Vietnam Navy

Part of the Global Perspectives on War and Peace Collection. A series of silent 8mm films made by Jim Metzger during his year long tour on a River Boat Patrol in Vietnam in 1968. 

00:00Copy video clip URL Color bars

00:17Copy video clip URL Footage starts, a rifle which has been taken apart lies on the ground.  Metzger uses stop motion to the show the rifle being put together and loaded with bullets.

01:20Copy video clip URL Man shooting rifle into water. More stop motion, men running at camera, sparring, shooting at objects in the water.

02:30Copy video clip URL Joking for the camera, a man drags a long rope behind him which is then revealed to have another man holding onto the other end.

03:00Copy video clip URL A quick succession of boat shots. Many close-ups of guns, bullets and kitschy items on the boats. Signs written in Vietnamese, boats moving along the river.  Gives a sense of space, although the shots are very quick.

05:07Copy video clip URL Helicopter circling in the sky. A man jumping rope.  More, tighter shots of the helicopter.

06:07Copy video clip URL A sailor picks his nose, unaware of the camera.

06:19Copy video clip URL A helicopter taking off a pad which also appears to serve as a basketball court.

07:18Copy video clip URL Smoking near a “no smoking, ammo” sign.  Men boxing and play fighting.

08:15Copy video clip URL More shots of helicopter over the river. A patrol boat. Cuts briefly to cars driving down a highway.

08:52Copy video clip URL A series of shots where the men smile, pose, and make jokes for the camera. A man bends down their flag as they go under a bridge. More shooting into the water.

11:08Copy video clip URL Closeups of water being churned by the motor.

12:15Copy video clip URL Airplane in the sky. The camera gets surprisingly close. Patrol boats speeding down the river. Longer shots of the river, much larger ships are seen as well as smaller patrol boats, different camp set ups along the river.

16:04Copy video clip URL Shots of the river from a speeding patrol boat, the camera shaking at times along with the motion of the boat.

17:40Copy video clip URL Helicopters flying low over the jungle.

18:45Copy video clip URL The rifle mounted on the boats, boats moving slowing back and forth across the river.

20:50Copy video clip URL Men wave from their boat, a sailor eating some kind of what looks like watermelon one reclining and reading on the bow.

21:32Copy video clip URL A blonde sailor dances a little for the camera. Shots of things exploding in the water.

22:31Copy video clip URL A nice shot of a fleet of helicopters in the sky. The camera follows one as it flies off into the distance.

24:26Copy video clip URL A helicopter taking off from camp. More boats along the river.

27:10Copy video clip URL A sailor wearing a cap, cocks his gun and points it at the camera.

30:10Copy video clip URL Two sailors, one with a camera around his neck walk towards the camera. Closeup of face with moustache sneering.

30:40Copy video clip URL Some creative editing causes jeeps and people to appear and reappear.

33:38Copy video clip URL Closeup of helicopters on the ground with several children nearby. Closeups of spinning blades.

36:24Copy video clip URL Driving through a village, the camera shoots through the front of the jeep.

38:35Copy video clip URL A man putting his rifle together.

41:40Copy video clip URL Boats on the river. Looks to be evening. Camera closes in on tough looking sailor with a red bandanna.

42:20Copy video clip URL Cars and bikes moving on a small bridge over the river, the sky is purple from the sunset.

48:13Copy video clip URL A man smiles at the camera, closeup of wake made by the speeding boat.

50:05Copy video clip URL A sailors casts his fishing rod.

51:30Copy video clip URL Unloading boxes of supplies. One man does funny things with his stomach for the camera. A sailor repairing something, possible a motor.

53:05Copy video clip URL Closeup of the California state flag waving in the wind.

54:00Copy video clip URL A nice sequence here. Footage of boats in the river. Closeups of men driving motorized rafts. Footage is very shaky from motion of the raft. Closeups of sunlit water as boat speeds along. A fleet of helicopters in the sky. Vietnamese billboards can be seen along the side of the river.

58:29Copy video clip URL Driving through a town. Some young women walk by and hide their faces from the camera. End of tape.