In April 1970, James Speed Hensinger, an enlisted man in the U.S. Army, was stationed at Phu Tai, Vietnam. On several nights, a lone Viet Cong sniper had repeatedly crept in among the rocks on a mountain overlooking the base and killed one American soldier and angered the rest.
Soldiers were told that an overwhelming response would be prepared for the next time the sniper decided to strike. Hensinger prepared his camera while on guard duty one night.
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER
22-year-old James Speed Hensinger
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER
“Each tower had three men, and I was off watch duty when the shit started,” James Speed Hensinger said.
When the first shots rang out, Hensinger took out his camera and started capturing a series of long exposures of the firefight as the Army unleashed a hellish barrage.
An M42 “Duster” tank swept the mountain with its 40mm anti-aircraft autocannons. The soldiers in guard towers opened up with their .50-caliber machine guns and M60 machine guns. The rocky hillside was illuminated by hand-launched flares, high-explosive rounds and tracer rounds.
The M42 tank fires an opening salvo at the sniper’s approximated position with 40mm anti-aircraft cannons.
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER
Hand-launched flares illuminate the hills as soldiers fire M60 machine guns with red tracers. One round can be seen ricocheting near the top of the mountain.
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER
Flares continue to burn as soldiers pepper the hillside with M60 fire.
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER
The M42 sprays the hillside with .50-caliber high explosive machine gun fire.
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER
M60 machine guns join the .50-caliber fire.
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER
The M42 once again opens up with the 40mm autocannons as the M60s and .50-cal continue firing.
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER
At the break of day, soldiers went up the mountain to search among the massive boulders for a sign of the sniper. They found blood trails one, but they couldn’t find the body of the sniper or snipers.
IMAGE: JAMES SPEED HENSINGER