Noodle Gobbler in 1969

The pictures that Private 1st Class Lance V Nix took in and around the city of My Tho between 1968-69 show bustling markets, busy townsfolk and smiling children.

Lance V. Nix at the Embassy House in My Tho in December 1968

A very different perspective from the dreary combat operations in muddy fields and jungles most commonly associated with the decades-long war.

Two children pose at the Mekong River-front in southeast My Tho, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in 1969

My Tho's downtown market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969

'I didn't want to be there, but I was drafted and there was nothing I could do about it, said Nix, now 71, in an interview with Daily Mail Online.

Three produce vendors pose for Lance V. Nix's camera at the My Tho Market in the year 1969

“So in my free time I would just grab my camera and walk around taking pictures.”

I caught these two ladies on film as they walked by the sandbags and razor wire around the military operational centre at the south end of My Tho across from the Navy dock on the Mekong River' in 1969, wrote Nix of this picture

Flower girls at the My Tho marketplace, in the Dinh Tuong Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, 1969

Girl selling produce at the My Tho market in 1969.

“I had a lot of free time,” said Nix and I was allowed to wear civilian clothes.

A woman shopping at the same market

Gleening the last of the fish from the drying rain ponds at the Binh Duc airstrip west of My Tho, Dinh Tuong Province, in Vietnam's Mekong Delta in the year 1969

During excursions with his Minolta SRT 101 camera, Nix said, “Most people didn't know if I was a reporter or whatever.”

Sidewalk fast food in My Tho 1969. Busy with mid-day shoppers at the My Tho Market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in 1969

“The reactions from people were a little bit of everything. Some people wanted their picture taken and would smile like you won't believe. Some would be shy.”

Flower vendors selling [marigolds] for TET New Year celebration at the My Tho Market in Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam, in the year 1969

In Nix's view, "The Vietnamese citizens weren't really involved in the war. They were bystanders basically. They were so used to occupation, with the French before us.”

'Local men take a mid-day break for a little card game. In northeast My Tho in 1969' wrote Nix of this picture

“Most citizens were just trying to live their lives, hoping not to have their heads blown off.”

River Front Fast Food 1969. In My Tho on the Mekong River, Dinh Tuong Province, Vietnam in 1969

A [remnant] from the French colonial days, the long loaves of French bread were plentiful in My Tho,' Nix wrote of this picture

A shoe seller and two smiling children at the My Tho Market in 1969 as photographed by Lance V Nix

Vegetables cut into decorative patterns at the My Tho Market in preparation for Tet festivities, 1969

 Water Taxi across the Mekong to Kien Hoa January 1969. Stern view of water taxi approaching Kien Hoa Province from Coconut Monk's island

Famous Coconut Monk on an island in the Mekong just a couple miles south of My Tho who founded his own unique religion, a blending of the teachings and philosophies of Buddism with Christianity

Vietnam's Coconut Monk in his tower at the east end of his "floating" platform refuge at the very eastern tip of his island in the Mekong River near My Tho, Vietnam

Lance V. Nix pictured on Veterans Day 2014, in Fort Ord, California. 'Back in uniform 45 years later. How time flies,' Nix wrote