Three-page handwritten letter written from Ammons to his family recounting his attendance at the Bob Hope USO show on Christmas Eve in 1967. He describes being issued clean fatigues, flying on a Chinook helicopter to Lai Khe Base Camp, and viewing...
Three-page handwritten letter from Ammons to his family. He describes returning to his company's Lai Khe Base Camp from Close Infantry Combat (C.I.C) training to find the company had two men killed and two wounded in an ambush. The unit had...
Ammons's four-page letter on U.S. Army stationery to his mother and father describes his first days in the Army. He relates the military routine, getting his dog tags, standing fire watch, and waiting for his uniform. He remarks on the fact that...
Three-page handwritten letter from Ammons to his family. It contains a hand-drawn diagram of the 3rd Platoon's road-clearing operation; the account of a friendly jet dropping bombs very close to a Viet Cong village and very close to his unit as...
Three-page letter written from Dong Tam, final headquarters base camp of the 9th Infantry Division. Ammons describes an air assault in which the platoon was pinned down in knee-deep water under heavy fire by the Viet-Cong. He writes, "The leeches...
Three-page letter describes a plane crash on Vung Chua that killed eight South Korean officers. (The plane, still visible on the mountain, and a nearby monument are pictured in Ammons's photos.) No one knows why the plane was so far from the Qui...
Red and white two-sided propaganda leaflet conveys a seated, malnourished Viet-Cong soldier with his weapon at his feet as he daydreams of food. The reverse has text and the leaflet number (6-163-68).
Black & white two-sided document that functions as a reward leaflet, offering 7.500$ for an RPD machine gun, but also serving as a surrender pass. Ammons has written in ink at the top of the front side "picked up in 'Iron Triangle' Jan. 5, 1968."...
Christopher Ammonss1970 selective service card shows his name and signature on one side and physical description on the reverse. The classification of IV-A would have exempted him from service (for those whose military obligation was completed, or...
Helicopters; Military personnel; Soldiers; Mountains
A Huey helicopter lands on a pad at Vung Chua Mountain, throwing up a great quantity of dust. Fences, buildings, and communication equipment can be seen in the background. Note: a non-color-corrected master TIFF copy is also available.
In Christopher Ammons's last letter from Vietnam, he mentions that he has received orders for a departure date. He will go first to Fort Lewis, Washington, where he expects to receive his separation papers. He says he is counting the days.
Letter from Christopher Ammons telling about meeting Thomas Page, a friend from Clarksville, in Qui Nhon. He and Page, a truck driver in the army, had a long conversation. Ammons asks his family to call Page's parents and tell them he is doing...
Three-page letter describing Ammons's new duty assignment at a station on Vung Chua Mountain, where he is attached to a signals unit. He describes the view from the mountain, a typical patrol (their job is to provide security on the perimeter),...
Two-page handwritten letter by Christopher Ammons to his family describing the casualties his company sustained while on their most recent search-and-destroy mission from Dong Tam Base Camp.
Two-page letter in which Christopher Ammons describes returning from R&R in Sydney to learn that his units designation had changed from the 194th MP Company to the 61st MP Company. He describes the new operating area and how the changes affect...
Seven-page letter written by Christopher Ammons recounting a sniper attack on his company the previous day that claimed the lives of four soldiers. While on patrol 6,000 meters southwest of Saigon, Ammons's squad comes under sniper attack, and for...
Five-page handwritten letter from Christopher Ammons to his family describing a 7-day search and destroy mission in the woods of Song Be. Ammons's company located Viet-Cong base camps and bunkers as they "dug in" six times during the operation. ...
Three page letter begins, "This is our eighth day in the boonies, and tomorrow we might go back to Lai Khe." He writes of having been a squad leader for several days now ("8 men including myself") because of the illness of another sergeant.
Mortars (Ordnance); Artillery (Weaponry); Military personnel; Soldiers; Military uniforms; Arms & armament
Five soldiers surround an 81 mm mortar as one of them prepares to fire it. Their faces are down and their hands are over their ears. The walls around the group are constructed from ammunition boxes that have been filled with dirt and nailed...
