James S. Hensinger circa 4/70 Phu Tai, RVN

We used to hear about these incidents over the hill in Udorn or NKP back in 1970. Da Nang and its environs were frequently the scene of sniper incidents. I had a buddy that I kept up with who would call me on AUTOVON in the evenings to tell me about some VC with a death wish up on Monkey Mountain or thereabouts. Phu Tai was in the same prefecture so it was six of one and half a dozen of another. I find it interesting that this was a 173rd Airborne site. LawBob was a member of the august group and forwarded this to me. Sadly, we in the Air Force did not show the proper respect to the Airborne troops. Anything that fell from the sky (other than bombs) was referred to as “bird shit”. Thus the name for the Airborne caused some untoward friction among our normal fraternization efforts at the local watering holes in Southeast Asia.

We have James S, Hensinger to thank for these extraordinary shots. Why he kept them hidden all these years is a mystery. Thank goodness he didn’t throw them away. One day, LIFE magazine will do a retro on this war and these pictures deserve a prominent place there. Stunning photography from a grunt-even if he fell from the sky.

The beginning of the evening:  60mm flares and 40 Mike Mikes from an M-42

More 60 mm mortar flares followed by M-60s in guard towers (red tracers)

more 40 mike mike

High burst of 81mm flare

more 40mm cannon fire

40mm Bofors and .50 cal from M-42

Betty Crocker’s adventures in better living through gunpowder

That must have been an interesting night for the sniper. Looks like about $25 K worth of ordnance. What the hey? I saw more than one instance of extraordinary amounts of ordnance expended to squelch someone. One thing that can be said for being there was that you got a front row seat for the fireworks more than once a year like the Fourth of July. Thank you Mr. Hensinger for sharing these stirring pictures. Great memories of days long past.