“Then as we left the coast, we saw the raw red earth of Vietnam. Red as I had never seen it before, the red of old dried blood. The soil soaked with the blood of centuries of endless war.” (Memoir, “Incoming,” page 2)

Aldo Stephen Panzieri

Aldo Panzieri, Vietnam [1969] War: Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Branch: Air Force Unit: 12th Reconnaissance Intelligence Squadron Service Location: Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Republic of Vietnam Rank: Sergeant Place of Birth: CA

Aldo Panzieri’s work experience as a news photographer was to his advantage after he enlisted in the Air Force and shipped out to Vietnam in 1968. He was ordered to develop aerial reconnaissance photography, and he became expert in eliciting pictures from negatives that appeared hopelessly damaged. He worked 12-hour shifts, and during his off-duty hours he carried a small camera, recording life at Tan Son Nhut Air Base and in nearby Saigon. Panzieri’s dispassionate eye caught everything from Vietnamese children at play to the damaged hulks of military planes in a makeshift air cemetery.