SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER  2009

Photography

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My Road

 To Not Being

 at Woodstock

By D.R. Goff

Dawn Patrol- This is my favorite pic' from Vietnam. This is shot outside of Cu Chi base camp where my photo lab and bunk were. There's an ethereal quality to the image. The noise and smell were not, however.

* * *

My road to not being at Woodstock began when I was drafted into the U.S. Army in February '68. At the time I was a ski bum in Vermont. 

Previously I had been a photo major for two years at Ohio University . When I quit college, my deferment went from 2S to 1A. Which sounds excellent, but wasn't.

While in basic training during an interview about what I did in the real world, I mentioned my 62 college credit hours and did my best to convince them I was the Avedon of the mid west. They bought it and sent me directly to USMA (The United States Military Academy) at West Point, N.Y., as an Army still photographer. There I got to experiment and learn real world applications (PR shots, accident reports, training aid graphics, portraiture, sports, architectural, parachuting with the cadets, and so on), while using  a complete Canon and Hasselblad  system on weekends in NYC.

In fact, that was probably the closest I got to Max Yasgur's farm in Bethel, N.Y., where the Woodstock Festival was held, all the time I was in the Army.

* * *

Ta Nin -The reason so many guys are smiling here is because we were getting out of a fetid swamp where we'd spent the night. We set up a night ambush along a trail in this hell hole. The mosquitoes sounded like a freight train in each ear after sunset. Then we were hit by "friendly fire". It was aerial burst artillery. And yes, I was terrified, as were the others. For some reason, no one was hurt. Hence all the smiles.

* * *

In the late summer of 1968 "Hair The Musical" was playing 50 miles away on Broadway while I was at West Point. The "Lifers", aka Army Career Professionals, wanted every Trooper to have "white sidewalls" or 1/4" hair and no more around the ears. So after the 8th or 20th time of being told to get a haircut I took the hint. Apparently my solution wasn't exactly what they were looking for. Within three weeks I had orders for Vietnam. No sense of humor whatsoever. My job was to take pictures for the 25th. Infantry Division, based in Cu Chi. That gig was loaded with lots of challenges. Most photo supplies from film to paper to chemistry and beyond were purchased from the lowest bidder. For instance I'd shoot Ansco asa 500 B&W film at asa 80 and push it two stops in an Agfa developer. And most of it had been sitting in 140-degree heat before we got it. So no matter what hell you went through to make the exposure, it could be lost in the lab. Our workhorse cameras were Leica M2s and 120mm Graphlex XLs. The Leicas were the toughest. They were what I used on rough or extended jobs with the Rangers LRRPs, or in  nasty swamps on night AP's (Ambush Patrols).

* * *

M-60 gunner ... I photographed this young machine gunner on the perimeter of the signal relay point on top of Nui Ba Den (the Black Virgin Mountain) near Cambodia. It was a holy mountain and our radios were in the small shrine on top. The mountain was a labyrinth of caves that held a couple thousand NVA (North Vietnamese Army), who on occasion would wipe out everyone on top. It was the stoniest place I've ever been. Reminiscent of the "Bridge scene" in Apocalypse Now. I remember thinking how young he looked when I printed this neg 7 years later, then recalled, that I was the "old man" there at 21.

* * *

Our Division Photo Lab that I worked out of, put out a monthly calendar. I had 6 of the 8 calendars published during my tour. The August '69 calendar of the 3/4 Cav',was of course shot in July, when Neal Armstrong walked on the moon. I wasn't there for that either. Which brings us to Woodstock. From my vantage point we could hear Hendrix and Janice Joplin fine, just not live. I even had a peace symbol sticker on my M-16. I eventually took it off because it was way too bright and the irony was way too much.  

This calendar shot was used in an e-mail invitation from a fellow ASMP member to a fellow 3/4 Armored Calvary member for an annual reunion. It's what got me started putting together this series of photographs and essay for the ASMP.

* * *

The best "head music" was to be found on radio Lai Kai, which was a  long way off  but could be picked up on top of Nui Ba Den (The Black Virgin Mountain). Listening to "Inna Gadda De Vida" by Iron Butterfly up there was one of the stoniest experiences of my life, in one of the most dangerous places in the world. The guys up top there were just sitting on top of an estimated Division of NVA (North Vietnamese Army), listening to the radio and free firing into the dark; just in case a sapper was coming through the wire.

We all heard the music from Woodstock -- just not live.

LRRP (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) -- This shot of me taken by a Ranger, was after three days of recon while trying to look like a bush with a Leica in one hand and an M-16 in the other. Our job was to walk through the most booby-trapped DMZ I'd ever experienced and hide while we looked for enemy activity. In fact a VC (Viet Cong) passed within four feet of me while I was placing a Claymore Mine, and never saw me. One gig with the LRRPs was enough for me.

This photo of a West Point Cadet competing in the 1968-'69 Collegiate National Parachuting Championships at Zephyr Hills, Florida, went on to be my first national cover shot, published In February '69 in PARACHUTIST MAGAZINE. I had been jumping with the Cadets for a few months and convinced the team's commander they needed the coverage in balmy Florida in December.

While Neal Armstrong took his first step on the moon,  I and another Divisional Photog' rode out with the 3/4 Armored Calvary on a RIF (Reconnaissance In Force) in the Bo Loi Woods. Much of the area did look a bit like the moon -- from all the bomb craters. That is, except for the water buffalo.

D.R. Goff is the former president of the New Mexico chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers. His work has appeared previously in ragazine.cc. This article is also being published in the NM ASMP publication. 

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