[Leica] Viet nam 1968! :-)

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

God dam it! 1968 and I ran away from it because I was scared shitless! I've
never run away from an assignment in my life but this one and it's haunted
to this day!

 

My assignment was to photograph the Canadians who were volunteers with the
American forces serving there. Far more than anyone has any idea of our
people, young boys went simply because of the many stupid stories they'd
heard fromWW2 & Korea from their fathers or uncles or whomever.

 

Me? Heck the year before, 1967, I was photographing the Israelis charging
across the desert in a lightening strike manner as though it were a piece of
cake. So going to Viet Nam the next year didn't seem like any kind of
problem. It was!

 

But now some 40 plus years later this has created a situation I'd never have
thought possible when it was thrown in my face regarding my attitude to life
situations of today! Yes I've finally admitted to running away, right here
and now, never before admitted!! You have no idea how it is to finally do
that after all these years living with the fact .. "I ran away when
thousands of young boys couldn't?" Maybe being a father of 4 and 40 plus
years of age may have had something to do with the decision. 

 

I'm sorry to lay this out in front of you as it has nothing to do with
photography of today, but it has everything to do with photography with
Leica's of 1968 and me running away! No I didn't have to shoot at anyone to
survive, but the experience has been a burden all these years, because I ran
away! :-( Sorry folks!

ted