The Don Englebreston Collection
Soldiers Deploying Orange Signal Panel in Jungle Clearing, Gene McCarley Collection, Operation Tailwind
Members of a reconnaissance team secure an orange signal panel to mark their position for supporting aircraft during Operation Tailwind, a 1970 MACV-SOG cross-border operation into Laos. Panels like this one were critical for coordinating close air support and helicopter extraction in the dense, often featureless jungle terrain of the Ho Chi Minh Trail region. Project: 219479