Posted on Feb 1, 2018
Pulitzer prize 1968 commented by its photographer, Eddie Adams
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Probably too early in the morning for this bit of history. But this happened 50 years ago February 1, 1968.
Saigon Execution
Eddie Adams 1968
The act was stunning in its casualness. Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams was on the streets of Saigon on February 1, 1968, two days after the forces of the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong set off the Tet offensive and swarmed into dozens of South Vietnamese cities. As Adams photographed the turmoil, he came upon Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, chief of the national police, standing alongside ÂNguyen Van Lem, the captain of a terrorist squad who had just killed the family of one of Loan’s friends. Adams thought he was watching the interrogation of a bound prisoner. But as he looked through his viewfinder, Loan calmly raised his .38-caliber pistol and summarily fired a bullet through Lem’s head. After shooting the suspect, the general justified the suddenness of his actions by saying, “If you hesitate, if you didn’t do your duty, the men won’t follow you.” The Tet offensive raged into March. Yet while U.S. forces beat back the communists, press reports of the anarchy convinced Americans that the war was unwinnable. The freezing of the moment of Lem’s death symbolized for many the brutality over there, and the picture’s widespread publication helped galvanize growing sentiment in America about the futility of the fight. More important, Adams’ photo ushered in a more intimate level of war photojournalism. He won a Pulitzer Prize for this image, and as he commented three decades later about the reach of his work, “Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world.”
http://100photos.time.com/photos/eddie-adams-saigon-execution
@ col mikel COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen F. @ ltc wayne LTC Wayne Brandon Maj William W. 'Bill' Price @ capt tom Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan @ smsgt doc SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas @ tsgt joe TSgt Joe C. @ sra christopher SrA Christopher B. MSG Andrew White @ ssg david SSG David Andrews SSG Robert Webster Sgt David G Duchesneau @ sgt randy Sgt Randy Wilber SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth @ sp5 mark SP5 Mark Kuzinski @ cpl dave CPL Dave Hoover PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 Tony Holland
Saigon Execution
Eddie Adams 1968
The act was stunning in its casualness. Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams was on the streets of Saigon on February 1, 1968, two days after the forces of the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong set off the Tet offensive and swarmed into dozens of South Vietnamese cities. As Adams photographed the turmoil, he came upon Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, chief of the national police, standing alongside ÂNguyen Van Lem, the captain of a terrorist squad who had just killed the family of one of Loan’s friends. Adams thought he was watching the interrogation of a bound prisoner. But as he looked through his viewfinder, Loan calmly raised his .38-caliber pistol and summarily fired a bullet through Lem’s head. After shooting the suspect, the general justified the suddenness of his actions by saying, “If you hesitate, if you didn’t do your duty, the men won’t follow you.” The Tet offensive raged into March. Yet while U.S. forces beat back the communists, press reports of the anarchy convinced Americans that the war was unwinnable. The freezing of the moment of Lem’s death symbolized for many the brutality over there, and the picture’s widespread publication helped galvanize growing sentiment in America about the futility of the fight. More important, Adams’ photo ushered in a more intimate level of war photojournalism. He won a Pulitzer Prize for this image, and as he commented three decades later about the reach of his work, “Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world.”
http://100photos.time.com/photos/eddie-adams-saigon-execution
@ col mikel COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. @ ltc stephen LTC Stephen F. @ ltc wayne LTC Wayne Brandon Maj William W. 'Bill' Price @ capt tom Capt Tom Brown Maj Marty Hogan @ smsgt doc SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas @ tsgt joe TSgt Joe C. @ sra christopher SrA Christopher B. MSG Andrew White @ ssg david SSG David Andrews SSG Robert Webster Sgt David G Duchesneau @ sgt randy Sgt Randy Wilber SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth @ sp5 mark SP5 Mark Kuzinski @ cpl dave CPL Dave Hoover PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO1 Tony Holland
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 12
I remember this and other incidents. These things have occurred to varying degrees throughout history, but our capacity to capture images and “sound bites” has exploded. War is not entertainment or “fun”. It is bloody, graphic, and vicious. It lends itself to nightmares and eternal “angst” for those who participate. Why bring it into the living room half a world away? Just because we can? This is worse than “x-rated” movie make-believe. It is real and traumatic. It may satisfy the “rubberneckers”, the sadistic “gore-seekers” among us, but it is my view that we opened up a “Pandora’s Box” which has led us down the path of where we are today in the news & “entertainment” industry. What follows, a modern-day Roman Colliseum form of entertainment? As an American Citizen and taxpayer, do I have “a right” to all this and more? Apparently so... but is it wise? Thank you for your post, and my opportunity to vent.
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Maj Marty Hogan
6 y
Great analogy on the modern day Roman Coliseum. Puts this into contrast rather well.
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SGT John " Mac " McConnell
6 y
Very well stated CW5 John M. . Pandora's box has been open for some time. Sad to see it it the kids these days. Almost immune to their surroundings.
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Posted 6 y ago
Haunting memory captured in film. Remember this shot in a Life magazine history book from junior high. Always what I think of when I hear Vietnam. Morning John.
SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SrA Christopher Wright Sgt Randy Wilber SGT Gregory Lawritson Cpl (Join to see) Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth LTC (Join to see) MSG Frederick Otero SFC Pete Kain SSG David Andrews LCDR (Join to see) PO1 Tony Holland SCPO Morris Ramsey SPC Margaret Higgins SGT Jim Arnold SFC William H. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SGT Charles H. Hawes SFC Craig Dalen CPL Dave Hoover
SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SrA Christopher Wright Sgt Randy Wilber SGT Gregory Lawritson Cpl (Join to see) Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth LTC (Join to see) MSG Frederick Otero SFC Pete Kain SSG David Andrews LCDR (Join to see) PO1 Tony Holland SCPO Morris Ramsey SPC Margaret Higgins SGT Jim Arnold SFC William H. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SGT Charles H. Hawes SFC Craig Dalen CPL Dave Hoover
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