In the summer of 1996, PS&S reporter Gary Cooper, a Navy journalists, was with a 12-man squad of the 25th Infantry Division in South Vietnam close to the Cambodian border near Pleiku when 50 to 60 Viet Cong attacked. The U.S. infantrymen sought cover in tall grass or behind trees as they fought off the attckers. Cooper, though under fire, took these remarkable photos. They won him first  place in the picture story category of the Military Pictures of the Year contest. 10/01/1995]; The 12-man squad of the 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division was winding its way to home base after a restless night at an outpost close to the Cambodian border when it ran into some 50-60 Viet Cong fighters. The infantrymen frantically sought cover in tall grass or behind trees as they fought off the VC. Pacific Stars and Stripes reporter Gary Cooper accompanying the squad writes, "Things were touch and go for minutes and I thought ti best to shoot an M-16 rather than my Nikomat." But Cooper shot with his M-16 as well as his Nikomat. Cooper shot and wrote for Stars and Stripes from 1965 to 1967 as Navy enlisted man; 1974 to 1975 as a civilian. In 1978 he became the editor for the News Journal newspapers in Wilmington; Del. He has since retired and him and his wife Toshi Cooper, former SSP librarian extraordinaire live in Delaware.