105mm howitzer
1971
A01=Lon Holmberg
aftermath
artillery
Author_Lon Holmberg
Category=AJF
Category=DNBH
Category=NHF
Chinook CH-47 twin-rotor
Citadel
Continental Palace Hotel
convoy
Eden Building
Emperor Minh Mang Mausoleum
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=0
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Fall of Saigon
firebase
fixed wing transport
General Creighton Abrams
General Frederick Weyand
Graham Greene
harbor
Henry Kissinger
Hue
Imperial Palace
Indigenous communities
JUSPAO Joint US Public Affairs Office
LOACH OH-C Cayuse Light Observation helicopter
MACV Military Assistance Command
Melvin Laird
memoir
Montagnard People
Nguyen Can Ky
Nguyen Van Thieu
Opera House
Route Highway 1
Saigon harbor
Tomahawk
USAID programs
veterans
Viet Cong
Viet Nam Cong
Washington DC Mall
Product details
- ISBN 9781496855329
- Dimensions: 279 x 216mm
- Publication Date: 17 Mar 2025
- Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Crossing the Pass of Clouds: An Army Photographer’s Vietnam Journal is an intimate portrait of the last years of the Vietnam War in 147 black-and-white pictures and a series of vignettes written by photographer Lon Holmberg. As the photographer for American Commanding General Creighton Abrams, Holmberg had the opportunity to document pivotal moments involving a range of influential historical figures. Among the many remarkable images Holmberg has captured are photographs of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu, US Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger during his journey to China, a trip that paved the way for President Nixon’s historic visit the following year.
In Crossing the Pass of Clouds, Holmberg presents a captivating and deeply personal account of his experiences during his service as an army photographer in Vietnam in 1971. Through a combination of vivid narration and poignant images, this memoir provides an intimate glimpse into the complexities of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, both for the country and for the narrator. Holmberg recounts his assignment in the Ashau Valley in the north (a significant infiltration route for the North Vietnamese Army); a daring reconnaissance mission across the border in Laos; and his time at a firebase in central Vietnam near the enigmatic Hai Van Pass (known in English as the Pass of Clouds). Yet even as Holmberg’s photographs look squarely at the realities of war, they also explore beyond it, illuminating the faded elegance of Saigon, the lives of indigenous communities and of farmers working in fields, and the eventual transition of Vietnam into an industrialized society.
In Crossing the Pass of Clouds, Holmberg presents a captivating and deeply personal account of his experiences during his service as an army photographer in Vietnam in 1971. Through a combination of vivid narration and poignant images, this memoir provides an intimate glimpse into the complexities of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, both for the country and for the narrator. Holmberg recounts his assignment in the Ashau Valley in the north (a significant infiltration route for the North Vietnamese Army); a daring reconnaissance mission across the border in Laos; and his time at a firebase in central Vietnam near the enigmatic Hai Van Pass (known in English as the Pass of Clouds). Yet even as Holmberg’s photographs look squarely at the realities of war, they also explore beyond it, illuminating the faded elegance of Saigon, the lives of indigenous communities and of farmers working in fields, and the eventual transition of Vietnam into an industrialized society.
Lon Holmberg is a documentary photographer and filmmaker whose work includes the PBS documentaries Doing Time and Mending Hearts. His photographs and writing have appeared in such publications as Streetlight: A Journal of Art and Literature, and he has taught English and photography at various schools, including a one-month intensive workshop in English at the University of Hue in Vietnam.
