In a previous post I had asked, " Were any Singaporeans killed during the Vietnam War?"
Click HERE to read that post.
If you are in the War Museum in Saigon, you will not want to miss the section displaying the vivid images of the war from both sides. The photos, taken by some of the best photographers in the world, captured the scenes of death and destruction caused by war. Looking at the photos, no one in his right mind can conclude that war is glorious. All the human emotions we know about are right there in those beautifully -taken shots. The technical quality of the photos are truly beautiful and excellent...but not what they sought to depict.
What is so unique in this section of the War museum is that the photos of 135 war photojournalists and war correspondents have been featured prominently.Who were these 135war photographers? Why were their works specially chosen for display? The answers to these questions are in this newspaper clipping above.
These photojournalists took the risk of getting close to the war action ( obviously too close) to bring images of the war to the rest of the world. Besides great courage and heroism, they all had one other thing in common...they were all killed while out shooting with the camera in Vietnam.
The 1st one on the list killed in 1954 was famous cameraman Robert Capa. He was only 41 when he was killed by a landmine.His famous quote lives after him, " If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough."Many followed his advice and returned with excellent pictures...but paid dearly with their lives.
Dicky Chappelle was one of those killed in 1964. She was an American and was among a handful of women correspondents covering the war.
Before she died, her parting words reportedly were," I guess it was bound to happen".
Probably, the most famous of all those killed was Larry Burrows. His pictures were regularly featured by TIMES and LIFE and NEWSWEEK.
[ There are some in Unk Dicko's archives ].
Three Singaporean war correspondents were killed during the Vietnam War.
They were:
1. Terence Khoo
2. Sam Kai Faye
3. Charles Chellapah
In my next post ...the full details of how and when they died.
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