A Book Review for Veteran’s Day

The Three Soldiers   Bronze Sculpture by Frederick Hart

Viet Nam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C. (5 September 2011)

It’s been a month since the last post…shameful behavior for an alleged blogger.  There were three out-of-town trips, a class on the life and times of Andrew Jackson, Autumn yard work, many pictures taken and the bowling season is in high gear.  We will address excuses and reasons for not doing things in the next installment.

What follows is a note for Veteran’s Day.  I wrote most of it for the November issue of my camera club’s newsletter as a review of one of my favorite photography books.   

The photograph above is of an impressive statue that is located at one end of the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial ('The Wall').  While 'The Wall' has become one of the most impressive and impactful sights in Washington, few remember that the chosen design was so controversial and non-traditional, that this more conventional statue was commissioned as the compromise to gain approval for The Wall.  Adding to the controversy was the fact that the architect, Maya Lin, was an Asian college student and many people did not have warm feelings toward Asians after our defeat in Viet Nam.

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Book Review

REQUIEM

By the Photographers Who Died in Viet Nam and Indochina

Edited by Horst Faas and Tim Page

Random House.  1997.

In 1988, when I lived in New Orleans, I audited a history class on 20^th century American Presidents at the University of New Orleans.  It was taught by Steven Ambrose who was known for his biographies of Dwight Eisenhower, D-Day and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  I will always remember what he said in the opening lecture - the one thing that unified every president from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan (the president in 1988…who said, “No more Viet Nam’s”) - was the Viet Nam conflict.

I suspect I know why this book resonates so much with me.  I love photography.  It’s clear my visual sense is by far the dominant one.  I came of age during the Viet Nam War and it has left its mark all these years later.  At the height of the conflict, I graduated from college.  The student deferment ended and the new lottery determined who would be drafted into the military and who would be able to continue their civilian lives.  I can’t help but wonder how different things would be today had other forks in the road been taken back then.  These factors come together in a volume that struck me like a bomb. 

The book displays the images and recounts the stories of the 135 photographers who were killed or disappeared while covering the wars in Indochina, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos.  One comes away wondering what it takes to do such dangerous work in such a hostile environment,  just so people who are not there can understand what’s happening.  Some of the shooters were familiar but many were unknown to me.

Jean Peraud – After working for the French resistance as a teenager in WW II, he became photographer who documented the climactic battle at Dien Bien Phu, the final engagement before French expulsion.  He died trying to escape from his Viet Minh captors.

Robert Capa – Known for his iconic images from the Spanish Civil War and WW II, few remember he was killed in Viet Nam in 1954.

Larry Burrows – Worked for Life Magazine and sent back color pictures of the conflict.  Along with three other photographers, he was killed when his helicopter was shot down over Laos.  Their remains, discovered 25 years later, were interred in the Newseum in Washington, D.C. in 2008.

Sean Flynn – Movie star Errol Flynn’s son was a freelancer who sold images to news magazines and wire services.  With his buddy, Dana Stone, they got around on motorcycles and were known as the Easy Riders.  Both disappeared in Cambodia in 1971 and were never seen again.

Dickey Chapelle – One of the few women combat photographers in this conflict.

As expected, some of the photos are gruesome but the history and stories behind them are very powerful and decades later, one can still wonder about what we have learned from that experience.

Every now and then, when I wander through some beautiful, peaceful place with the camera, enjoying the iPod music and feeling lucky to be alive, I should pause for a moment and remember the men and women who willingly faced death to document that awful conflict.  The book jacket photo of a camera with a bullet hole through it is a simple, haunting reminder of not just the horrors of war but the importance of journalism and history.

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P.S. – For months, one of my computer gremlins has prevented me from linking up with Amazon’s web site.  Every attempt to connect fails.  I wanted to add the link to the book review so the readers could see other opinions and learn more if they wanted to obtain a copy.  I finally got through yesterday and learned the book is out of print and will cost you upwards of $400 to purchase.  Sorry about that.  Come by and look at my copy if you want.

Here’s to our Vets.  Thank you for your service. 

I’m so sorry we have leaders and decisions that send so many of you into awful, winless danger.

Support Our Troops – BRING THEM HOME.