Mekong Delta

Photos Taken by Robert D. Jester, 5th Special Forces Group, 1965

Sp5 Robert D. Jester arrived in Vietnam in November 1964 with the Signal Company, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), and served until March 1966. In 1965, he travelled with a truck convoy (he cannot now recall where this journey started) that went across the Mekong Delta to Chau Doc, in the western part of the Mekong Delta where the Bassac River (one of the two major branches into which the Mekong splits in Cambodia) crosses the border from Cambodia into South Vietnam.

Road ahead of truck 17

Water buffalo in field; military facility in background 18

Same, zoomed for closer view 18a

Looks like a marsh 21

Boat on river 27

Boat by riverbank 28

Boat by riverbank 29

Road ahead of truck 35

Box "Mountains," series DEC 65Z black (mtd):

No. 1: Street scene

No. 2: Vietnamese at entrance to something - a shop?

No. 3: Banana trees, fields

No. 5: Truck convoy

No. 6: Probably the same truck convoy, a lot more strung out on the road

No. 9: Fancy house

No. 10: Large modern building; looks like a school

No. 11: Children beside road

No. 12: The Chung Vien Te re xa (Teresa Seminary, which I presume would have been a Catholic girls' school), in Long Xuyen, capital of An Giang province, on the Bassac River in the western Mekong Delta.

No. 13: Same: sign on gate identifying the seminary

No. 28: Fish trap in river

No. 30: Shoreline; buildings on stilts

No. 33: Banners across a road, apparently for some Catholic celebration.

Same, zoomed

36: Sign across road for celebration

36: Same, zoomed

 

Chau Doc

No. 14: Bridge

No. 15: Riverfront: The Bassac River

No. 15: Same, zoomed

No. 17: Trucks on road

No. 22: Guard at gate?

No. 23: Guard at gate

No. 26: Small boats on river

No. 28: Edge of dock; boys swimming in river

No. 29: Decks of small boats

No. 31: Large jars in market

View over town on river, with stack of large jars 32

Baskets of rice and maybe dried beans?: 34

Woman and child in marketplace, selling fish: 35

No. 36: A lot of people in the market

 

Box "NHA," series DEC 65Z black (nhadb):

No. 25: River

CD2DR: (DEC 65Z red): nos. 1, 12, 13, 28, 30, 33 from box "2 Chou Dac"; nos. 3, 27, 36 from box "NHA."

People in market 1

3: RVN policeman?


Gate in fence; river in background 12

Sandbagged position; river in background 13

 

Less interesting photos, and photos that are essentially duplicates.

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Photographs are Copyright © 2007, Robert D. Jester, MSG/E8, US Army Ret.
e-mail: Robert63@netscape.com

I am extremely grateful to Mr. Jester for having given me permission to place his photos on this web page, making them available to scholars and students.
Edwin E. Moise
Professor of History
Clemson University
e-mail: eemoise@clemson.edu

Opinions expressed on these web pages are those of Robert D. Jester and/or Edwin E. Moise. They could not very well be the opinions of Clemson University, which does not have opinions on the relevant subjects.

Revised January 4, 2007.