South Vietnamese soldiers ride elephants across a river in the Ba Don area, about 20 miles from the Cambodian border, during a patrol in search of Viet Cong guerrillas in June 1964. In some conditions, the Hannibal-like transportation is more suited to jungle warfare than more modern vehicles

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South Vietnamese soldiers ride elephants across a river in the Ba Don area, about 20 miles from the Cambodian border, during a patrol in search of Viet Cong guerrillas in June 1964. In some conditions, the Hannibal-like transportation is more suited to jungle warfare than more modern vehicles
South Vietnamese soldiers ride elephants across a river in the Ba Don area, about 20 miles from the Cambodian border, during a patrol in search of Viet Cong guerrillas in June 1964. In some conditions, the Hannibal-like transportation is more suited to jungle warfare than more modern vehicles
Artist/Maker (German, 1933 – 2012)
DateJune 27, 1964
MediumVintage Associated Press wirephoto
DimensionsImage: 4 13/16 × 9 5/8 in. (12.3 × 24.4 cm) Sheet: 5 9/16 × 10 3/16 in. (14.2 × 25.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Thomas J. Wilson and Jill M. Garling, P2016
Object number2023.12.201
On view
Collections

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2024-2025
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
Markings Verso, upper left (stamp, purple ink): "COPYRIGHT ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO / CAUTION: WATCH RELEASE DATE / THIS ASSOCIATED PRESS FEATURE PHOTO IS INTENDED / FOR FIRST PUBLICATION IN THE EVENING PAPERS ON / Date:..7 JUL 1964..."
Verso, center left (stamp, purple ink): [upside-down and ontop of above stamp] "The Daily Telegraph / PUBLISHED / 8 JUL 1964 / ART DEPARTMENT"
Verso, upper right (stamp, purple ink): "ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWSPHOTO / FROM ABROAD / SUBJECT TO [illegible] OF / ONE [illegible] / DATE OF ISSUE...7 JUL 1964"
Verso, lower center (newspaper clipping): [upside-down] "The elephant, immortalized as a vehicle of war by Hannibal / in 218 B.C., is still in military use. South Viet-nam soldiers, / fording a river near the cambodian border in search of Viet / Cong guerrillas, find the animals more suited to jungle / conditions than motorized vehicles."
Published References Illustrated: Associated Press ID # 350674139874
Inscribed Recto, upper left and right corners (black marker): [directional arrows in the margin pointed towards the corners of the image]
Verso, upper right (pencil): "P.16922"
Verso, upper right edge (pencil): [sideways] "1012NXK"
Verso, center (blue ink): [upside-down] "A3366"
Verso, lower right (pencil): "4 cos / x 4" / p20"
Verso, lower left edge (pencil): [sideways] "HF-VNM-193 1800"
Verso, lower edge (pencil): [upside-down] "Region. BA DON Sud-Vietnam. / patroulle a le recherche de la gueilla Viet cong / PHOTO BY HORST FASS. [double underlined]" [translation: "Region. BA DON South Vietnam. / patrol in search of Viet Cong guerillas"
Verso, lower right center (red pencil): "π"
Amphibious Operation in Vietnam: up to his helmet in water but careful to keep his weapon and pack dry, a South Vietnam soldier struggled to regain his footing on a creek crossing during a major operation against the Communist Viet Cong recently in the Darlac Plateau area, about 160 miles northeast of Saigon. The sortie was carried out in heavy rain and through thick jungles in an effort to root out Communist guerrillas
Amphibious Operation in Vietnam: up to his helmet in water but careful to keep his weapon and pack dry, a South Vietnam soldier struggled to regain his footing on a creek crossing during a major operation against the Communist Viet Cong recently in the Darlac Plateau area, about 160 miles northeast of Saigon. The sortie was carried out in heavy rain and through thick jungles in an effort to root out Communist guerrillas
Horst Faas
Date: 1962
Medium: Vintage Associated Press wirephoto
Object number: 2022.15.125
Struggle Against Chopper Blast: struggle against chopper blast fully equipped soldiers of the U.S. 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry, struggle through the grass against the stormy blast from Botors of helicopter which landed them in Jungle clearing 70 miles North of Saigon on May 3, 1966. They moved on Viet Cong supply bases along the Rach Beng River, the border between South Vietnam and Cambodia, and seized hundreds of tons of equipment
Struggle Against Chopper Blast: struggle against chopper blast fully equipped soldiers of the U.S. 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry, struggle through the grass against the stormy blast from Botors of helicopter which landed them in Jungle clearing 70 miles North of Saigon on May 3, 1966. They moved on Viet Cong supply bases along the Rach Beng River, the border between South Vietnam and Cambodia, and seized hundreds of tons of equipment
Horst Faas
Date: May 3, 1966
Medium: Vintage Associated Press wirephoto
Object number: 2022.15.134
Searching for the Viet Cong: with helicopter airborne in a clearing, some US paratroopers crouch in grass as others head for the jungles in search of the Viet Cong during Operation Junction City. This assault by the 173rd Airborne Brigade took place last week some 65 miles northwest of Saigon
Searching for the Viet Cong: with helicopter airborne in a clearing, some US paratroopers crouch in grass as others head for the jungles in search of the Viet Cong during Operation Junction City. This assault by the 173rd Airborne Brigade took place last week some 65 miles northwest of Saigon
Horst Faas
Date: 1967
Medium: Vintage Associated Press wirephoto
Object number: 2022.15.130
A Royal Laotian soldier, with painted face and leaf trimmed uniform, pointed to an object of suspicion while on a training patrol in the jungle near Vientiane. He was with troops being trained in jungle warfare by American instructors
A Royal Laotian soldier, with painted face and leaf trimmed uniform, pointed to an object of suspicion while on a training patrol in the jungle near Vientiane. He was with troops being trained in jungle warfare by American instructors
Unknown artist
Date: July 1962
Medium: Vintage ferrotyped gelatin silver print with applied pigment
Object number: 2023.12.185
Viet Cong The Burning Issue: American F100 jet drops two canisters of napalm toward a Viet Cong machine gun position on the bank of the Rach Beng river, 70 miles northwest of Saigon, as a soldier of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry, who had been landed by helicopter wades through the tall grass in foreground. The Rach Beng here forms the border between South Vietnam and Cambodia. The infantrymen were landed some 400 yards from the border and moved in to capture hundreds of tons of Viet Cong supplies
Viet Cong The Burning Issue: American F100 jet drops two canisters of napalm toward a Viet Cong machine gun position on the bank of the Rach Beng river, 70 miles northwest of Saigon, as a soldier of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry, who had been landed by helicopter wades through the tall grass in foreground. The Rach Beng here forms the border between South Vietnam and Cambodia. The infantrymen were landed some 400 yards from the border and moved in to capture hundreds of tons of Viet Cong supplies
Horst Faas
Date: May 3, 1966
Medium: Vintage Associated Press wirephoto
Object number: 2022.15.128
Vietnam Shepard: Carrying a walking stick over his shoulder and his M16 rifle in his hand, a soldier of the U.S. 25th Infantry Division herds a group of Vietnamese families to a helicopter landing zone for interrogation. The Vietnamese were rounded up after a brief firefight at a village near Duc Pho, about 325 miles north of Saigon, during a search and clear operation
Vietnam Shepard: Carrying a walking stick over his shoulder and his M16 rifle in his hand, a soldier of the U.S. 25th Infantry Division herds a group of Vietnamese families to a helicopter landing zone for interrogation. The Vietnamese were rounded up after a brief firefight at a village near Duc Pho, about 325 miles north of Saigon, during a search and clear operation
Unknown artist
Date: August 1, 1967
Medium: Vintage Associated Press wirephoto
Object number: 2023.12.188
Preventive Detention: Cambodians suspected of working with the North Vietnamese or pro-Sihanouk forces are being held behind barbed wire at Kompong Taches, 45 miles north of Pnompenh. The town is along Route 5, the country's vital rice road to the northwest. Government forces are trying to retake the road from the Communists who hold it
Preventive Detention: Cambodians suspected of working with the North Vietnamese or pro-Sihanouk forces are being held behind barbed wire at Kompong Taches, 45 miles north of Pnompenh. The town is along Route 5, the country's vital rice road to the northwest. Government forces are trying to retake the road from the Communists who hold it
Unknown artist
Date: October 17, 1972
Medium: Vintage Associated Press wirephoto
Object number: 2023.12.183
RAAF Helicopter Ambulances in Vietnam Fighting: Among the many operational tasks performed by the versatile RAAF Iroquois helicopters of No. 9 Squadron in Vietnam, a new one-- aerial ambulance for wounded Viet Cong prisoners-- has been added. They were called on to fly two prisoners-- one a stretcher case who needed medical treatment in flight and the other blind-folded walking wounded case-- from the battle area to hospital at Vung Tau. Since their arrival in Vietnam with the Australian Task Force in June, the RAAF Iroquois have been used for carrying troops and wounded, dropping ammunition to hard pressed Australian troops, dropping leaflets and carrying out aerial reconnaissance patrols...
RAAF Helicopter Ambulances in Vietnam Fighting: Among the many operational tasks performed by the versatile RAAF Iroquois helicopters of No. 9 Squadron in Vietnam, a new one-- aerial ambulance for wounded Viet Cong prisoners-- has been added. They were called on to fly two prisoners-- one a stretcher case who needed medical treatment in flight and the other blind-folded walking wounded case-- from the battle area to hospital at Vung Tau. Since their arrival in Vietnam with the Australian Task Force in June, the RAAF Iroquois have been used for carrying troops and wounded, dropping ammunition to hard pressed Australian troops, dropping leaflets and carrying out aerial reconnaissance patrols...
Date: September 6, 1965
Medium: Vintage ferrotyped gelatin silver print
Object number: 2022.15.288
Annual Race: the Vietnamese war has heated up with the Communist offensive, but an annual bicycle race goes on. Bicyclists pedal through Long Binh, 20 miles north of Saigon during the Route 1 race
Annual Race: the Vietnamese war has heated up with the Communist offensive, but an annual bicycle race goes on. Bicyclists pedal through Long Binh, 20 miles north of Saigon during the Route 1 race
Horst Faas
Date: 1972
Medium: Vintage Associated Press wirephoto
Object number: 2023.12.200
Vietnamese Troops Eject Communist Infiltrators From Saigon Area: the remaining members, 30 men and one woman, of the badly beaten Viet Cong 308th main force Battalion are shown in Cholon after their surrender to Government forces. Seated (front row, center) is Vo Thi My, a NVA woman liaison cadre. On her left is Nguyen Van Gac, operational staff officer for the battalion. Approximately 70 percent of VC main force units are North Vietnamese regular soldiers
Vietnamese Troops Eject Communist Infiltrators From Saigon Area: the remaining members, 30 men and one woman, of the badly beaten Viet Cong 308th main force Battalion are shown in Cholon after their surrender to Government forces. Seated (front row, center) is Vo Thi My, a NVA woman liaison cadre. On her left is Nguyen Van Gac, operational staff officer for the battalion. Approximately 70 percent of VC main force units are North Vietnamese regular soldiers
Unknown artist
Date: June 1968
Medium: Vintage newswire
Object number: 2023.12.186
A platoon leader, seriously wounded when he stepped on a mine, is carried by Vietnamese soldiers retreating from the mountain where they had attacked the Viet Cong unsuccessfully. Along the side of the road, other soldiers watch for snipers in the thick growth
A platoon leader, seriously wounded when he stepped on a mine, is carried by Vietnamese soldiers retreating from the mountain where they had attacked the Viet Cong unsuccessfully. Along the side of the road, other soldiers watch for snipers in the thick growth
Horst Faas
Date: September 9, 1962
Medium: Vintage Associated Press wirephoto
Object number: 2022.15.129
F5's Tested Against Enemy in Vietnam: two US Air Force F5 Freedom Fighters which are among the dozen of the needle-nosed fighters being tested in Vietnam are shown circling the Black Virgin Mountain near Cambodian border in a strike against the enemy. A provisional squadron is carrying out an exhaustive 120-day test of these planes, weighing assets against some obvious drawbacks. Containers under bellies of planes are fuel tanks
F5's Tested Against Enemy in Vietnam: two US Air Force F5 Freedom Fighters which are among the dozen of the needle-nosed fighters being tested in Vietnam are shown circling the Black Virgin Mountain near Cambodian border in a strike against the enemy. A provisional squadron is carrying out an exhaustive 120-day test of these planes, weighing assets against some obvious drawbacks. Containers under bellies of planes are fuel tanks
Horst Faas
Date: December 1, 1965
Medium: Vintage Associated Press wirephoto
Object number: 2022.15.132