As we all know many Saigon Kids returned to Viet-nam in the military during the Viet-nam war years.
In this 4-part series, The Berm, *Born To Wander*, attempts to re-create the experience of American soldiers who manned the bunkers around their bases at night. These may have been a remote Landing Zone or Fire Base and manned by infantrymen, artillerymen or combat engineers. More often, these bunkers were at a larger, more permanent and more secure base and manned by technicians, clerks and cooks who had little training in the art of combat. Long Thanh North, where *Born To Wander* spent many-a-night on the berm, was such a base.
The story is told from his personal experiences, but I’m sure those who spent a night on the berm will probably find the sights, sounds and feelings quite familiar. For those who have never had the pleasure of such a night, perhaps this will give you a small flavor.
Nearly all the still photographs and sounds used are from war-time Viet-nam. Night photography of Viet-nam is rare – but of course, there wasn’t much to see anyway, except darkness, shadows, the moon and stars and , of course, fireworks.
Part 1 takes us from guard-mount at 5 pm to sundown at 7 pm.
A Born To Wander Production
Best viewed in *Full Screen* mode. To open Full Screen mode, click the *4 arrows* Icon on the Tool Bar across the bottom of video player screen.
Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon.
I think I only pulled guard duty twice in a year in Long Binh….once as a Spec4 in a bunker and the second time as Sgt of the Guard. All we had were our M-14 rifles (1968), none of that modern equipment like night scopes or what have you. Most nights I sleep like a baby….still we got rocketed a number of times, but fortunately for me, it was a pretty safe year.
Nice film.