# 1965 1st CAVALRY DIVISION AIRMOBILE IN VIETNAM INFANTRY 26154

This color documentary, titled “I Am a Soldier,” was part of a series called “The Saga of Western Man” shown on ABC in 1966. Filmed in 1965 during the Vietnam War, the program captures the mesmerizing aesthetic of war and features footage of African American and white soldiers in combat. The documentary opens with nearly two dozen helicopters in flight, and a voiceover that remarks: “It is a different kind of war than we’ve ever fought. Even the weapons are new. Only the names of the fighting units are old: the 7th Cavalry, the 8th Cavalry, the 5th, the 12th, and the 9th … It is a different kind of country than we’ve ever fought in … it is no man’s land. In Vietnam today, you hold only the ground you stand upon.” At mark 01:30, the viewer is taken to a valley along the Song Bo River, where the 1st Cavalry Division is headquartered. Although it is a “different” kind of war, it still relies heavily on riflemen, such as “A” Company 1st Battalion 8th Cavalry. The camera pans the fresh faces of the enlisted men who have only recently arrived to replace soldiers who have been shipped home at the end of their deployment or rotated out due to injury. Captain Theodore Danielsen (a recipient of three Bronze Stars with Valor) addresses his men and tells them of their objectives and operations such as “search and destroy,” “search and clear,” and “seize and hold.” “We’ve got to find the enemy before we can do battle with them,” Danielsen explains at mark 03:55, adding that his men also…

- Kind: Film
- By: PeriscopeFilm
- Genres: Western, War, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/26154iamasoldier_202003)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/26154iamasoldier_202003?play=1)