"NVA in Hue in colour" Topic

There are obviously far fewer colour photos of NVA in Hue than there are of dead or captured VC throughout the War. Catherine Leroy was captured by the NVA but was lucky and spared. she got a few photos which appeared in Time and I imagine there are far more than the five I have managed to find (some very small). Do not confuse these chaps with the folk who marched into Saigon in 75 in their Sunday best.

the point of course is that this does give us some idea about the mixtures of green and khaki (and that there was more of the former than I realised!). Notice the captured M79 blooper and the sniper holding his rifle that way…ouch?

If you click on these links to Flickr and then click on the preview images they do magnify well. Indeed earlier in the sequence you can read the whole Time article;

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Thanks Liam, really helpful.

Liam/Nick
good call.probabaly the primary source for Hue City NVA wise as there is next to colour photos of them…just a note to say mid-blue was sometimes used but more often then not for NCOS and officers…normally they only wore what was on their back and from spoils of war.

cheers
Ged
gringo40s.com
gringo40s.blogspot.com

What the NVA and VC had going for them is numbers and their leaderships' willingness to use and lose them. Along with the home court advantage. They knew like with the French before, sooner of later the US/SEATO would leave. After enough losses were inflicted and costs soared.

Thanks for the post. It might be time to drag out that Platoon of TAG NVA that I have neglected to paint.

Outstanding photographs. Thank you for posting.

What is the arm patch? I haven't seen it in any other sources except these photos and minis.

Oh yes you have.

See any of Gringos40 NVA figures painted up. I think (stress think) it was Hue only, certainly designed for easy recognition in a very confused…and unusual…urban battlefield. Remember the unique provenance of these few photos…as genuine (she must have taken more!)

TMP link

Blue and Red…a recognition symbol for the Hue Tet offensive. (I assume Hue only, but that is guesswork). The colours of the NLF. Red over blue, yellow star. We are all working together to unify Vietnam as equals.

Reality, Red only with a yellow star for NV. You VC are expendable.

The tricolour flag, I think solely Tet, Red, Blue, Red with yellow star emphasising that delusion.

Poor old Charlie did not do much better than ARVN by the fall of Saigon in 1975.

The colour photos of NVA in Hue are almost unique I think, up to 1975 and the move into Saigon. Ignore "genuine" NVA uniforms on-line. There are actually not that many Monochrome photos and they are hopelessly staged. All we have are ragged captives and bodies dragged from spider holes in colour…and they seem to be in anything but a uniform.

Liam, thanks, so it was campaign specific.

My older brother served in C/2/8/1st Cav from June ‘66 to June ‘67, mostly in the Central Highlands around Pleiku and An Khe. He was an assistant m60 gunner, then gunner, then squad leader. I asked him by email today what his recollection of NVA/VC uniforms was from his up close and personal experience. He replied:

"Little uniformity in [enemy] uniforms—black pjs, various shades of khaki. Khaki more often with NVA. Bush hats more than pith helmets. Web gear and leather belts and commie-style canteens and ammo pouches. I even have a Nazi three-pocket leather Mauser ammo holder that was filled with M-1rounds."

Not Hue, but still…

That is almost unique insight into this subject. It is so poorly documented. Thanks for adding to it. Brilliant.

I keep coming back to 1975. But these were well turned out elite regulars, knowing the world press would be there.

Then the few videos from Hue of dead enemy pulled from spider holes or heaped up as corpses. Likely many were VC, or end of a month's conflict NVA, with limited access to dry cleaning and pressing. They were in rags.

Think about when Leroy's phots were taken. These were the first 48/72 hours of the Tet offensive. Can we really imagine that the defenders of the Dong Ba Tower still had the blue and red strips on a white square nearly one month later???

You do not have to like them. Indeed you can hate then with a deep deep loathing, despite having never knowingly even met one, but you cannot help…no I will not say admire…be impressed by them.

Many military elites have shown their elite status on a battlefield, but then proved to be murdering psychopaths when faced with defenceless human beings. Which might be the fault of their superiors or their society of course…..My Lai as much as Hue or Malmedy/Oradour sur Glane or Amristar (debatable)

I have since searched high and low for anything even vaguely authoritative on NVA uniforms anywhere in the VNW…in colour. Heck, even in monochrome they are truly awful. Totally posed in heroic stances, very few pics claiming to be in combat (most over US and ARVN wrecked AFVs) and nothing remotely to compare with Catherine Leroy's pure chance work. So extraordinary that, in a war where propaganda and media was everything, there was not a better sponsored Soviet or PRC input into press coverage, even if not with their own personnel, for obvious reasons!

I have heard similar to mjkerner's brother about the VC/NVA uniforms. [Thank him for me for his service !].

just a note to say after reading many eye witness accounts many from the NVA or VC side it seems that when say a "section" of a regiment of whatever size went on a mission they adopted a field sign ..of a colour neck scarf..of red/green/sky blue/mid blue. or checkered…and either or the same colour material tied around the upper left arm mainly. some officers adopted mid blue uniform ..quite rare but some were worn. Bush hats were popular as the glue socked carboard ones were not always available. Next to no helmets in Hue for obvious reasons im guessing

cheers
Ged
gringo40s.com