This gallery contains collections of photos which were taken by Bob and Buddy Hodgkins during their tours. The subject matter is varied and represents images of the people, places, and things that the Veterans considered important at the time.

The Collection of brothers Robert L. Hodgkins (SP5) and Frederick D. "Buddy" Hodgkins (SP4)

Bob Hodgkins served with the 459th Signal Battalion during the years 1970 to 1971.

His older brother "Buddy" served as a field medic with the 1st. Infantry Division (Big Red One) during the period 1966-1967

The following pictures were provided by Buddy Hodgkins and were scanned from slides. Some of these slides are beginning to show the effects of time and are in "original" condition. The sizes ranged from full format 35mm through half and quarter-frame sizes.

Click on the individual pictures to view a full-screen image.

"Long way from home"

"Me in base camp"

"Christmas Dinner, 1967"

"Painting the medical jeep"

"One of the 58,000"

"Mad medic jeep"

"On patrol in the field"

"Heading out"

"Michelin rubber plantation"

"Shaving out of a steel pot"

"Hanging in a hammock"

"Coming in from the field"

"Relaxing after patrol"

"The King and I"

This is a picture of a 13-foot-long King Cobra which we killed while on patrol. This cobra was in a rice cache that we uncovered in an abandoned ville. We suspected that the snake had been put in there to ambush us, but it had been there for a couple of days and was not as fast as it could have been. That's me (Buddy) with my hands on my hips.

Click on the picture to see this "almost" life-sized. Cobras and other snakes were common in the jungles of Vietnam. Thankfully, we got him before he got one of us!

Press Here to see a close up of me and this reptile

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Bob Hodgkins took the following pictures during his 1970-1971 tour.

"Kids and Me"

These pictures were taken at the Catholic Orphanage in Nha Trang during December of 1970. Click on the image or on the highlighted text to expand the image. Click Here to see a much larger version of this same picture in JPEG format (300+KBytes) and Here for a close up of the kids and me.

Air Strip

There are a couple of CH-47 "Chinook" helicopters on the strip. This strip was located near Cam Ranh Bay.

Beach Area

This picture shows the picnic areas which have been set up for those brief periods of relaxation.

Mamasan

She is putting out our daily laundry to dry in the sun. The living quarters in the background are typical for our base area in Nha Trang. Notice also the sandbagged bunkers.

Rice Paddies

This is a very typical scene which could be almost anywhere along coastal Vietnam.

Me in the Motor Pool

This picture was taken in January 1971. Here is a close up of me and a couple of our "5-tons."

The Budda on the Mountain

This was a well-known landmark in Nha Trang. This picture is quite faded, but here you can see a Close up of the Budda. Here is another recent picture of the Budda taken by Blaine Zuver when he visited Nha Trang.

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