In the Shadow of Danger: Photographs of the Vietnam War 1970-71

As a combat correspondent with the 10th Public Information Detachment, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Robert Spangler of Mineral Wells, Texas, spent much of his year in Vietnam armed with his notebook, camera and M-16 rifle. He often boarded choppers for combat assaults, and "humped" his rucksack on long missions in the field, documenting the lives of infantrymen around him. He also photographed combat medics in dustoff choppers picking up wounded; artillerymen at their guns, soldiers manning far-flung fire bases, and life in Vietnamese villages. He was also the first photographer to document the destruction of Fire Support Base Mary Ann the day after Viet Cong sappers killed 30 and wounded 82 Americans in a night attack. The photographs and captions in this 209-page book portray the common man at war, trying to survive one year in a vicious, and divisive conflict.