There are four, young Vietnamese girls and a young boy in the picture filling sandbags. Not much of a job but I'm sure the U.S. Army was paying good money to have it done.
Sandbags were a necessity in Vietnam. As long as there was a sandbag between me and an incoming bullet or piece of shrapnel from a mortar round, I would be reasonably safe. The idea was that the sand in the bag would catch the bullet or piece of shrapnel and prevent it from wounding or killing.
Sand bags were used in many areas in the rear. At the VIP center, a wall of them surrounded the barracks where we slept. Sandbags surrounded the beer hall, the outdoor movie theater, the shitters (bathrooms) and any other building where we spent any time. On a firebase, sandbags protected the bunkers where we pulled guard and the hooches where we slept. Of course, we did not always have sandbags to hide behind. Out in the jungle for example, there were no sandbags. But where it was possible to make use of them, we did.
In Vietnam, it wasn't just the Vietnamese that filled sandbags either. We all did it at some time or other. It was just another one of those jobs that was unique to Vietnam like burning shit every morning.
By the way, if you look closely, it appears that the young boy is posing while grabbing the breast of the girl next to him. I noticed it for the first time when I began work on the book. Maybe he was trying to sell her services to me. Well, it never went any further than the picture.
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