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VETERANS DAY A snapshot in time Central Point vet's photo from Vietnam takes on a life of its own Comment By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 10, 2015 at 6:39 PM Updated Nov 10, 2015 at 6:43 PM By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 10, 2015 at 6:39 PM Updated Nov 10, 2015 at 6:43 PM Veterans photo gallery --> To see more photos of local veterans, go to www.mailtribune.com/photo. » Read more X Veterans photo gallery To see more photos of local veterans, go to www.mailtribune.com/photo . » Social News Mike Canty and his First Infantry reconnaissance platoon were searching for signs of Viet Cong near the Iron Triangle northwest of Saigon in 1968 when they reached a canal with a bamboo foot bridge dangling precariously above the muck. It was made from a single piece of bamboo with supports. "With what we were packing, we probably weighed twice as much as the typical Vietnamese," said Canty, who lives in Central Point. "The biggest guy we had in our platoon was Miller, and we figured if the bridge would hold Miller up, it would hold the rest of us up. So we sent Miller across; the bridge didn't hold up. After the bamboo broke, the rest of us got wet. We had to pass our packs and ammo and guns across the canal to keep everything as dry as we could. We were always wet anyway, so it didn't make any difference for us, but we had to keep our ammo and guns clean, and we made 'er across." Any photo record of Miller's splashdown is probably lost to history. But the company's canal crossing was preserved by PFC David Pasquariello, a correspondent for the American Traveler, who was attached to the First Infantry. Pasquariello's photo captured three soldiers wading through neck-deep water next to the collapsed bridge. Canty's head barely tops the surface in the photo, taken moments after he passed an M60 machine gun to Lt. Alex Green. Behind Canty was Tom McCully. Not long after the mission, Pasquariello provided Canty with a copy of the photo, which is part of composite collection from his tour of duty on the wall. The photo took on a life of its own and has since been reproduced numerous times online and in print, and is part of at least two photo collections, including Getty Images and the Hulton Archive, a collection of historic stock images. "I was famous and didn't even know about it," Canty said. "I didn't realize, other than a men's magazine that it was even out there; I hadn't thought anything about it." The photo was reproduced a few months ago on Facebook page called The Nam, a page devoted to the war, and spurred hundreds of comments. "This same photo was printed in Stag magazine back in the late '60s or early '70s with a story that had nothing to do with what we were doing," Canty posted on The NAM. "My brother saw the photo in the magazine and got me a copy that I still have. I wonder how many more are out there." In the days leading up the Tet Offensive in 1968, when the tide of the decade-long Vietnam war turned in favor of the Communist North Vietnamese army regulars and Viet Cong guerrillas, Canty and his reconnaissance platoon made frequent forays into the field from their base at Quan Loi Airfield 20 miles from Cambodia. Canty's company was part of the First Infantry division. Black scarves, cut from material left behind at an overrun Viet Cong camp, not only set the company apart but served a pragmatic purpose, as well. "It's always nice to have something around your neck to keep out trash and ants," said Canty, who lives in Central Point. "And to keep bugs from falling down your necks." Canty remembers all too well that two months after the now-famous photo was taken, on March 19, 1968, his platoon stumbled upon a Viet Cong camp as they were slogging through a dense, bamboo jungle northwest of Saigon. "They were masters of concealment," Canty said. "In a heavily forested jungle you can't see it from the air. Our point guy could smell the latrines outside their base camp and alerted us we were getting close to something." The patrol tried to skirt the camp but were detected and came under fire from Viet Cong hidden in a series of bunkers surrounding the camp. Samuel "Zeb" Hughes of Florida was the first hit, taking a shot in the leg. "I yelled back to the lieutenant to see if he could cover me while I was crawling forward," Canty recalled of his effort to reach Hughes. Canty cleared the bunker, shooting an attacker who fell into a connecting trench. The officer told him to toss hand grenades into the trench to prevent getting shot from behind, while Hughes was evacuated. "What I didn't see was the bunker to the side," he said. Canty took a bullet just above the right hip. "My ammo magazine and grenades were in a bag that slipped around while I was on the ground," he said. "The bullet went through the ammo magazine, which sort of slowed the bullet down. It lodged near the right kidney area." Hughes went into shock and died. Canty was evacuated to a jungle MASH unit, where he was patched up and then sent to Bien Hoa Air Base. He was out of action for the better part of a month, including time spent with his fiancee in Hawaii, but returned to Vietnam in late April. His role changed, resupplying choppers that were distributing goods to the front lines. In addition to his Purple Heart, he was awarded a Silver Star for his role in retrieving Hughes. Canty's advanced infantry training at Fort Polk, outside Shreveport, La., mirrored much of what he was to face in Vietnam. "There was swamps, snakes, humidity and rain," Canty said. "They tried to mock up everything as close as they could for training. The only difference was they weren't shooting at you." He was originally a replacement soldier, unattached prior to his arrival at Tan Son Nhut Air Base outside Saigon. He reported to a replacement center located on the tarmac, where he was assigned to the First Infantry Division in Phuoc Vinh. His battalion was out in the field, so he was housed with a reconnaissance platoon until they got back. "When I got there, I was supposed to operate a radio," he said. "But before I got started training, the reconnaissance guys came back in for rest and recuperation; a few beers later, I was volunteering for a reconnaissance." The thought of getting captured rarely crossed anyone's minds, he said. But there was a lot of thought given to mortar barrages. "Usually, the enemy knew where we slept when we were out on patrol. The first thing we did was dig a bunker and fill sandbags to give us protection, so when the mortars came, hopefully we were protected." A carefully crafted bunker proved its worth when he took a direct mortar hit at Song Be. Canty grew up in Jacksonville and graduated from Medford High School in 1966. He went to work at the old Fir Ply mill in White City until a draft notice arrived in January 1967. Rather than wait until his induction date, he and a buddy volunteered in Portland. While his friend flunked the physical because of asthma, he headed north to Fort Lewis with a busload of volunteers. When offered a year of training in electronics school in exchange for another year of service, he took it and was sent to the Army's signal school in Fort Monmouth, N.J., where he learned radio repair. There weren't any openings when he finished radio repair training, however, so he was reassigned to advanced infantry training at Fort Polk, otherwise known as Tiger Land. He got married Sept. 21, 1968, and spent the balance of his three-year tour in Germany. Back in 1970, he spent short stints with Medford Ambulance and Tru-Mix before launching a 34-year career with Pacific Power, retiring in 2005. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 10, 2015 at 6:39 PM Updated Nov 10, 2015 at 6:43 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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