Morley Safer's coverage of the Vietnam War changed everything

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel very professional and the consummate standard of excellence. He will be missed. RIP!

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel, It was called a "Zippo Raid". The Marines nor the Army would do it unless they knew the village had VC sympathizers. They would hide the food and weapons, ammunition, and alert the VC if we were in their area. They caused a lot of deaths and WIA's by ambushes and booby traps.
He was a great reporter, doing his job, but not realizing what the effects of his coverage would do over here. He's one of the reasons we were called baby killers and America turned us into animals by the press. It was a war. Shit happens. You do what ya gotta do to stay alive. You might be surprised to know we were shot at a lot by farmers in the their rice paddies, using a weapon, to make it look like they were tilling the dirt. You don't want an armed to the hilt Huey getting shot at. It was suicide by the VC. A buddy of mine got his ear lobe shot off by one of those farmers.

NPR just re-aired a 1990 interview in which he said the only time he carried a loaded weapon with him was when he went to bed in a Marine Corps barracks. Incident followed a report of his which came off as painting the villagers as victims and "our boys" as heartless terrorists. Hey, war is a helluva thing especially at the grass roots level. Release a "free press" in that environment and incredulity and hurt feelings are sure to follow. My counterpart, Dai-uy (Captain) Thuyet, lost his entire family at Hue during Tet of '68. You certainly didn't see any "over-the-shoulder" reporting of VC/NVA activities during that month-long horror act. Aftermath was tough enough to take. It is my opinion--and my experience--that (with the glaring exception of My-Lai) American combat forces showed remarkable restraint--and a great deal of compassion--when dealing with the indigenous. Not enough of that showed up on the nightly news.