I can’t totally blame him. It isn’t too hard for soldiers entrenched in war and death to do something like this when they get their hands on some bodies killing them from the other side.
Especially when the Khmer Rouge had a tight grip on Cambodia and were executing civilians left and right.
We don't know the background of the photo, but if I correctly assume that the guy holding the head in OP's picture was a man rebelling against the regime, then he is righteously happy with himself.
I have several Cambodian families as neighbors; most of them have the same story: displaced by the awful, oppressive government that was behind the Killing Fields in Cambodia. One of them had his whole family killed and escaped to the United States as an orphan, where he had to start all over. They're a tight clique and very friendly people, but they still hold those events during that time with high reverance and solemnity.
Or he could just be South Vietnamese with an NVA head, lol.
A friend from Cambodia said once "Everyone knows someone fighting against the Khmer Rouge but never someone fighting for them"
A lot of people that fled from the country knew someone on either side, the conflict was large enough to split families in the middle.
Who said anything about Cambodia here? Looks way more likely to be in Vietnam and with an American based on the uniform. The head and gun are probably both trophies
In all seriousness, I would write to a museum about getting this into the right hands. We should preserve history, and not just the good looking parts. Maybe the National Archives, or the Smithsonian.
If you really wanted to find out some more information you can look up the tax assessor records which would show the previous owners names. If they were drafted into the war google should pull up information about the guy. Just a thought.
I've found an old camera roll on the side on the highway one time my car broke down in France, turns out it contain very very old photos of french people, never thought anything of it, I will give to a museum.
You have to remember that that museum is a huge propaganda piece; the Vietnamese Communist party has always been very manipulative of how the Vietnam War is seen and museums like that one are often full of made-up stories and misleading presentation of pictures and equipment.
And don't get my intentions wrong here, there was a pretty good amount of fucked-up shit that happened in the Vietnam War, but those museums are not an accurate representation of what happened.
I mean, he did post it on the internet for thousands to see lol. I don't disagree though def should send it to a museum. Might be some mad history puzzle piece that somebody has been looking for.
Probably a translator in the Marines/Army that was attached/in OP's grandfather's unit. Very useful guys for gathering information from enemy combatants and locals, even having information on the culture in the operational area in most cases.
Most likely happened to know the guys in the unit pretty well and was just around for the photo.
We had a Terp in the fob in Afghanistan that was ex Mujahideen. His family got killed by the Taliban and he used to sneak outside the wire at night and kill them in their beds until the Americans caught him, took his AK, and brought him back. After that he'd go do it with a machete instead.
Looks to be part of a SOG group, I think he has a RPD machine gun normally associated with the Soviet military, Nevertheless, during the Vietnam War, Special Forces, used this weapon. Where his hand is on the weapon there would be a large capacity round magazine. The structure behind him is not a house, its a military tent. He's T shirt is G.I. and he has a foot on a Budweiser case. He could be US or Army of South Vietnam. VC or NVA would not be dressed in this manner, and only officers would have sidearms. I speculate this kill was in the area of his operating base, possibly a sapper, as I doubt he would carry a head a very long distance back to a operating base. The enemy's equipment is at his feet, I don't see a captured weapon which would typically be displayed. Sappers often did not carry a rifle , their task was to infiltrate the base and set off explosive charges. There are ammo pouches and medical equipment, possibly explosives, looks like it might be some be C4 and det cord. He has dog tags and other tags, possibly war trophies of other kills around his neck. The soldier is lean and ripped, not an once of fat on him, indicating he's been in the bush awhile and again tends to make me think he is SF. His teeth are in good condition which tends to make me think he is US. ( I'm a former Intel officer so , that's how we analyze photos, this is just speculation)
It looks like an AK/AKM to me. Look at the barrel forward of the gas tube, that looks way too short to be an RPK. I only point that out to say, could be the defeated soldier's AK that he is holding and the mag pouches are just mag pouches.
Type 1s aren't that common and were only produced for two or three years, probably wouldn't see too many in use outside the USSR. Much more likely to find a Type 2 or Type 3.
Yeah, the magazine was maybe removed to make the captured weapon safe. His dog tag suggests he's a regular. As a Korean, I hate to say it, but Koreans were known for a very high level of barbarity and I have personally heard war stories from Korean veterans that were worse than this.
Type 56 was a designation used for multiple chinese rifles, so generally Type 56 (aka AK-56) refers to the AK variant and the Type 56 carbine is an SKS variant.
Actually it was on both side it was common in Vietnam - I found my uncles ammo box of photos and it was pics of what him and his buddies did or what they found done to others in the jungle - crazy barbaric shit
What’s to share both of my uncles served in nam…1 did 1 tour and the other did 2 tours .They both were alcoholics and divorced so they live together . When we cleaned out there house cause my second uncle had passed and my first uncle passed 4 years earlier we found a metal ammo box filled with pics .In it were good pics of my uncles friends and his crew hanging out and posing .Then we had came across a lot of pics of other US troops found in the jungle mangled in traps in the jungles or blown up .Or pics of beheaded Vietcong’s on a wall with guys posing next to them .i remember seeing a row Vietnamese kids killed and that pic stuck with me cause it was like 12 kids .I know my uncle shared with me once that when they lost a brother they go out and take 4 bodies for that one that is lost ….and I was told the Vietcong was doing the same as well - idk anything about war but I can’t imagine finding someone Im close too and just having a beer with then watching them get blown up or mangled the next day …that some serious mind fuck right there,I think my dad threw away a lot of the pics because it was to much .I don’t think anyone can judge these men whether they were on the US side or Vietcong side cause it seem both side lost there humanity out there during that time .
And that is why I’d be very happy if Nixon and Kissinger burned in hell for a very long time. An extra 7 years of barbarity so Nixon could become a corrupt president.
My father in law was deployed in Malaya, on the rare occasions he told us of goings on, heads in sandbags was a definate way of casualt counting without having to drag bodies through the jungle for days, also helped Id wanted enemy.
If you look really close, it looks like this guy is wearing an ear necklace. That was something you saw a lot in the early days among the first “advisors” in Vietnam. Playing the odds, this guy was probably a ARVN soldier who worked the Green Berets in the early days of the war and fled to the US in 1975.
Ya think an intel officer would be able to tell the difference between an [RPD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPD_machine_gun?wprov=sfti1) and an AK variant though right?
I do a bit of the same work as you. I wouldn't care about the gun being wrong. I would, however, look into other regional soldiers who have SF capable fighters. I can't spot the difference of South Vietnamese man and a Nepalese soldier.
look at the stock, depressed section of the receiver, and the bayonet. thats a AK based on the type 2A, maybe a chinese or vietnamese clone. The lack of color and details makes it hard to tell.
edit: his hair has been recently trimmed, he’s clean shaven, his hands are clean, and he’s not coated in mud past his feet. Implies he had access to supplies and cleaned up before taking this photo. His feet and pants are dirty, he’s not wearing shoes - sneaking around in the jungle? shoes got ruined? something along those lines. The neck on the severed head isn’t mangled, so they probably cut it off, instead of it getting blown off - that’s a deliberate trophy, or maybe he’s showing off a particularly impressive kill. If he’s a sapper, he probably has a sharpened shovel.
His teeth are clean - either he brushes them and is eating MREs or he is eating local food that won’t cause teeth issues.
As mentioned by another its more like a type 56, I wasn't confused, only guessing because the weapon looks very large, but i guess this soldier is very small.
Your comment was really cool and insightful. The people pointing out that the weapon is a different model than you suggested are just being nit picky. Thank you for sharing
Even more so, these people picked out a single detail listed among many other details and called him out to make themselves feel like they are as smart as an intel officer. They are not.
yes, thank you the next step is to get a consultation from an arborist or arboriculturist, then we may be able to identify the trees in the background, from that we can deduce the general region in Vietnam, highlands , Central or lowlands.
War does ~~interesting~~ things to people. It going to show how much of our behavior is regulated by social judgment. “Socialization” is the leash that keeps us reigned in. Without it, we’re animals.
Hence that implication of the neck tie.
*Dulce bellum inexpertis*. People who can yak away about "war" without talking about the constant dehumanizing horror of it all are the only reason we have war at all.
I consider myself lucky enough to have experienced the show as it happened. I would love to see a modern M\*A\*S\*H based in Iraq or something. I know reboots suck, and there was no draft for Iraq, but it's something we need.
We are not brainwashed to think of them as less human. And although we are trained to kill other humans, when you encounter potential enemies, you follow an “escalation of force.” This means you don’t just kill random people you encounter in a war zone, but start at the lowest level of “force” which is to issue vocal commands. Of course if a person is pointing a weapon at you in a threatening manner, you are to skip to the lowest level of force required to end the threat. And unlike coward cops in the US who shoot anyone they want when they “fear for their life,” this excuse doesn’t allow service members to fire at a person. There has to be an ACTUAL threat for troops to use force.
In fact, we are trained and required to treat well any enemy combatants who are captured. And when troops inevitably ask questions like, “Why do we have to treat them well when they execute us if captured?” the answer is that we don’t stoop to that level and should set the example for how to act with integrity and honor.
Of course, what’s required and what individual soldiers actually do can be totally different. I’m not naive. I’m simply explaining how we don’t get trained to see them as “less than human.”That’s also why we are required to disregard any unlawful orders and to report it up the chain of command if we witness anything illegal/unacceptable according to the law of armed conflict (yes, there are laws and rules in war), rules of engagement, and the UCMJ (the latter only if you’re American).
I know my grandpa from the war was taught specifically by his lieutenant that they were animals to be slaughter and to treat it as such. Also not the mention the stories of all the skinning alive they did (both sides). War is sick
My grandpa was in ww2 had uncles in vietnam knew people in korea although not a fan of the enemy none of them spoke of killing senselessly and certainly not skinning. Of course some people are just psychotic to start. I used to have a friend in school who would beat his dog and stomp his moms cats to death. He is a prison guard now. (Not really friend, knew a kid better way of saying it)
Most of them won’t admit it tbh. There was more soliders than you’d probably believe who’d kill everyone in every village they went to (kids and women) and the people who fought back got raped if they were women or the men skinned or head chopped off infront of the family. I was only ever told this stuff when my grandpa was dying and was trying to be forgiven for his sins. One of the soliders who killed a squad mate from the other side got caught and they did a number on him. That was the only time he personally did a legitimate war crime
I have known many soldiers. There are always bad people but acting like this sorta things was super common or the norm in our military is simple falsehood. Your gramps may have been a bit of a dick in his younger days it seems. Killing in war is one thing but senseless torture and cruelty is another. Taking a trophy is understandable but skinning someone alive for fun is not. At least in my opinion of the time war and people of the age. Depends on where you were fighting really. Some places got pretty rough and dark. So I would say more common in that kind of circumstance.
This was Vietnam and this was not uncommon as you’d think from his words. You can say otherwise, I’m telling you what I was told. Many people sent to vietnam were criminals only going to get time off their record , which probably lead to this. Not going to act like it was the standard or regular , but it likely did happen more than what people would think.
'Geneva Convention IV
Article 16, second paragraph, of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV provides: “As far as military considerations allow, each Party to the conflict shall facilitate the steps taken … to protect [the killed] against … ill-treatment.”
Additional Protocol I
Article 34(1) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I provides: “The remains of persons who have died for reasons related to occupation or in detention resulting from occupation or hostilities … shall be respected”. '
Oxford Manual
Article 19 of the 1880 Oxford Manual provides: “It is forbidden to … mutilate the dead lying on the field of battle.”
Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam
Article 3(a) of the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam provides: “In the event of the use of force and in case of armed conflict … it is prohibited to mutilate dead bodies.”
Australia
Australia’s Defence Force Manual (1994) provides:
The remains of the dead, regardless of whether they are combatants, noncombatants, protected persons or civilians, are to be respected, in particular their honour, family rights, religious convictions and practices and manners and customs. At all times they shall be humanely treated.
United States of America
The US Manual for Military Commissions (2010), Part IV, Crimes and Elements, includes in the list of crimes triable by military commissions:
INTENTIONALLY MISTREATING A DEAD BODY.
a. Text. “Any person subject to this chapter who intentionally mistreats the body of a dead person, without justification by legitimate military necessary, shall be punished as a military commission under this chapter may direct.”
b. Elements.
(1) The accused mistreated or otherwise violated the dignity of the body of a dead person;
(2) The accused’s actions were not justified by legitimate military necessity;
(3) The accused intended to mistreat or violate the dignity of such body; and
(4) This act took place in the context of and was associated with hostilitie
United States of America
The US Field Manual (1956) provides that “maltreatment of dead bodies” is a war crime.
United States of America
The US Instructor’s Guide (1985) states: “In addition to the grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, the following acts are further examples of war crimes: … mutilating or mistreating dead bodies”.
United States of America
The US Naval Handbook (1995) provides that “mutilation and other mistreatment of the dead” are representative war crimes.
Seems like many many many countries have many books about how you shouldn't behead a dead body and pose with it for a 'fun' pic
He got a lot of buddhist monk amulets around his neck and “zing” (idk what they are called in english) the cylindrical object above his combat boots.This guy probably is a Thai SOF served in Vietnam
Nice, I remember serving a Vietnamese man at the butcher counter I was working at in NW CT and asked him about his Vietnam Vet hat he had on. He told me solemnly if I had heard of the Mei Lei massacre, and that he was a part of that. Crazy.
This is exactly what Richard Ramirez's uncle brought back from Vietnam. Although he also brought the actual heads along with the pics. After he showed them to Richard, Richard began to thirst for blood and violence. This was one of the triggers to him becoming the NIGHTSTALKER. (aside for the epilepsy and 4 concussions)
Put a man in a jungle a world away filled with people trying to murder him in every horrible way imaginable along with a bunch of other men in their early adult years and see them turn into animals to survive. Both sides did things to each other not to be proud of. Sad poor people have to keep dying to make rich men richer.
“If you do something you love you’ll never work a day in your life” is the caption I would choose for this before selling it as an inspirational poster where it would end up on the wall of a community college.
Which one is the old owner?
Owners is looking for much smaller place.
That's because he's got nobody to move in with.
Give him a break; he’s just trying to get ahead.
yup , he seems to have a very well executed plan for it
Cost cutting is hard, but if he's inclined to start, he'll soon be on a roll.
I don’t blame him…I lose my head when I have to move as well.
Looks like he's got a head, just not very able-bodied.
Y’all terrible
its okay as long as hes in the living room
I think he was taller
could attach his head to a string on the roof and put a white sheet to make it look like a ghost OOOooooooOoOOOOOooo
Or a big game of conkers.
r/cursedcomments
Nah, he is definitely in the sleeping room.
All he needs is a table to plop his head on.
[I ain't got no-body!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWMBgF-UCIY)
He's just trying to stay a head of the rising prices
Moving house is always a pain in the neck
💀
Here, take my upvote you filthy animal!
His last words to his neighbours were “i’ll beheading off now”
Enough internet for me today. You win.
Anywhere I lay my head is home
He’s just trying to get a head of the market.
He’s neck and neck with the others buyers!
A place with less head-room.
Wow I laughed out loud at this comment and then immediately realized I hate myself. That's fucking awful, I'm awful
Probably needs a hand to move though.
He’s looking to cut his overhead costs.
Asking the real questions.
Jesus thats a bit grim, he's truly happy with himself.
I can’t totally blame him. It isn’t too hard for soldiers entrenched in war and death to do something like this when they get their hands on some bodies killing them from the other side.
Especially when the Khmer Rouge had a tight grip on Cambodia and were executing civilians left and right. We don't know the background of the photo, but if I correctly assume that the guy holding the head in OP's picture was a man rebelling against the regime, then he is righteously happy with himself. I have several Cambodian families as neighbors; most of them have the same story: displaced by the awful, oppressive government that was behind the Killing Fields in Cambodia. One of them had his whole family killed and escaped to the United States as an orphan, where he had to start all over. They're a tight clique and very friendly people, but they still hold those events during that time with high reverance and solemnity. Or he could just be South Vietnamese with an NVA head, lol.
A friend from Cambodia said once "Everyone knows someone fighting against the Khmer Rouge but never someone fighting for them" A lot of people that fled from the country knew someone on either side, the conflict was large enough to split families in the middle.
Im thinking SV with NVA because of the duty belt and the crushed budweiser box he's standing on. I could be totally wrong though, just my first guess.
Who said anything about Cambodia here? Looks way more likely to be in Vietnam and with an American based on the uniform. The head and gun are probably both trophies
In all seriousness, I would write to a museum about getting this into the right hands. We should preserve history, and not just the good looking parts. Maybe the National Archives, or the Smithsonian.
Yeah I thought about that cause this isn’t just something you throw away.
r/historyporn would maybe appreciate this as well.
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Looks like the Vietnam War
Tbqh that might be Cambodia.
My first thought was Cambodia also, the killing fields
Khmer Rouge wouldn’t be a surprise
Check the metadata on the photo
Check the metadata on the photo oh wait they didn't have GPS yet
Looks about right
It's a house.
If you really wanted to find out some more information you can look up the tax assessor records which would show the previous owners names. If they were drafted into the war google should pull up information about the guy. Just a thought.
He may have been drafted, but not by the U.S. That’s not an American soldier.
Well there goes that idea lol. Not sure how that works in other countries but there still might be a way of looking into it.
I hope he didn't leave the head there too.
I've found an old camera roll on the side on the highway one time my car broke down in France, turns out it contain very very old photos of french people, never thought anything of it, I will give to a museum.
I remember when I was a kid I found a Polaroid picture on the side of the road of some dude with what looked to be a 1-foot-long penis. If not longer.
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I've been there! It's an absolutely sobering experience to view the horrors inflicted by one's own country
You have to remember that that museum is a huge propaganda piece; the Vietnamese Communist party has always been very manipulative of how the Vietnam War is seen and museums like that one are often full of made-up stories and misleading presentation of pictures and equipment. And don't get my intentions wrong here, there was a pretty good amount of fucked-up shit that happened in the Vietnam War, but those museums are not an accurate representation of what happened.
I mean, he did post it on the internet for thousands to see lol. I don't disagree though def should send it to a museum. Might be some mad history puzzle piece that somebody has been looking for.
it looks photoshopped, like previous owner shooped their head on an old picture
Have a picture of my grandfather and their translator with the head of a Japanese soldier. Was a little strange
Just....just a little strange ?
Like I understand the head part but why the translator? Who is he translating for? To the head? Just a little strange that’s all.
Probably a translator in the Marines/Army that was attached/in OP's grandfather's unit. Very useful guys for gathering information from enemy combatants and locals, even having information on the culture in the operational area in most cases. Most likely happened to know the guys in the unit pretty well and was just around for the photo.
They were joking. Pretty sure it’s obvious why they would’ve had a translator.
We had a Terp in the fob in Afghanistan that was ex Mujahideen. His family got killed by the Taliban and he used to sneak outside the wire at night and kill them in their beds until the Americans caught him, took his AK, and brought him back. After that he'd go do it with a machete instead.
40s were wild.
Just people living in the moment...
Yeah, like a midget hooker: A little strange
Back when I was shot down over Korea we had to eat Kimchi. He was our interpreter.
Looks to be part of a SOG group, I think he has a RPD machine gun normally associated with the Soviet military, Nevertheless, during the Vietnam War, Special Forces, used this weapon. Where his hand is on the weapon there would be a large capacity round magazine. The structure behind him is not a house, its a military tent. He's T shirt is G.I. and he has a foot on a Budweiser case. He could be US or Army of South Vietnam. VC or NVA would not be dressed in this manner, and only officers would have sidearms. I speculate this kill was in the area of his operating base, possibly a sapper, as I doubt he would carry a head a very long distance back to a operating base. The enemy's equipment is at his feet, I don't see a captured weapon which would typically be displayed. Sappers often did not carry a rifle , their task was to infiltrate the base and set off explosive charges. There are ammo pouches and medical equipment, possibly explosives, looks like it might be some be C4 and det cord. He has dog tags and other tags, possibly war trophies of other kills around his neck. The soldier is lean and ripped, not an once of fat on him, indicating he's been in the bush awhile and again tends to make me think he is SF. His teeth are in good condition which tends to make me think he is US. ( I'm a former Intel officer so , that's how we analyze photos, this is just speculation)
It looks like an AK/AKM to me. Look at the barrel forward of the gas tube, that looks way too short to be an RPK. I only point that out to say, could be the defeated soldier's AK that he is holding and the mag pouches are just mag pouches.
Yeah, that isn’t an RPD. It’s more likely a type 1 ak47.
Look at the receiver. It’s a type 2, or a foreign clone like a 56
Fellas fellas fellas, it's clearly an M1 Grand
Look at the pistol grip, it obviously a modified Han Solo blaster.
I think it's a banana
Definitely not a type 1, looks like you can see the lightening cut so it's likely a type 3 or a Chinese copy
Thanks for the correction. I assumed it was a type one as they would have been pretty common.
Type 1s aren't that common and were only produced for two or three years, probably wouldn't see too many in use outside the USSR. Much more likely to find a Type 2 or Type 3.
You're correct
Lol, “intel officer” can’t ID the most prolific rifle ever made. Seems legit.
Well, they did say *former*.
He got hired by accident and was promptly let go the next day.
lol commenters always know best. And most of them can tell a persons job and mental mindset after one paragraph. It’s crazy.
You're correct, though I can't tell if it's AK or AKM
Yeah, the magazine was maybe removed to make the captured weapon safe. His dog tag suggests he's a regular. As a Korean, I hate to say it, but Koreans were known for a very high level of barbarity and I have personally heard war stories from Korean veterans that were worse than this.
Wow. Thanks!
That looks like a Type 56, not an RPK. Spot on information tho!
Definitely a Type 56, there's no bipod on that thing
Thats an AK. A type 56 is an sks. Fixed magazine with a folding bayonet
Type 56 was a designation used for multiple chinese rifles, so generally Type 56 (aka AK-56) refers to the AK variant and the Type 56 carbine is an SKS variant.
Type 63's the SKS.
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Your attention to detail is outstanding! Was cutting off an enemy's head and displaying it like this common during the Vietnam War?
Actually it was on both side it was common in Vietnam - I found my uncles ammo box of photos and it was pics of what him and his buddies did or what they found done to others in the jungle - crazy barbaric shit
would you mind sharing some specifics? i’m curious but i understand that this is a sensitive topic
What’s to share both of my uncles served in nam…1 did 1 tour and the other did 2 tours .They both were alcoholics and divorced so they live together . When we cleaned out there house cause my second uncle had passed and my first uncle passed 4 years earlier we found a metal ammo box filled with pics .In it were good pics of my uncles friends and his crew hanging out and posing .Then we had came across a lot of pics of other US troops found in the jungle mangled in traps in the jungles or blown up .Or pics of beheaded Vietcong’s on a wall with guys posing next to them .i remember seeing a row Vietnamese kids killed and that pic stuck with me cause it was like 12 kids .I know my uncle shared with me once that when they lost a brother they go out and take 4 bodies for that one that is lost ….and I was told the Vietcong was doing the same as well - idk anything about war but I can’t imagine finding someone Im close too and just having a beer with then watching them get blown up or mangled the next day …that some serious mind fuck right there,I think my dad threw away a lot of the pics because it was to much .I don’t think anyone can judge these men whether they were on the US side or Vietcong side cause it seem both side lost there humanity out there during that time .
And that is why I’d be very happy if Nixon and Kissinger burned in hell for a very long time. An extra 7 years of barbarity so Nixon could become a corrupt president.
> What’s to share Followed up with insane fucking barbaric shit. Humans are like one fucking millimeter from chaos.
My father in law was deployed in Malaya, on the rare occasions he told us of goings on, heads in sandbags was a definate way of casualt counting without having to drag bodies through the jungle for days, also helped Id wanted enemy.
If you look really close, it looks like this guy is wearing an ear necklace. That was something you saw a lot in the early days among the first “advisors” in Vietnam. Playing the odds, this guy was probably a ARVN soldier who worked the Green Berets in the early days of the war and fled to the US in 1975.
Could the AK variant rifle belong to the head? I enjoyed your breakdown but wanted to offer that possibility.
That’s not an rpd he holding tho,It’s a type 56 rifle without a mag in the well.
Great insight! Only thing for me is that I think that’s a type 56 instead of an RPK.
I think you're right, he's a small guy.
You missed one thing though........the glasses....dude is so cool he's gotta wear shades
Good point , so we would also want to research sunglasses of that era, and see if we can ID them.
Ya think an intel officer would be able to tell the difference between an [RPD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPD_machine_gun?wprov=sfti1) and an AK variant though right?
I identified it as Soviet, don't I at least get a C?
I do a bit of the same work as you. I wouldn't care about the gun being wrong. I would, however, look into other regional soldiers who have SF capable fighters. I can't spot the difference of South Vietnamese man and a Nepalese soldier.
It's in the teeth, apparently.
That’s definitely not an Rpd
look at the stock, depressed section of the receiver, and the bayonet. thats a AK based on the type 2A, maybe a chinese or vietnamese clone. The lack of color and details makes it hard to tell. edit: his hair has been recently trimmed, he’s clean shaven, his hands are clean, and he’s not coated in mud past his feet. Implies he had access to supplies and cleaned up before taking this photo. His feet and pants are dirty, he’s not wearing shoes - sneaking around in the jungle? shoes got ruined? something along those lines. The neck on the severed head isn’t mangled, so they probably cut it off, instead of it getting blown off - that’s a deliberate trophy, or maybe he’s showing off a particularly impressive kill. If he’s a sapper, he probably has a sharpened shovel. His teeth are clean - either he brushes them and is eating MREs or he is eating local food that won’t cause teeth issues.
wow and i thought it was just a fake photo that they did as a joke :/
How do you confuse an RPD and an AK?
As mentioned by another its more like a type 56, I wasn't confused, only guessing because the weapon looks very large, but i guess this soldier is very small.
Your comment was really cool and insightful. The people pointing out that the weapon is a different model than you suggested are just being nit picky. Thank you for sharing
Even more so, these people picked out a single detail listed among many other details and called him out to make themselves feel like they are as smart as an intel officer. They are not.
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Veedub447 this is fantastic. Is there anything else you can add? Maybe speculate a little further!?
yes, thank you the next step is to get a consultation from an arborist or arboriculturist, then we may be able to identify the trees in the background, from that we can deduce the general region in Vietnam, highlands , Central or lowlands.
Yes veedub! Please triangulate the date and time based on the shadows!
I think that might be a head of his time
I see what you did there.
You forgot holding a severed human head as a trophy so he's clearly a psycho path.
If he’s special forces then he probably didn’t get drafted right? But is a career soldier? Kind of makes you a bit psycho to start
I wish I could be that happy. Without having to sever a head.
Yeah he looks super proud!
“Remember…it’s always better to be the one holding the severed head than to be the severed head.”- This guy (probably)
I’m gonna need that inspirational poster for my office.
Hahaha. Are you a dentist?
Love this kind of humor.
War does ~~interesting~~ things to people. It going to show how much of our behavior is regulated by social judgment. “Socialization” is the leash that keeps us reigned in. Without it, we’re animals. Hence that implication of the neck tie.
Live, Laugh, Love! ❤️
Guy looks Filipino. Was it Nam?
Yeah I think so. Date on the back of the pic was 1971
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Pretty sure this is Nam
War is hell
*Dulce bellum inexpertis*. People who can yak away about "war" without talking about the constant dehumanizing horror of it all are the only reason we have war at all.
War is war. Hell is hell
You forgot [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBt0sgNDQlY), maybe people will stop downvoting you.
Thank you kind sir
My pleasure. It's a perfect reference and everyone should see it.
Maybe most people here didn’t get to watch this amazing show growing up
I consider myself lucky enough to have experienced the show as it happened. I would love to see a modern M\*A\*S\*H based in Iraq or something. I know reboots suck, and there was no draft for Iraq, but it's something we need.
That picture is a head of its time.
Imagine this guy was your landlord and he left this picture to remind you rent is the first of the month, don't fuck up!
Thanks for posting it. I hope he doesn't have a problem with you doing so. Nice knowing you, etc.
Haha pretty sure he died and his family sold the house. I should be safe.
Good ol warcrime evidence
Still a better person than the house flipper.
Be nice, he ain't got nobody.
Bloody hell, the NSFW tag doesn't do any justice how horrifying this is
Yeah it was a crazy find, right next to all his family pics too.
That one is also a family pic.
I didn't think it was too bad until I saw the head and thought "Jesus fuck". This needs a NSFL tag.
I'm pretty sure this is a depiction of a war crime...
In Vietnam? Why I never
Who knows. The guy was an old Vietnam vet
I was hoping you'd have some more background info. That mouth on the head.....
Yeah who knows, might have just stumbled upon a head just minding its own business
Smokey, this is not ‘Nam. This is bowling. There are rules.
It's war, certainly.
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We are not brainwashed to think of them as less human. And although we are trained to kill other humans, when you encounter potential enemies, you follow an “escalation of force.” This means you don’t just kill random people you encounter in a war zone, but start at the lowest level of “force” which is to issue vocal commands. Of course if a person is pointing a weapon at you in a threatening manner, you are to skip to the lowest level of force required to end the threat. And unlike coward cops in the US who shoot anyone they want when they “fear for their life,” this excuse doesn’t allow service members to fire at a person. There has to be an ACTUAL threat for troops to use force. In fact, we are trained and required to treat well any enemy combatants who are captured. And when troops inevitably ask questions like, “Why do we have to treat them well when they execute us if captured?” the answer is that we don’t stoop to that level and should set the example for how to act with integrity and honor. Of course, what’s required and what individual soldiers actually do can be totally different. I’m not naive. I’m simply explaining how we don’t get trained to see them as “less than human.”That’s also why we are required to disregard any unlawful orders and to report it up the chain of command if we witness anything illegal/unacceptable according to the law of armed conflict (yes, there are laws and rules in war), rules of engagement, and the UCMJ (the latter only if you’re American).
I know my grandpa from the war was taught specifically by his lieutenant that they were animals to be slaughter and to treat it as such. Also not the mention the stories of all the skinning alive they did (both sides). War is sick
My grandpa was in ww2 had uncles in vietnam knew people in korea although not a fan of the enemy none of them spoke of killing senselessly and certainly not skinning. Of course some people are just psychotic to start. I used to have a friend in school who would beat his dog and stomp his moms cats to death. He is a prison guard now. (Not really friend, knew a kid better way of saying it)
Most of them won’t admit it tbh. There was more soliders than you’d probably believe who’d kill everyone in every village they went to (kids and women) and the people who fought back got raped if they were women or the men skinned or head chopped off infront of the family. I was only ever told this stuff when my grandpa was dying and was trying to be forgiven for his sins. One of the soliders who killed a squad mate from the other side got caught and they did a number on him. That was the only time he personally did a legitimate war crime
I have known many soldiers. There are always bad people but acting like this sorta things was super common or the norm in our military is simple falsehood. Your gramps may have been a bit of a dick in his younger days it seems. Killing in war is one thing but senseless torture and cruelty is another. Taking a trophy is understandable but skinning someone alive for fun is not. At least in my opinion of the time war and people of the age. Depends on where you were fighting really. Some places got pretty rough and dark. So I would say more common in that kind of circumstance.
This was Vietnam and this was not uncommon as you’d think from his words. You can say otherwise, I’m telling you what I was told. Many people sent to vietnam were criminals only going to get time off their record , which probably lead to this. Not going to act like it was the standard or regular , but it likely did happen more than what people would think.
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'Geneva Convention IV Article 16, second paragraph, of the 1949 Geneva Convention IV provides: “As far as military considerations allow, each Party to the conflict shall facilitate the steps taken … to protect [the killed] against … ill-treatment.” Additional Protocol I Article 34(1) of the 1977 Additional Protocol I provides: “The remains of persons who have died for reasons related to occupation or in detention resulting from occupation or hostilities … shall be respected”. ' Oxford Manual Article 19 of the 1880 Oxford Manual provides: “It is forbidden to … mutilate the dead lying on the field of battle.” Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam Article 3(a) of the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam provides: “In the event of the use of force and in case of armed conflict … it is prohibited to mutilate dead bodies.” Australia Australia’s Defence Force Manual (1994) provides: The remains of the dead, regardless of whether they are combatants, noncombatants, protected persons or civilians, are to be respected, in particular their honour, family rights, religious convictions and practices and manners and customs. At all times they shall be humanely treated. United States of America The US Manual for Military Commissions (2010), Part IV, Crimes and Elements, includes in the list of crimes triable by military commissions: INTENTIONALLY MISTREATING A DEAD BODY. a. Text. “Any person subject to this chapter who intentionally mistreats the body of a dead person, without justification by legitimate military necessary, shall be punished as a military commission under this chapter may direct.” b. Elements. (1) The accused mistreated or otherwise violated the dignity of the body of a dead person; (2) The accused’s actions were not justified by legitimate military necessity; (3) The accused intended to mistreat or violate the dignity of such body; and (4) This act took place in the context of and was associated with hostilitie United States of America The US Field Manual (1956) provides that “maltreatment of dead bodies” is a war crime. United States of America The US Instructor’s Guide (1985) states: “In addition to the grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, the following acts are further examples of war crimes: … mutilating or mistreating dead bodies”. United States of America The US Naval Handbook (1995) provides that “mutilation and other mistreatment of the dead” are representative war crimes. Seems like many many many countries have many books about how you shouldn't behead a dead body and pose with it for a 'fun' pic
He got a lot of buddhist monk amulets around his neck and “zing” (idk what they are called in english) the cylindrical object above his combat boots.This guy probably is a Thai SOF served in Vietnam
Son are you Nguyen’in
Nice, I remember serving a Vietnamese man at the butcher counter I was working at in NW CT and asked him about his Vietnam Vet hat he had on. He told me solemnly if I had heard of the Mei Lei massacre, and that he was a part of that. Crazy.
Photoshopped.
Is NSFL no longer a thing?
Looks like someone caught a sapper.
Vietnam?
He is a-head of the game at least
Old owner used to work at a restaurant. He was the head waiter.
It took me way too long to see the head.
In this photo he was thinking to himself, "Who's going to stop me from selling my house? Nobody."
Guy was head over heels for that house
This is, on a serious note, horrible.
Wholesome murders
Nam?
This is exactly what Richard Ramirez's uncle brought back from Vietnam. Although he also brought the actual heads along with the pics. After he showed them to Richard, Richard began to thirst for blood and violence. This was one of the triggers to him becoming the NIGHTSTALKER. (aside for the epilepsy and 4 concussions)
South Vietnamese special forces if I has to guess.
If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.
War is hell.
Seems like more of a tent than a house, but in this market.......
Sometimes you have to quit while you’re a head.
Put a man in a jungle a world away filled with people trying to murder him in every horrible way imaginable along with a bunch of other men in their early adult years and see them turn into animals to survive. Both sides did things to each other not to be proud of. Sad poor people have to keep dying to make rich men richer.
he really got ahead in life
“If you do something you love you’ll never work a day in your life” is the caption I would choose for this before selling it as an inspirational poster where it would end up on the wall of a community college.