On Saturday, Aug. 14, at 1 p.m., the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation will host a slide show and lecture by Vietnam Veteran Stanton Pratt entitled, “Capturing the War: An Army Combat Photographer in Vietnam,” at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel.

      Stanton Pratt, of Honesdale, Pa., was a combat photographer assigned to the U.S. Army's 593rd Signal Photo Company, 2nd Signal Group in South Vietnam from June 1965 until June 1966.  While there, he took more than one thousand pictures of Vietnamese civilians.  These informal photos and official combat photos taken by him and his team members make up his personal portfolio of images from Vietnam.  He will talk about his experience as a combat photographer while showing slides of his photography.  Wartime photographs will also be on display in the Center's lobby.

      During his yearlong “tour of duty,” Pratt covered the war from the Mekong Delta in the south to the ancient city of Hue in the north.  During his final month “in country,” his job changed to portrait photographer, and he took the official portrait of nearly every Army general in Vietnam at that time.  His next assignment was as a photographic instructor at the U. S. Army Signal Center and School at Fort Monmouth, N.J.  Today, Pratt is customer services manager for Boyds Mill Press.