199th Light Infantry Brigade, B/3/7
The 199th Light Infantry Brigade web site is a pictorial chronology of a US
Army infantry unit; the members of which are brought together for training at Ft. Benning, GA, in 1966. In the beginning, the
pictures are more light hearted and give glimpses into military training, and how the unit was trained to take advantage of the new airmobile technology made possible by the helicopter. In the pictures, the
soldiers appear invincible.
The pictures follow on to show the mobilization of the brigade; an air flight to Alaska and on to the foreign soil of Japan and then South Vietnam. The progression of the pictures seems to hint of their realization that they were trained for actual combat in South Vietnam; and the innocence of the first pictures begins to be paled by a more serious tone, as time progresses. The soldiers are transplanted to a place called Long Binh, where the pictures give the viewer a clue that the soldiers have witnessed combat for the first time. The next stop is Binh Chan in Long An province, nd the year is 1967 when they begin to become experienced in reality beyond their years. As the soldiers become more familiar with the local culture, the stress of combat and the rough life style, the pictures are now of soldiers who no longer give the appearance invincibility.
Today the site ties former members together in a sense of comradery, and has a dedication to soles of that unit, lost in combat. The picture chronology concludes on a more upbeat tone, with pictures of Binh Chan and Ho Chi Minh City, as these cities exists today. These last pictures possibly offering family members and friends some comfort in the knowledge that the area has made repairs, and that life goes on peacefully, in Vietnam today.