| Place | Asia: Vietnam, South Vietnam |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | REL33466.001 |
| Collection type | Heraldry |
| Object type | Uniform |
| Physical description | Brass, Cotton twill, Plastic |
| Maker |
Unknown |
| Date made | c 1968-1971 |
| Conflict |
Vietnam, 1962-1975 |
US Army tiger stripe camouflage combat jacket : D Gibbons, Photojournalist
Description
US Army issue tiger stripe Tadpole Sparse Pattern (TDS) tropical combat cotton twill jacket with long sleeves, fold down collar and olive green plastic buttons. The jacket fastens down the front with six buttons. The sleeves can be adjusted for fit by two buttons on the cuff. There are two rectangular expanding breast pockets with two button rectangular flaps, and a similar, smaller. pocket on the upper left sleeve. Two horizontally placed black embroidered name tapes are sewn above the breast pockets - 'GIBBONS' above the right pocket and 'PHOTOJOURNALIST' above the left. The inside back of the jacket is stamped in black 'US-M'.
History / Summary
Born in Sydney in 1937, Denis Gibbons had undertaken army training and work as a news photographer in Sydney before he arrived in Vietnam in January 1966. For the next five years, Gibbons recorded the tours of nine Australian infantry battalions for Fairfax press and United Press International. Australian readers could regularly view his photographic essays in People magazine. In all, he took tens of thousands of black-and-white and colour photographic that together provide a very comprehensive view of the activities undertaken by Australians during the war.
The extended period spent by Gibbons in Vietnam was highly unusual among Australian photographers. Most official photographers and other photojournalists tended to spend just a few days photographing an operation before moving on. They were also based in Saigon, a city that remained far removed from the gritty reality of the war. However, Gibbons lived at the 1st Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat and was able to spend months with a particular unit. In this way he could record all areas of the work of Australians in great detail.
Gibbons was flown out of Vietnam in November 1970, after being wounded when an Armoured Personnel Carrier he was travelling in hit an enemy mine; he was wounded six times over the course of his five years in Vietnam.