StMU Research Scholars

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Winner of the Fall 2018 StMU History Media Award for

Article with the Best Use of Images

Article with the Best Introduction

The year was 1968. The month of January was almost over and “Tet,” the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, was about to begin. By now, Vietnam had been embroiled for years in a civil war. North Vietnam was under the leadership of a Communist government and South Vietnam was under the leadership of a government that was backed by West. The start of Tet in 1968 was used to launch a huge offensive by the Vietcong in which coordinated attacks took place all over South Vietnam to destabilize the region and push the United States to withdraw.1

The United States intervention in Vietnam began in 1965, a year after the unwarranted attacks by North Vietnam on United States Destroyer ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. By 1967, the number of American troops on the ground surged.2  Despite being involved in this conflict halfway across the globe, the war did not seem so distant with the steady stream of footage and photographs from the front-lines directly to living rooms all over America. In this regard, Vietnam was unique for being one of the first wars to be filmed and photographed extensively.3 The work done by journalists in Vietnam allowed the world to see what was happening in Vietnam firsthand. Among those in Vietnam documenting the war was Eddie Adams.

Eddie Adams had been involved with photography since an early age. He had been a photographer for his high school newspaper and had done some photography work for weddings. Upon graduating high school, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corp. As a Marine, Adams served as a combat photographer in Korea for almost 3 years. In 1965, in what he describes as an “alcoholic haze,” Adams and a close friend decided they would go to Vietnam to document the war.4 During his time in Vietnam is when Adams took the photograph of the Saigon execution.

The day Adams shot the picture featured above was February 1st. He recalls himself and NBC journalists heading toward Cholon, a section of the city of Saigon, because they heard of a battle taking place there. Adams came upon South Vietnamese Brigadier General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Vietcong soldier, in cold blood, in broad day light, in the middle of the street. Adams recalls himself and the other journalist gathering around Loan as he grabbed the soldier. Adams assumed Loan was only going to threaten the man. In the instant Adams raised his camera to snap a photo, Loan raised his pistol and executed the soldier. Loan explained after, that the Vietcong soldier had killed many Americans and allied Vietnamese soldiers.5

The photograph showed up on all major news evening broadcasts and on the front cover of newspapers all over the world the next morning.6 The execution was also recorded, but the specific angle Adams got in his photograph showed the war in an indescribable way. Peter Braestrup, one of the most versed individuals on the Tet offensive, described the picture as a “kind of ultimate horror story that you captured in living color. But in terms of information it told you almost nothing.”7 His quote could not do more justice. What the world saw was a man who was wincing before certain death. They did not know the man was a part of the Vietcong. In the photograph, he seems to be wearing civilian clothes which misleads one. The man had also recently killed allied soldiers and was found armed during martial law- an offense that justifies the use of force.8 Eddie Adams believed he had done an injustice to Loan. He explained, “General Loan was our guy. We were supporting him… believe me, the Americans did just as bad things. I just happened to see this and shoot it…”9

Protestors hold a demonstration against the Vietnam war demanding immediate withdraw and peace | Oct. 21st 1967| Courtesy of National Archives

Despite the Johnson Administration’s attempt to win public support of the war, the images of the war painted a very different picture. Public opinion felt that the war was no longer winnable, rather it was now a matter of how America could save face.  Walter Cronkite, a well-respected news-anchor and a strong supporter for the war, was among those whose opinion shifted. It was reported that President Johnson believed “if I lost Cronkite, I’ve lost America.”10  The irony of it all was that the Tet Offensive was largely a failure for the Vietcong in terms of land gained and damage inflicted, but in the end its psychological impact on how Americans believed the war to be going, led to its success.11

South Vietnamese forces flee with civilians after napalm is accidentally dropped on a friendly village| June 8th, 1972| Courtesy of Flickr

While this photo was taken out of context, it did provide small truths of the war. Although the war was going well, horrendous acts were being committed. Eddie Adams and many others were able to expose the world to the atrocious acts being committed during the war. Nick Ut’s photo of a napalm strike on a village, is another photo that came to define the war. Ut’s photograph captured the moment children run away in horror from napalm strikes on their village.12 The shattered innocence and utter despair on the childrens’ faces while soldiers seem calm provides a stark incomprehensible contrast that pulls at the heart. These photographs captured only instances of the war. But in the frozen state of a photograph, one is able to examine and reexamine a photograph and truly take in all its details. There was no propaganda campaign that could ever keep a just people supporting a war when they saw photographs like these.

The Pacific Stars and Stripes front cover breaking the news of a ceasefire in Vietnam. | Jan. 29th, 1973| Courtesy of National Museum of the US Air Force

As journalist, Adams and the others were simply doing their jobs. Horst Faas explained about documenting the war, “I don’t think we influenced the war… [he believed simply that the job of journalist was to] record the suffering, the emotions and the sacrifices of both the Americans and the Vietnamese…”13 Their work allowed for the false reality America was living to fall apart. As Americans lived, worked, and played, the very basic rights all humans are entitled to were violated by both sides. As such, Americans responded. In 1973, with public support overwhelmingly against the war in Vietnam, the United States signed the Paris Agreement that led to the withdrawal of all American troops.14 The involvement of the United States in Vietnam continues to be synonymous with some of the most appalling violations of human rights, not only violations against Vietnamese civilians burned alive with napalm or killed slowly through cancer with massive exposure to Agent Orange, but also of the atrocities committed or witnessed by US forces. In addition, all US Soldiers exposed to Agent Orange in indirect ways as when combat medics who worked at Clark Air Force Base (Philippines Islands) received the US soldiers injured in Vietnam who had been evacuated by air. These combat medics  received soldiers injured in the field in Vietnam covered in Agent Orange with no protocol for decontamination for the injured nor for themselves as medical personnel. Fifty years on and they continue to die from cancers caused by exposure to Agent Orange. While the US left in 1973, the human suffering due to human rights violations done then, continues today. These images changed the public opinion and changed the course of history even when they may have not saved all those involved at the time, they avoided even greater damages and loss of life, for that we are grateful to these powerful images.

  1. Patrick Hagopian, America in the World, 1776 to the Present: A Supplement to the Dictionary of American History (Farmington Hills, MI: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2016), 752.
  2. James H. Willbanks, Vietnam War: A Topical Exploration and Primary Source Collection (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2017), 133, 183.
  3. James H. Willbanks, The Tet Offensive: A Concise History (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007), 5-6.
  4.  Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd Edition, s.v. “Eddie Adams” (Detroit: Gale, 2005), 4.
  5. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd Edition, s.v. “Eddie Adams” (Detroit: Gale, 2005), 4.
  6. David Culbert, Television’s Visual Impact on Decision-Making in the USA, 1968: The Tet Offensive and Chicago’s Democratic National Convention, Journal of Contemporary History Vol. 33 (1998): 421.
  7. David Culbert, Television’s Visual Impact on Decision-Making in the USA, 1968: The Tet Offensive and Chicago’s Democratic National Convention, Journal of Contemporary History Vol. 33 (1998): 424.
  8. David Culbert, Television’s Visual Impact on Decision-Making in the USA, 1968: The Tet Offensive and Chicago’s Democratic National Convention, Journal of Contemporary History Vol. 33 (1998): 423, 426-428
  9.  Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd Edition, s.v. “Eddie Adams” (Detroit: Gale, 2005), 4-5.
  10. James H. Willbanks, Vietnam War: A Topical Exploration and Primary Source Collection (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2017), 255.
  11. James H. Willbanks, Vietnam War: A Topical Exploration and Primary Source Collection (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2017), 249
  12. Hal Buell, The Napalm Girl, Vietnam 25, no. 1 (June 2012), 36-39.
  13. Deborah Stadler, Frontline Focus, Military History 33, no. 6 (March 2017), 56-61.
  14.  “12 Address to the Nation Announcing Conclusion of an Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam. January 23, 1973.” 2001. American Reference Library – Primary Source Documents, (January, 1.)

Recent Comments

188 comments

  • Veronica Lopez

    Congratulations on winning an award for Article with the Best Use of Images. It was well deserved. The images are quite graphic and horrific but they demonstrate how dangerous the Vietnam War was. There’s this one specific picture where there’s a citizen being held against his will and with a gun to his head. This picture demonstrates how corrupt the Vietnamese government really was.

  • Elizabeth Saxon

    I really like the way you described everything that went into the war along with the outcome of the picture. It’s crazy to think that something so little such as an image can cause so much of a disruption in the world such as ending a war. I’ve never really realized how the media can be so powerful. This article was very well written and descriptive.

  • Carlos Hinojosa

    The Vietnam war was a war that should have never happened and I it never happened history would be no different then it is today. Because Vietnam truly brought nothing of benefit to anyone. Not communism, not America and definitely not Vietnam, the war that had no victors. What made it even worse was all the lives lost that died for nothing and the thousands of troops afterwards that lost themselves completely.

  • Kayla Cooper

    First of all, congratulations on your award, it was very well deserved. The pictures used really brought your article together and shows how tragic things were during the war. I had never seen that picture before and seeing that is so sad but expresses the hard times that Vietnam went through. Very well written article. A picture is really worth a lot more than just words.

  • Christopher Metta Bexar

    The article was well written. Those are two of the three most famous photographs of the Vietnam Conflict I imagine (the third one won a Pulitzer Prize. A Buddhist monk self immolating himself to protest the war). Their effect upon the American people was greater than any broadcast journalist could make, save Walter Cronkite.

  • Reba Reyes

    This article was such a great read. The pictures that were used in this article really expressed how hard times were back in 1968. It really makes you feel the things that they had gone through. I could just imagine what Adams was feeling when taking those pictures. I wonder if he knew at that time that his photographs would make history. The article spoke greatly about the trying times in Vietnam.

  • Amanda Gutierrez

    Nice article! What made your article so captivating was your use of images. It’s so true that one picture can say a thousand words. Photography is truly powerful, and so is the use of media. It was hard to read that people had to go through these horrible events and so many lives were lost, but because of this picture, no more lives were taken. Overall, this was an excellent article. Congrats

  • Genesis Vera

    Such a great article with even better pictures. The article itself was saddening and made me feel all sorts of emotions. However, what made this article great- are the pictures. I had seen these pictures before and knew a little bit about the history that came with them but still, every time I see these pictures, I always feel sadness. I thought the article made great points and did a great job of explaining what actions led to the capture of these photos- usually we only get the aftermath.

  • Alexandria Wicker

    I think that this article gives the readers a good look at what was happening inside the war that really did not have to do with the war. There were so many horrendous acts that were taking place along with the war itself. People were scared and living their lives in pure fear. I think this picture, even though it was taken out of context, depicts that scary and awful things that were going on with many different people at this time. I think it is amazing that even from one picture, lives were saved.

  • Caroline Bush

    Great article! It’s amazing to consider how much of an impact journalists make during a war, their photographs are truly able to capture the horrors’ or war and share it with the populace. This photograph in particular saved countless lives and inspired a nation to stand up against a war they did not believe in. The photograph featured is truly chilling and perfectly captured the cruelty of the Vietnam War.

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