Major James D. Carson

Major James D. Carson was the Commander of Southeast Asia Pictorial Center (SEAPC) in Long Binh between Sept 1968 and June of 1969.  In that capacity, Major Carson had operational control over the 221st Signal.  He was a career soldier, having entered the Army in 1946 as an enlisted man.  He served in the Korea war and later on Okinawa.  All of his assignments as an enlisted man were photographic in nature, including a surveillance unit.  

It was learned recently that Major Carson died Feb 1, 2011 at the age of 83.  He was well liked and will be well remembered by the men of the 221st who served with him.

        “Major Carson and I made a trip to Hong Kong to purchase the Arriflexes that the MACV Army A and B teams subsequently used. It was quite a trip. We flew on a Cathay-Pacific Caravelle through Pnom Penh to Kai-Tak. The Army put us up in a nice hotel and we had five days to meet with the dealer and arrange shipping and it only took about two hours. It was like Çhristmas because we had a budget that was quite ample and we pointed to things saying, "one of those, two of those," etc. Jim Carson (he made me call him Jim when we were not around the Army) was a lot of fun, much more fun that I was I guess since he stayed out quite late some nights. In a bar he said he was going to use the name Guierllmo and instead of his real name and he succeeded. He was quite a character and a good leader for SEAPC as he seemed to understand what we "artists" needed.”

 - 1Lt Frank Levin, OIC MACV Photo Team Bravo

Major Carson spent an average of 6 days a month in the field visiting 221st Signal detachments.  On this visit, the Major sees a blown bridge in the Pleiku area. Photo by 1Lt Roger Hawkins.