Vietnam Vector-Based Art

While searching the web for unrelated vector-based art today, I found a free download of Vietnam War images. (For those whom don't do design work, vector simply means you can manipulate the image or make it huge without degrading the resolution of the image.) For those interested, here is the link to vector-based illustrations of an A-1 Skyrider and a CH-53 Sea Stallion: http://www.vecteezy.com/vf/1227-Vietnam-airplanes.

Moments of Minutia

With every project, there comes a fair amount of minutia that must be handled. This project certainly has seen its share.

This past weekend I got some sort of 24-hour bug, and also had no heat in my house. Since the temps in Raleigh were near 40 degrees F, it was a bad weekend to go without heat! My heat is now back on, thanks to the help of my lovely and talented hero called Mom, and the bug has since found a new home. My friend told me this morning that he had similar symptoms: terrible headache, muscle weakness, general feeling of wanting to void one's stomach, and an overall need to just sleep off the bad feeling.

As with everything in life, there are moments of emotion and moments of mundane. Nevertheless, the project keeps moving forward.

Slide Scanning Complete (Maybe)

Today should mark the completion of slide scanning; at least, the completion of scanning the slides currently available. When we first started, collecting archived images was of great concern. But thanks to the many folks involved with our project, we will have--what I believe to be--more than enough. We have, roughly, one thousand images now digitized.

The final count will likely be greater than one thousand, as some of those counted include multiple photos. For example, below is a scan of photos provided by Mike Benge. There are four photos on the page, purely for the sake of speeding up the scanning process. These photos were scanned on location in Washington, D.C., so my main focus was capturing them. Scanning the photos on location provides peace of mind to the person loaning images, and I can give them back immediately without the risk of damaging or losing someone's personal effects.

Should we need additional images, particular members of the cast have offered their collections for scanning. At the present time, however, I think we have what we need. Once we have a first cut of the film completed, I might revise that opinion and request an afternoon of scanning. Charlie and EG Long have a very impressive collection. They served as missionaries in Vietnam, and Charlie worked hard to improve his photography techniques. Below is one of the many images they provided.

The Great Surry Roberts

Surry is the producer of this documentary film. It was his idea to capture this history, to share the story and to express the mutual respect and adoration between the Special Forces and the Montagnards.

Surry served during the Vietnam War where he (and other members of the Special Forces) came to know the Montagnard people. Surry has a passion for history; not only studying it but capturing, sharing, and making it available to younger generations. He knows that studying history enables preventing future mistakes, which is one of the very themes of our film: preventing the mistake of abandoning our allies.

Here is a photo of him during his service, which my friend Brian Thacker scanned. Many more words about Surry's dedication, wisdom, guidance and passion will be written, I'm sure. But for now, as progress on the film continues, a mini-dedication and expression of gratitude must suffice.