25 Photos from the Vietnam War to Remind You of Its Horrors

Daniel Bonfiglio Published 10/30/2024 in wow

Compared to World War II or the Civil War, American classrooms and newsrooms love to neglect the Vietnam War. Why? Because we don't get to say we "won," and we don't get to say we were the "good guys."

But the war with the most living American veterans was very real and consisted of horrors that few other conflicts have ever experienced.

Here are 25 photos from the Vietnam War to remind you of its horrors.

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1.
US paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, hold their automatic weapons above water as they cross a river in the rain.
2.
Lieutenant Commander Donald D. Sheppard, of Coronado, California, aims a flaming arrow at a bamboo hut concealing a fortified Viet Cong bunker on the banks of the Bassac River, South Vietnam, on December 8, 1967.
3.
A U.S. Marine rescues two Vietnamese children during a gun battle at the city of Hue, during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War, 1968.
4.
A black U.S. soldier reads a message left by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, the message reads: "U.S. Negro Armymen, You Are Committing The Same Ignominious Crimes In South Vietnam That The KKK Clique Is Perpetrating Against Your Family At Home.” 1970.
5.
Marines emerge from their foxholes south of the DMZ after a third night of fighting against North Vietnamese troops in September 1966.
6.
North Vietnamese pull U.S airman John McCain out of a lake in 1967. He had ejected from his plane after it had been shot down, and he broke his right leg and both arms while being knocked unconscious from the force. He was held captive by the Viet Cong for over five years.
7.
An unidentified soldier of the 25th Infantry Division pauses for a cigarette. Vietnam War, 1969, colorized.
8.
Four North Vietnamese soldiers walking among numerous ARVN military vehicles and equipment abandoned or destroyed on the road of Huế, the Vietnam War, 1975.
9.
Caught in a sudden monsoon rain, part of a company of about 130 South Vietnamese soldiers moves downriver in sampans during a dawn attack on a Vietcong camp on 10 January 1966.
10.
Two Vietnamese children, huddling against a canal bank for protection from Viet Cong sniper fire, gaze at an American paratrooper's M79 grenade launcher on New Year's Day, 1966, near Bao Trai.
11.
Servicemen often creatively decorated their helmets.
12.
13.
14.
15.
American paratrooper after combat, 1966.
16.
American soldiers looking down at Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai massacre. 1968. American court-martials convicted 95 U.S. Army soldiers and 27 U.S. Marines of murder or manslaughter in the deaths of Vietnamese civilians, however many faced reduced sentences, because massacring civilians was effectively official policy.
17.
A 6ft 5in machine gunner with the US 9th Infantry Division is submerged except for his rifle as he crosses a muddy stream in the Mekong delta south of Saigon on September 10th, 1968. Photograph: Henri Huet.
18.
Mangrove forest destroyed by Agent Orange, 1976.
19.
U.S. helicopters pour machine-gun fire into the tree line to cover the advance of South Vietnamese troops, 1965.
20.
As fellow troopers aid wounded comrades, a paratrooper of A Company, 101st Airborne Division, guides a medevac helicopter through the jungle.
21.
A combat medic after a night when North Vietnamese attacked his fire support base.
22.
South Vietnamese troops, joined by US advisers, rest after a tense night of waiting in an ambush position for a Vietcong attack that did not come, January 1965.
23.
A US paratrooper, wounded in the battle for Hamburger Hill, grimaces in pain as he awaits medical evacuation at base camp near the Laotian border on 19 May 1969.
24.
A makeshift hospital in the Vietnam War, 1970.
25.
Medic Thomas Cole looks up with his one unbandaged eye as he treats wounded Staff Sergeant Harrison Pell during a firefight on 30 January 1966.

1.
US paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, hold their automatic weapons above water as they cross a river in the rain.
2.
Lieutenant Commander Donald D. Sheppard, of Coronado, California, aims a flaming arrow at a bamboo hut concealing a fortified Viet Cong bunker on the banks of the Bassac River, South Vietnam, on December 8, 1967.
3.
A U.S. Marine rescues two Vietnamese children during a gun battle at the city of Hue, during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War, 1968.
4.
A black U.S. soldier reads a message left by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, the message reads: "U.S. Negro Armymen, You Are Committing The Same Ignominious Crimes In South Vietnam That The KKK Clique Is Perpetrating Against Your Family At Home.” 1970.
5.
Marines emerge from their foxholes south of the DMZ after a third night of fighting against North Vietnamese troops in September 1966.
6.
North Vietnamese pull U.S airman John McCain out of a lake in 1967. He had ejected from his plane after it had been shot down, and he broke his right leg and both arms while being knocked unconscious from the force. He was held captive by the Viet Cong for over five years.
7.
An unidentified soldier of the 25th Infantry Division pauses for a cigarette. Vietnam War, 1969, colorized.
8.
Four North Vietnamese soldiers walking among numerous ARVN military vehicles and equipment abandoned or destroyed on the road of Huế, the Vietnam War, 1975.
9.
Caught in a sudden monsoon rain, part of a company of about 130 South Vietnamese soldiers moves downriver in sampans during a dawn attack on a Vietcong camp on 10 January 1966.
10.
Two Vietnamese children, huddling against a canal bank for protection from Viet Cong sniper fire, gaze at an American paratrooper's M79 grenade launcher on New Year's Day, 1966, near Bao Trai.
11.
Servicemen often creatively decorated their helmets.
12.
13.
14.
15.
American paratrooper after combat, 1966.
16.
American soldiers looking down at Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai massacre. 1968. American court-martials convicted 95 U.S. Army soldiers and 27 U.S. Marines of murder or manslaughter in the deaths of Vietnamese civilians, however many faced reduced sentences, because massacring civilians was effectively official policy.
17.
A 6ft 5in machine gunner with the US 9th Infantry Division is submerged except for his rifle as he crosses a muddy stream in the Mekong delta south of Saigon on September 10th, 1968. Photograph: Henri Huet.
18.
Mangrove forest destroyed by Agent Orange, 1976.
19.
U.S. helicopters pour machine-gun fire into the tree line to cover the advance of South Vietnamese troops, 1965.
20.
As fellow troopers aid wounded comrades, a paratrooper of A Company, 101st Airborne Division, guides a medevac helicopter through the jungle.
21.
A combat medic after a night when North Vietnamese attacked his fire support base.
22.
South Vietnamese troops, joined by US advisers, rest after a tense night of waiting in an ambush position for a Vietcong attack that did not come, January 1965.
23.
A US paratrooper, wounded in the battle for Hamburger Hill, grimaces in pain as he awaits medical evacuation at base camp near the Laotian border on 19 May 1969.
24.
A makeshift hospital in the Vietnam War, 1970.
25.
Medic Thomas Cole looks up with his one unbandaged eye as he treats wounded Staff Sergeant Harrison Pell during a firefight on 30 January 1966.

US paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, hold their automatic weapons above water as they cross a river in the rain.

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1. US paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, hold their automatic weapons above water as they cross a river in the rain.

2. Lieutenant Commander Donald D. Sheppard, of Coronado, California, aims a flaming arrow at a bamboo hut concealing a fortified Viet Cong bunker on the banks of the Bassac River, South Vietnam, on December 8, 1967.

3. A U.S. Marine rescues two Vietnamese children during a gun battle at the city of Hue, during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War, 1968.

4. A black U.S. soldier reads a message left by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, the message reads: "U.S. Negro Armymen, You Are Committing The Same Ignominious Crimes In South Vietnam That The KKK Clique Is Perpetrating Against Your Family At Home.” 1970.

5. Marines emerge from their foxholes south of the DMZ after a third night of fighting against North Vietnamese troops in September 1966.

6. North Vietnamese pull U.S airman John McCain out of a lake in 1967. He had ejected from his plane after it had been shot down, and he broke his right leg and both arms while being knocked unconscious from the force. He was held captive by the Viet Cong for over five years.

7. An unidentified soldier of the 25th Infantry Division pauses for a cigarette. Vietnam War, 1969, colorized.

8. Four North Vietnamese soldiers walking among numerous ARVN military vehicles and equipment abandoned or destroyed on the road of Huế, the Vietnam War, 1975.

9. Caught in a sudden monsoon rain, part of a company of about 130 South Vietnamese soldiers moves downriver in sampans during a dawn attack on a Vietcong camp on 10 January 1966.

10. Two Vietnamese children, huddling against a canal bank for protection from Viet Cong sniper fire, gaze at an American paratrooper's M79 grenade launcher on New Year's Day, 1966, near Bao Trai.

11. Servicemen often creatively decorated their helmets.

12.

13.

14.

15. American paratrooper after combat, 1966.

17. A 6ft 5in machine gunner with the US 9th Infantry Division is submerged except for his rifle as he crosses a muddy stream in the Mekong delta south of Saigon on September 10th, 1968. Photograph: Henri Huet.

18. Mangrove forest destroyed by Agent Orange, 1976.

19. U.S. helicopters pour machine-gun fire into the tree line to cover the advance of South Vietnamese troops, 1965.

20. As fellow troopers aid wounded comrades, a paratrooper of A Company, 101st Airborne Division, guides a medevac helicopter through the jungle.

21. A combat medic after a night when North Vietnamese attacked his fire support base.

22. South Vietnamese troops, joined by US advisers, rest after a tense night of waiting in an ambush position for a Vietcong attack that did not come, January 1965.

23. A US paratrooper, wounded in the battle for Hamburger Hill, grimaces in pain as he awaits medical evacuation at base camp near the Laotian border on 19 May 1969.

24. A makeshift hospital in the Vietnam War, 1970.

25. Medic Thomas Cole looks up with his one unbandaged eye as he treats wounded Staff Sergeant Harrison Pell during a firefight on 30 January 1966.

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1.
US paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, hold their automatic weapons above water as they cross a river in the rain.

2.
Lieutenant Commander Donald D. Sheppard, of Coronado, California, aims a flaming arrow at a bamboo hut concealing a fortified Viet Cong bunker on the banks of the Bassac River, South Vietnam, on December 8, 1967.

3.
A U.S. Marine rescues two Vietnamese children during a gun battle at the city of Hue, during the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War, 1968.

4.
A black U.S. soldier reads a message left by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, the message reads: "U.S. Negro Armymen, You Are Committing The Same Ignominious Crimes In South Vietnam That The KKK Clique Is Perpetrating Against Your Family At Home.” 1970.

5.
Marines emerge from their foxholes south of the DMZ after a third night of fighting against North Vietnamese troops in September 1966.

6.
North Vietnamese pull U.S airman John McCain out of a lake in 1967. He had ejected from his plane after it had been shot down, and he broke his right leg and both arms while being knocked unconscious from the force. He was held captive by the Viet Cong for over five years.

7.
An unidentified soldier of the 25th Infantry Division pauses for a cigarette. Vietnam War, 1969, colorized.

8.
Four North Vietnamese soldiers walking among numerous ARVN military vehicles and equipment abandoned or destroyed on the road of Huế, the Vietnam War, 1975.

9.
Caught in a sudden monsoon rain, part of a company of about 130 South Vietnamese soldiers moves downriver in sampans during a dawn attack on a Vietcong camp on 10 January 1966.

10.
Two Vietnamese children, huddling against a canal bank for protection from Viet Cong sniper fire, gaze at an American paratrooper's M79 grenade launcher on New Year's Day, 1966, near Bao Trai.

11.
Servicemen often creatively decorated their helmets.

15.
American paratrooper after combat, 1966.

17.
A 6ft 5in machine gunner with the US 9th Infantry Division is submerged except for his rifle as he crosses a muddy stream in the Mekong delta south of Saigon on September 10th, 1968. Photograph: Henri Huet.

18.
Mangrove forest destroyed by Agent Orange, 1976.

19.
U.S. helicopters pour machine-gun fire into the tree line to cover the advance of South Vietnamese troops, 1965.

20.
As fellow troopers aid wounded comrades, a paratrooper of A Company, 101st Airborne Division, guides a medevac helicopter through the jungle.

21.
A combat medic after a night when North Vietnamese attacked his fire support base.

22.
South Vietnamese troops, joined by US advisers, rest after a tense night of waiting in an ambush position for a Vietcong attack that did not come, January 1965.

23.
A US paratrooper, wounded in the battle for Hamburger Hill, grimaces in pain as he awaits medical evacuation at base camp near the Laotian border on 19 May 1969.

24.
A makeshift hospital in the Vietnam War, 1970.

25.
Medic Thomas Cole looks up with his one unbandaged eye as he treats wounded Staff Sergeant Harrison Pell during a firefight on 30 January 1966.