoho and I were together at Tuy Hoa with

the South Korean Blue Dragon Brigade. Man, those guys don’t

fool around. We took a lot of photos and tried to leave, but the

Blue Dragon Commander, a one star general, kept saying, ‘No,

no, you no leave, take more picture,’ but we finally got back to

the Villa. We had replacements come in and one of them was

Peter Ruplenas, a great photography who served with the 8th Air

Force at the tail end of WWII, served in Korea, and was now in

Vietnam. We called him ‘Ruby’. Well, Ruby wanted to go out in

the field. Yoho and I were scheduled to go out with the 25th, so

I let Ruby go instead. That’s when Yoho was killed. Let me pause

a second.”

Sure.

“….Okay, our two-man teams usually

separated during missions in case

something happened to one of them.

During Operation Taro with the 25th,

either a VC or a ‘short round’ killed

Yoho, we don’t know which, but

Ruby had separated and was okay.

You see, when we were in the field,

Yoho and I never split up, we always

stayed together, so time and again I

think, what if? That mission was to be Yoho’s last photo shoot.

He was scheduled to back to Hawaii, get out of the Army, and go

YOHO

back to West Virginia to work for a newspaper. I think of him

often.”

Understood.

“Okay, so, on another mission I was up in the mountains of the

Central Highlands humping all day with the 101st. When you’re

a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned white boy and get

sunburned and at 1700 or 1800 the monsoon hits and you are

suddenly soaking wet, well, I remember being wet, inside my

poncho trying to sleep and thinking I’d freeze to death. Then I

was on a communications story with the 1st Cav. They were

training at An Khe climbing ropes into and out of choppers. I

figured a great shot would be inside a chopper shooting the guys

as the scrambled up. Well, they agreed. I thought they would

land a chopper for me….nope, they said, ‘Sure, climb the rope

ladder.’ I’m thinking, ‘Holy crap, can I do that?’ The guy with me

was Frank Salas, from Guam, we called him the ‘bullet magnet’

since everywhere he went he drew fire. I don’t know how we

did it, but we made it up the rope ladder. On another mission I

was up in the mountains with a unit looking for the VC in caves.

Well, we saw a VC duck into a cave and eventually got him to

surrender with the threat of a few hand grenades being tossed

in. Several VC came out, as did a North Vietnamese journalist.”

Tell us about your last mission.

“My last combat mission was Operation Rang Dong, a chopper

assault. I got a shot of a guy up to his neck in paddy water, in the

irrigation canals full of leeches and other creatures. That shot

got a lot of exposure…six months after I was out of the Army.”

And after Nam?

“I got out in March of ’68, flew back to the Oakland Terminal in

California and had my first experience with the ratty treatment

of Vietnam vets. I went to work for Firestone Tire and Rubber,

then worked for the railroad (Amtrak). After a 17 year break

from the military, I joined the reserves in 1985. We got called up

for Desert Storm and I spent several weeks in Saudi Arabia at the

Kobar Towers. I retired from a civil service type job at Fort

McPherson as a GS-13.”

What have you being doing in

retirement?

“Nothing, absolutely nothing,

and I’m real good at it. I play

golf in the morning and play

pinochle at the VFW in the

afternoons. My golf score and

bowling average are about the

same. My wife started playing

a few years ago and after two

years won the Women’s Club

Championship at Fort Mac.

People call my wife Tigerina

Woods and call me Lost in the

Woods.”

Recent photo of Robert Lafoon at the Vietnam Wall

Great interview. Many thanks, my brother.

“You, too. And God bless.”

NOTE: Listed below are several links for access to thousands of

photos from Vietnam shot by Lafoon and the men of DASPO.

Below the links are several shots by Lafoon and DASPO personnel.

DASPO PHOTOS BELOW

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