Between the Covers

Unbound. Three volumes. Quartos. Two commercial spiral albums with "Memory of South Viet-Nam" and a map of the country on both front boards. The third album is a green canvas three-ring binder with the hand-stenciled titles: "M.D. Land Vietnam 69-70 Phu Bai." The albums contain 236 black and white or color photographs measuring between .5” x 2” to 3.5” x 3.5”, some with captions. Additionally included are three examples of Vietnamese paper money, two U.S. military certificates, four Vietnamese coins, and one postcard. The albums are overall very good with edgewear and rubbing; the photographs are near fine.

The servicemen represented in these photographs appear to be members of the 14th Signal Company, 37th Signal Battalion, part of MARS (Military Auxiliary Radio System), stationed at the Phu Bai Combat Base, a U.S. Army and Marine Corps base south of Hue in the central coast region of Vietnam. The cover text on the three-ring binder reads: "M.D. LAND, SR. VIET-NAM 69 70 PHU BAI." The other two albums would seem to date from the same period, and were owned by a "Bro. Clint," fondly described as "a heavy young black brother whom has a lot going for him" in an inscription that appears in one of the albums by one of his fellow soldiers. One photo shows two soldiers standing near a 37th Signal Batallion sign. The 37th was stationed at Phu Bai.

The majority of the photographs consist of candid portraits of servicemen, solo and in groups. Most of the personnel are black; many are pictured shirtless and at their barracks. They appear lounging, drinking, smoking pipes and cigarettes, relaxing on the beach, and generally horsing around. Two images of knife-throwing are included, one of them presumably a mock-scene in which a man is spread out against the knife-throwing board with a knife stuck in the board just to the right of his head. In one photo, a white soldier holds a copy of the chart-topping 1968 self-title album by Blood, Sweat & Tears. A number of photos depict U.S. planes and fighter jets and scenes around the base.

Various Vietnamese women are pictured, some in nightclubs, smoking cigarettes, drinking, lounging, etc. In a few photos, a Vietnamese band is shown playing, with three female musician in go-go boots. Another, scantily clad, woman performs on stage, with musicians and a psychedelic Jimi Hendrix poster in the background. Also included are several professional portraits of Vietnamese women, one of whom appears to have been in the South Vietnamese army.

One of the albums bears numerous inscriptions to Clint on the paste-downs, with a strong Black Power vibe: "Stay cool and always think black"; "'Power to the black people right on!'"; “Stay black and you’ll make it big”; and "One of my brothers who I am quite sure will go back to the world and teach the black brothers and sisters about unity." One especially notable photo shows Clint's Black Power leather jacket, beret, sash, sunglasses, and carved Black Power war club in the form of a clenched fist. Many candid photos depict black soldiers symbolically raising their fists - the Black Power salute that both black privates and officers used to acknowledge one another in public. A number of soldiers are also shown making an 'X' with their arms and gesturing fist-bumps, the latter of which was colloquially known as the "dap" - an intricate, ever-changing and ritualized handshake common among black soldiers.

The period of the Vietnam War contemporaneous with the pictures offered here (c. 1968-1970) coincides with the boiling domestic tensions between black and white Americans that were heightened by the widely unpopular war and fueled the ascendancy of Black Power in America. These same tensions were also borne out in the U.S. Army, which witnessed an increase in interracial troubles, prompting an ethos of unity among African-Americans.

A vivid photo archive attesting to the strong embrace among black U.S. soldiers of the emergent culture and symbols of Black Power, offering them a sense of community and strength far away from home, amidst ubiquitous racism and an unpopular war.

Item #423209