Yep. We were "loaded for bear" in terms of picture taking, but we weren't so "loaded" in terms of armament. We had no guns, bombs or defensive rocket missiles. We were, as it said on our unit's emblem : "Alone! Unarmed! and Unafraid?" We were crews of the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron.

But perhaps our most essential photographic tools, very un-official to be sure, were our own personal hand-held 35mm cameras. Oh, we took the required pictures Uncle Sam wanted, but then we took some for ourselves too. "One for Uncle - and then One for Us" was our motto.

My own camera was an old folding bellows-type 35mm Voigtlander Vito II. It fit nicely in my flight suit pocket and has been with me for years. It's flown in B-52's, B-58's and RF-4C's around the world. It's not fancy. It has no built-in light meter or zoom lens, but it's a dependable, compact and versatile camera. It's great.

Color slide film was our favorite, mostly because of its high resolution and lack of image-degrading grain one often gets with print film. It was also because exciting images look more impressive on large projection screens than simply as snapshots. We got some good photos in that exotic part of the world.

Taking pictures through the bubble canopy of our F-4 cockpit demanded some creative positioning and quick maneuvers. My pilot and I took turns flying the airplane while the other snapped away. We probably took as many photos for ourselves as we did for Uncle Sam.

The least-obstructed views were off to the side, for the forward wind screen was cluttered with instruments and structural parts of the airplane. Getting a vertical shot required rolling the aircraft to a 90 degree bank at the right instant to capture the subject. At low level we had just the briefest opportunity. You had to be positioned just right, and in a combat zone you don't go back to repeat a missed shot, especially for a personal one.

We did most of our work at low level, typically around 400 feet above the ground. That was partly because our aircraft cameras most often had short six inch focal length lenses. To get the photographic scales to satisfy our primary customer, Army ground forces, we had to fly low. We often remarked that those field commanders really wanted one-to-one scale images.

Often we had to fly low along the rivers and canals to permit our lenses to see under the trees along the shoreline. That's where the "bad guys" typically hid themselves or their boats. You could not see them from up high.

Some pictures taken in and around Saigon were especially good, for the subject matter was more interesting there than of small jungle clearings or miles and miles of trees and rice paddies. The Mekong and Saigon rivers were usually interesting too, as there was quite a bit of boat traffic. Many of the fortified coastal hamlets and military installations made good picture subjects. Their distinctive perimeter fencing and regular geometry stood in stark contrast to the random river patterns.

The French-built resort community of Vung Tau on the southern coast, with its colorful tile-roofed houses, made good pictures. A derelict ship beached on a point of land to the west of town was an interesting subject too. But I was most intrigued by the patterns of the meandering river estuary and its many channels. At certain times of the day it looked alive, silvery and glistening.

To the northeast, up in the mountains west of Danang, we flew down deep canyons to photograph enemy trails and supply routes. We were too busy trying to avoid the rocks in those clouds to take but a few person photos there. Too bad, because the terrain is spectacular. Waterfalls cascade down the jungle-covered hillsides. Vietnam is a fascinating and beautiful place, even in war time.

While many RF-4 crewmen carried still cameras for personal photography, some mounted movie cameras atop their instrument panels for shots forward through the windscreen. Sometimes they got outstanding footage, but more often than not it was much less so. Much of their film was just frame after frame of treetops or hazy distant scenes without great detail. Purposeful still camera pictures were usually better.

Some of the most interesting pictures were of other airplanes, both on the ground and in flight formations or as chance passing targets. And on occasion there were some magnificent cloud patterns which made terrific pictures.