Member Since: 1/7/2010
Posts: 4,967
|
Veterans who hadn't talked decades recreate 50yr old photo
'One of the best days of my life': Vietnam veterans who hadn't talked for decades recreate 50-year-old photo of the days before they were shipped out to war
- Dennis Puleo, Tom Hanks, Bob Falk and Bob DeVenezia took the photo in May 1966, just before they went to war
- Afterwards they didn't talk for 45 years, and until last week had never been in the same place together
- Their very different lives and public resentment for the Vietnam war had affected their camaraderie
- But on Saturday the veterans - aged between 69 and 71 - gathered for the first time and recreated the image
- Hanks, who had found the old photograph, said it was 'one of the best days' of his life
Quote:
The 50-year-old photograph shows four young men who look like they're having the time of their lives, posing with a surfboard in the Florida sun.
But they're not on holiday - just enjoying their freedom while they wait to be sent into the jungles of Vietnam, where they would experience one of the most brutal theaters of combat in living memory.
So when the four reunited on Saturday for their first-ever reunion, it was more than just a cute photo opportunity - it was a chance to recapture a happier, more innocent time, Naples Daily News reported.
|
Then and now: Both photos show (clockwise from left) Dennis Puleo, now 69; Tom Hanks, 69; Bob Falk, 71; and Bob DeVenezia, 70. The original photo was taken in May 1966, just before the men were sent to Vietnam
Quote:
Although they have forgotten the exact date, the men agree that the photo was taken in May 1966, 11 years into the war.
The men had just come out of basic training in Parris Island and were now stationed in San Diego's Camp Pendleton, preparing for the day they would be sent to war.
|
Recreation: The men took their mission to recreate the photo seriously on Saturday. It was the first time all four had met in the flesh since they were shipped out, as public distaste for the war spoiled their cameraderie
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz46yOmR67W
|
|
|
|
Super cute 
Thank you, man on the right!
