American GI's vibrant photographs capture the other side of of the Vietnam War: Soldier recorded how ordinary life went on in the midst of brutal conflict

  • Beautiful color pictures taken in the city of My Tho between 1968-69 show bustling markets and busy townsfolk 
  • They were taken by a 24-year-old private with a love for photography and a lot of time on his hands
  • 'I didn't want to be there, but there was nothing I could do about it. So in my free time I would just grab my camera and walk around taking pictures,' said Lance V. Nix, now aged 71, in an interview with Daily Mail Online.
By Anton Nilsson For Dailymail.com
Published: 19:20 GMT, 21 March 2016 | Updated: 06:35 GMT, 22 March 2016

After being drafted to serve in the war in Vietnam, an American GI decided to treat his days off-duty in the country as a 'working vacation' with camera in hand. 
The pictures that Private 1st Class Lance V. Nix took in and around the city of My Tho between 1968-69 show bustling markets, busy townsfolk and smiling children — a very different perspective from the dreary combat operations in muddy fields and jungles most commonly associated with the decades-long war.
'I didn't want to be there, but I was drafted and there was nothing I could do about it. So in my free time I would just grab my camera and walk around taking pictures,' said Nix, now aged 71, in an interview with Daily Mail Online.
During his tour in Vietnam, Nix said he was tasked with doing general assignments for officials involved in the notorious Phoenix Program — a CIA brainchild that aimed at 'neutralizing' Viet Cong fighters and suspicious civilians by capturing, killing and allegedly torturing them by the tens of thousands.
Nix, who was 24 when he first landed in Vietnam, said his job was to 'do everything' — drive officials around, do body guard duty, and even run the video projector during meetings at command headquarters.  
'I had a lot of free time,' Nix said. 'And since I was the lowest-ranking member of my whole team, my commanding officer allowed me to wear civilian clothes so I wouldn't be harassed.'
During excursions with his Minolta SRT 101 camera, Nix said, 'Most people didn't know if I was a reporter or whatever. I was usually the only American around, which could be hazardous. But the daytime was pretty safe. Nighttime was when you started worrying.'
'The reactions from people were a little bit of everything. Some people wanted their picture taken and would smile like you won't believe.Some would be shy.'
In Nix's view, 'The Vietnamese citizens weren't really involved in the war. They were bystanders basically. They were so used to occupation, with the French before us. Most citizens were just trying to live their lives, hoping not to have their heads blown off.'
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'Noodle Gobbler in 1969 — Seen on one of my My Tho walk-a-bouts in 1969' wrote Lance V. Nix of this scanned Kodachrome slide
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'Noodle Gobbler in 1969 — Seen on one of my My Tho walk-a-bouts in 1969' wrote Lance V. Nix of this scanned Kodachrome slide
Portrait of the artist as a young man: Lance V. Nix at the Embassy House in My Tho, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam in December 1968
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Portrait of the artist as a young man: Lance V. Nix at the Embassy House in My Tho, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam in December 1968
Two children pose at the Mekong River-front in southeast My Tho, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in 1969
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Two children pose at the Mekong River-front in southeast My Tho, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in 1969
'My Tho's downtown market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969' 
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'My Tho's downtown market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969' 
Three produce vendors pose for Lance V. Nix's camera at the My Tho market in the year 1969
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Three produce vendors pose for Lance V. Nix's camera at the My Tho market in the year 1969
'I caught these two ladies on film as they walked by the sandbags and razor wire around the military operational center at the south end of My Tho across from the Navy dock on the Mekong River' in 1969, wrote Nix of this picture 
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'I caught these two ladies on film as they walked by the sandbags and razor wire around the military operational center at the south end of My Tho across from the Navy dock on the Mekong River' in 1969, wrote Nix of this picture 
Flower girls at the My Tho marketplace, in the Dinh Tuong Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, 1969 
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Flower girls at the My Tho marketplace, in the Dinh Tuong Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, 1969 
Girl selling produce at the My Tho market in 1969
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'At My Tho's downtown market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969'
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Left: Girl selling produce at the My Tho market in 1969. Right: A woman shopping at the same market
'Gleening the last of the fish from the drying rain ponds at the Binh Duc airstrip west of My Tho, Dinh Tuong Province, in Vietnam's Mekong Delta in the year 1969'
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'Gleening the last of the fish from the drying rain ponds at the Binh Duc airstrip west of My Tho, Dinh Tuong Province, in Vietnam's Mekong Delta in the year 1969'
'Sidewalk fast food in My Tho 1969. Busy with mid-day shoppers at the My Tho market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in 1969'
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'Sidewalk fast food in My Tho 1969. Busy with mid-day shoppers at the My Tho market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in 1969'
'Flower vendors selling [marigolds] for TET New Year celebration at the My Tho market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969'
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'Flower vendors selling [marigolds] for TET New Year celebration at the My Tho market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969'
'Local men take a mid-day break for a little card game. In northeast My Tho in 1969' wrote Nix of this picture 
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'Local men take a mid-day break for a little card game. In northeast My Tho in 1969' wrote Nix of this picture 
'River Front Fast Food 1969. In My Tho on the Mekong River, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam in 1969'
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'River Front Fast Food 1969. In My Tho on the Mekong River, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam in 1969'
'South Vietnamese war boat on the south shore of the Coconut Monks island in Vietnam's Mekong Delta near the city of My Tho'
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'South Vietnamese war boat on the south shore of the Coconut Monks island in Vietnam's Mekong Delta near the city of My Tho'
'A [remnant] from the French colonial days, the long loaves of french bread were plentiful in My Tho,' Nix wrote of this picture
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'A [remnant] from the French colonial days, the long loaves of french bread were plentiful in My Tho,' Nix wrote of this picture
A shoe seller and two smiling children at the My Tho market in 1969 as photographed by Lance V. Nix
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A shoe seller and two smiling children at the My Tho market in 1969 as photographed by Lance V. Nix
Vegetables cut into decorative patterns at the My Tho market in preparation for Tet festivities, 1969
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Vegetables cut into decorative patterns at the My Tho market in preparation for Tet festivities, 1969
'Water Taxi across the Mekong to Kien Hoa January 1969. Stern view of water taxi approaching Kien Hoa Province from Coconut Monk's island'
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'Water Taxi across the Mekong to Kien Hoa January 1969. Stern view of water taxi approaching Kien Hoa Province from Coconut Monk's island'
Wrote Nix: 'Vietnam in 1969 had a full menu of religions from Christianity and Islam to Buddism and Cao Dai. But the famous Coconut Monk on an island in the Mekong just a couple miles south of My Tho was by far the most interesting. Educated in Paris, France, in the field of chemical engineering, he came back to Vietnam and founded his own unique religion, a blending of the teachings and philosophies of Buddism with Christianity'
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Wrote Nix: 'Vietnam in 1969 had a full menu of religions from Christianity and Islam to Buddism and Cao Dai. But the famous Coconut Monk on an island in the Mekong just a couple miles south of My Tho was by far the most interesting. Educated in Paris, France, in the field of chemical engineering, he came back to Vietnam and founded his own unique religion, a blending of the teachings and philosophies of Buddism with Christianity'
'Vietnam's Coconut Monk in his tower at the east end of his "floating" platform refuge at the very eastern tip of his island in the Mekong River near My Tho, VIetnam
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'Vietnam's Coconut Monk in his tower at the east end of his "floating" platform refuge at the very eastern tip of his island in the Mekong River near My Tho, VIetnam
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'Vietnam's Coconut Monk (left) in his tower at the east end of his "floating" platform refuge (right) at the very eastern tip of his island in the Mekong River near My Tho, Vietnam'
Lance V. Nix pictured on Veterans Day 2014, in Fort Ord, California. 'Back in uniform 45 years later. How time flies,' Nix wrote
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Lance V. Nix pictured on Veterans Day 2014, in Fort Ord, California. 'Back in uniform 45 years later. How time flies,' Nix wrote
Lance V. Nix lives in Port Orford, Oregon and takes pictures for the local newspaper, Port Orford News. For more of his photos, go to his Flickr page or Flashbak.com