Original Vietnam War US Army Special Forces “BrightLight” Photo - SGT McDaniel, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne).
A ‘Bright Light’ mission was a rescue mission for downed, lost, overrun, and missing troops “across the fence” in places like Laos and Cambodia. At the FOB would be a board with these photos hung up to know who was out on a mission and might need immediate support or evac. Recon Teams would then volunteer for these often incredibly risky rescue missions. These photos were made in the 1960s/70s in Okinawa before the 1st Special Forces Group deployed to Vietnam (TDY with the 5th Special Forces Group) and are hand-colorized by Japanese (Okinawan) photography studios. In the last photo (for reference only, not included) you can see an example of how they were used.
1st SFGA was first activated on June 24, 1957 and then, at the conclusion of the Vietnam War, inactivated on June 28, 1974. It was again reactivated on September 4, 1984. 1st SFGA was involved in Vietnam very early in the war, with detachments deployed from 1957 until the mid-1960s. Many of its teams would deploy to Vietnam on six month rotations.
