Soldier with peace symbol on his rifle. The peace symbol is a combination of the semaphore signals for the letters "N" and "D", standing for "nuclear disarmament". In semaphore the letter "N" is formed by a person holding two flags in an inverted "V", and the letter "D" is formed by holding one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down. Superimposing these two signs forms the shape of the center of the peace symbol.
Mad minute on LZ Ike, 1968. In the Vietnam War, the "mad minute" was used to describe a drill involving intense automatic weapons fire, intended to flush out infiltrators or ambushes. The area targeted would be something which provided potential concealment for an enemy but not very good protection from projectiles, such as the vegetation line at the edge of a field, or at the edge of a cleared free fire zone around a fire base. All soldiers involved would direct the heaviest rate of continuous fire they could into that area for one minute. Photo by James Tree Machin.
