In-country R&R, Vietnam, late 1960s. Two American servicemen sunbathe on a camouflage poncho liner spread on the sand, beer within reach, with a hazed mountain range across the bay behind them. The setting is consistent with the U.S. rest area on the Da Nang coast known to Americans as China Beach. Unlike out-of-country R&R, which sent men to Bangkok, Hong Kong or Sydney, in-country beaches offered only a few hours' relief - close enough that aircrew could be recalled to the flight line the same day. Photographs like this one, made on personal cameras and mailed home as slides, form the informal visual record of the war that official photography rarely captured. From the Donald L. Engebretsen Collection. Project: 218935