File talk:Vietnamtunnel.jpg

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Wow racism at its best - the black guy is forced to do all the work while the white guys sit around and have some smokes.--Wavesaway1 (talk) 03:51, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

my thoughts exactly 75.2.243.130 (talk) 04:42, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

lowering?[edit]

is it just me or does it look like they're pulling him out?

See Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Vietnam Tunnel Rat for reasons to believe they're lowering him into the tunnel, not pulling him out of it. —An gr 11:46, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

is this the best picture of a tunnel rat?[edit]

I have strong doubts that this is actually a good representation of the tunnel rat units. I read an article in the 1980's in Life magazine about the exploits of the Tunnel RAts, specifically two legendary tunnel rats known as Batman and Rat6, the former was an NCO and the latter was a Capt Flowers I think (cant remember exactly anymore). The picture presented here seems to be of an Airmobile unit, perhaps engaging in tunnel clearing operations prior to calling in a Tunnel Rat unit. Cmdrcray (talk) 12:57, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The image description directly states that this is an Airmobile unit. - Banyan Tree 06:46, 18 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Staged photo[edit]

Am I the only one who thinks this photo looks fake - look at how the background is very blurry and on the extreme right, just above the soldier's foot it seems that the grass merges into a 2D backdrop... 81.86.72.99 (talk) 14:48, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That is an effect of the photography and camera known as depth of field the focus is on the soldiers in the foreground, the background is out of focus intentionally Thisglad (talk) 17:40, 18 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You are not the only one. Look how clean they are- not a speck of dirt on the skin or uniforms. They wandered off the parade ground in their freshly-pressed fatigues to send someone for a stroll through a tunnel. Also, why do they have not one piece of rank or unit insignia on their uniforms? This is a fake.

^ I'd guess they could have removed their insignia in order not to make officers and other valuable personnel stand out as targets for snipers? I agree their gear looks pretty clean, but straight off a parade ground? I doubt they would have been parading with torn helmet covers.

Cthompson (talk) 15:33, 16 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The contact details for the pertinent National Archives rep is linked from the ARC Identifier number on the image description page. Let us know how what their response is after you contact them. Thanks, Banyan Tree 06:51, 18 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The reason they look so clean is due to a poor photo restoration job that has removed or smudged a great deal of detail. Look at the original here at the National Archives and you'll see it seems much more authentic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.119.33.39 (talk) 21:44, 31 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]