Vietnam Bao Chi: Warriors of Word and Film
Marc Phillip Yablonka. Amazon US $20.31, Casemate UK, £ 19.00 (312p) ISBN 978-1-61200-687-1
Release date: 11/01/2018
REVIEW FROM DOD READS
Báo Chi is Vietnamese for newspapers. And Vietnam Báo Chi finally gives us a look at the men who filmed and wrote the “real “story of Vietnam War battlefields.
Marc Yablonka’s book, Vietnam Báo Chi: Warriors of Word and Film, is a compilation of stories of over thirty military photojournalists and writers from all five branches of the US military. Their combined experiences cover the entire Vietnam conflict, from the beginning days of military advisors in the early 1960s up to the technical end of American military involvement and beyond.
Yablonka is an established author, having written for military and military-related publications, including Stars and Stripes, Army Times, Vietnam magazine, and Soldier of Fortune. He has written three previous books, including two on Vietnam and Southeast Asia, and traveled the region extensively post-war. He has served in the California State Guard, an adjunct organization of the California National Guard, from 2001 -2008.
The book starts at a fast pace with the story of Marine Dale Dye, actor, and well-known military advisor on movies such as Saving Private Ryan and Platoon. Dye served multiple tours of duty in Vietnam, first as an infantryman and later as a military correspondent. The next profile is Army photojournalist John Del Vecchio, who served with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam and later wrote the classic Vietnam War novel The 13th Valley. From this point, the book goes on to tell the stories of military photographers, motion picture cameramen, and journalists who severed in Vietnam. It is masterfully written, and each story is a near-perfect blend of narrative and quotes from each individual, with the whole offering a variety of experiences. The format affords the reader the option to spend a few minutes reading several pages that cover the complete story of one individual.
Military First
Some common themes emerge from among the stories, the most prominent being that these men were serving military first and journalism second. Many contain depictions to the effect of “…and then I had to put my camera down and start firing” or “started helping a medic with the wounded.” This, of course, was most common with the army and marine correspondents.
To establish creditability, the journalists committed to not be a burden to the combat units they covered. They carried a full field gear load plus their camera equipment, pitching in on any common tasks, and taking their fair share of security and watch duties. While this occurred less frequently with navy, air force, and coast guard journalists, it did occur, especially when covering small patrol boat operations supporting marine and SEAL units or encountering communist supply watercraft in coastal waters. Several of the men died in combat, or wounds received from hostile fire or in aircraft accidents. Many received Purple Hearts for being wounded and decorations for valor, the latter mostly associated with combat actions “after they put the camera down.”
Broad Latitude
Another common theme is the amazing latitude these military journalists, many of them junior enlisted, were given to seek out their own assignments. One air force journalist simply went from unit to unit, base to base, documenting the mission of each unit, literally flying in jet fighter bombers over North Vietnam on airstrikes and helicopter pararescue missions of downed pilots. At the same time, as in all military life, there were the mundane duties of working in the darkroom, cleaning equipment, and cranking out dozens of “hometown” news releases each day, covering troops newly arrived in country.
Firsthand Views
Through the eyes of the men, we see the changing arc of the Vietnam War, from its conventional beginning to the ever-increasing disillusionment of soldiers drafted into a war they did not support. The feelings and opinions of the men depicted in Báo Chi are far from uniform, and the author takes great care to respect individual perspectives. We are also given glimpses of the civilian correspondents, several of whom helped provide the negative narrative that shaped public opinion back home through their reporting. The military journalists were required to provide logistical support to civilian correspondents on occasion, and often shared transportation into the field with them. Not surprisingly, many of the military journalists became civilian journalists and photographers after their military service or continued to serve a full career in the military in the journalism, public information, or public affairs field.
The “Real” Story
Anyone born before 1960 or so remembers the nightly television broadcasts from Vietnam on the evening news, especially in the latter part of the 1960s, as well as the antiwar protests. Vietnam has often been described as our first ‘televised” war, with scenes of wounded soldiers beamed into American living rooms for the very first time. At the same time, horrific photographic still images of children burned by napalm and suspected Viet Cong guerillas being summarily executed on Saigon street corners appeared in daily newspapers. While these journalistic vignettes were valid aspects of that controversial war, they grossly overshadowed the larger story of the sacrifice and valor of the Americans serving in that war and the corresponding valor and sacrifice of the men who documented those Americans in combat from the “soldier’s eye” view. Vietnam Báo Chi finally gives us a look at the men who filmed and wrote the “real “story of Vietnam War battlefields.
As our western society has become increasingly averse to any use of force, no matter how justified or necessary to counter existential threats, we will need, more than ever, military journalists that can tell the warrior’s story and capture the factual records of military campaigns. Those chosen for this duty can find no finer example than the Báo Chi of the Vietnam War.
Takeaways
One of the takeaways from reading this book is to always have a default in realizing where your duty lies when the war comes to you. And another, for military readers, is if you are not happy with your current military occupation, find something else you like, and if there are obstacles in the way, do like several portrayed in this book—don’t take “no” for an answer and find a way.
Note: The book also includes a glossary, essential for a book covering five different military branches during a war that occurred well over 50 years ago.
Terry Lloyd
Posted in 2021
REVIEW FROM SOLDIER MAGAZINE, Publication of The British Army
The combat reporters who covered the Vietnam War for the US Armed Forces have rarely had the exposure of their counterparts in the civilian media – but this collection of biographies redresses the balance. Yablonka presents a vivid snapshot of some 35 military correspondents responsible for telling the soldier’s story, often facing a ruthless and determined enemy. The pen portraits brings the Bao Chi – the Vietnamese phrase for journalist – to life, with the author’s accessible style making this a decent read. With a section for each personality, it is also very easy to pick up and put down.
Cliff Caswell
Published in the February 2019 Issue
REVIEW FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Yablonka (Distant War) fills a void with this valuable collection of profiles of 35 American military journalists of varied sorts who plied their trade during the Vietnam War. Some, including former Marines Dale Dye and Bob Bayer, Green Beret Jim Morris, Army combat correspondent Marvin Wolf, and combat photographer Dick Durrance, went on to notable careers as civilian journalists, writers, and photographers. Others such as Frank Lepore stayed in the military. All of the former military correspondents, photographers, and TV and documentary cameramen and directors go into depth about day-to-day details of their war work. Some offer their opinions about what civilian war correspondents do: Sonny Craven, an Army radio-TV-motion picture officer, for example, is highly critical of “hot dog” civilian reporters trying to make a name for themselves in the war zone, but Lepore, who served in the same position, characterizes his interactions with civilian press members as “congenial,” since both groups of journalists “had to get to the action to record it.” Yablonka pays tribute to three of the civilians—photographers Eddie Adams, Catherine Leroy, and Nick Ut. This work shines light on the all-but-forgotten role of American military báo chí (press in Vietnamese) and fleshes out the history of Vietnam War journalism and journalists. (Dec.)
Reviewed on: 10/29/2018
REVIEW FROM THE VVA VETERAN, Magazine of The Vietnam Veterans of America
Most Vietnam War histories on the broadcast media focus on, and critique, civilian coverage of the war. TV television coverage brought the war into America’s living rooms and many believe turned public opinion against the war. President Johnson hated most coverage, at one point saying that it was as if CBS and NBC were “controlled by the Viet Cong.”
Journalist and author Marc Phillip Yablonka’s Vietnam Bao Chi: Warriors of Word and Film (Casemate, 320 pp., $32.95, hardcover; $11.99, Kindle) provides a different point of view. Yablonka tells the stories of more than thirty Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Marine military correspondents, photographers, and TV and documentary cameramen and directors who covered the war for Stars & Stripes and various military media.
Marines, as Yablonka shows, were warriors first and reporters or photographers second. In one case, Yablonka writes of a Marine cameraman, as the next most senior in rank, picking up his M-14 and calling in an airstrike after his lieutenant and sergeant were severely wounded. In another, a Marine journalist captured six Viet Cong.
Loosely translated,“Bao Chi” is Vietnamese for journalist. But the men Yablonka writes about covered the war more viscerally, with emotional perspective cast in terms like bravery, courage, honor, and loyalty. The Marine cameraman who took command declares, for example:
“I was with the finest company of those Marines and Navy corpsman and thank them for giving me the rare privilege to bear witness to their efforts and sacrifices. I wish all the images in my mind could be reproduced because they are far more exceptional than the images I captured on film.”
Each chapter deals with a different person’s experiences in the war. To some degree the chapters are repetitious. At the same time, a reader can pick and choose among chapters, drawn in by titles such as “Rockin’ and Rollin’ with the Montagnards” and “From Hot Rod Comics and Hemingway…to Vietnam.”
Military abbreviations and jargon pepper the text; the glossary is seven-pages long. Some veterans may find the terms nostalgic; civilian readers may find themselves regularly referring to that glossary.
Some chapters recount the war’s “surreal” moments.” In one case, ten Marines on a roof watch flashes in the distance as rockets fall on Da Nang’s airbase, excited by “the fireworks show.” They sit in beach chairs and drink beer. Then someone yells out: “Get naked.” So they did.
Another time, after a firefight, a lieutenant had his unit call out their last names to determine if anyone had been killed. One guy didn’t answer. After a frantic search, he was found behind a boulder—calmly eating C-ration fruit cocktail.
Vietnam Bao Chi isn’t for everyone because of its repetition and level of detail. But that was the mission of military correspondents: to provide context and details that arguably escaped recognition by civilian reporters. The book’s perspective may be unique among the number of books written about the Vietnam War.
Bob Carolla
Posted on 02/19/2019
REVIEW FROM THE VHPA AVIATOR, Magazine of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
This is a book about men who, when bullets are flying stick their heads up to take pictures or make notes so they can tell the story when the rest of us want to take cover. They were there to record history, not make it even though they had to use their rifles. Vietnam Bao Chi is the story of thirty-plus Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard correspondents who were sent to Vietnam to record the war. Who knew? They didn’t work for TV networks or major publications, instead they were one of us. Many were officers, most were enlisted men. All were sent to Vietnam to accurately record what they saw – the bravery, the conditions, the humor and what we did without providing commentary. Many were wounded and some were killed. The book starts with Marine captain Dale Dye, more known for his work in the film industry than as a correspondent. Their stories will make you laugh and cry, sometimes in the same story as they did their level best to record what they saw in Vietnam. This is their story and Yablonka does a great job of telling it. Vietnam Bao Chi is a great read about men who did double duty. I highly recommend it to everyone!
Marc Liebman
Published in May/June 2019 Issue
REVIEW IN THE BURBANK LEADER NEWSPAPER
There have been many books documenting the events that occurred during the Vietnam War, but Burbank author Marc Yablonka wanted to tell stories about the war through a different lens.
Yablonka’s latest book, “Vietnam Bao Chi: Warriors of Word and Film,” is a collection of stories and interviews from military correspondents — not civilian reporters but rather the servicemen who were enlisted in U.S. military branches — during the war.
Yablonka, a journalist who has written for several military and traditional publications, said there has been a plethora of books written by traditional reporters who covered the Vietnam War.
However, he slowly learned about the dozens of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who had to report on what was happening, as well as fight in the war.
“Yes, they covered the horrors of the war — they were in the midst of it — but I think the ultimate mission was to show the good that our troops were doing and the braveness [with] which they did it,” Yablonka said. “They were right in the thick of it [at] the same time they were writing the stories or taking the photographs in the midst of it. They had many points where they had to make a decision on whether to shoot with their camera or shoot with their gun.”
One military correspondent he interviewed for his book was Marvin Wolf, a public information officer for the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade of the U.S. Army.
Yablonka said Wolf was traveling with his unit through An Khe and was left behind for a day after a battle.
Wolf sought refuge in the surrounding jungle and stayed up in the trees. During the night, Wolf heard the footsteps of Viet Cong guerrillas moving through the area.
When Wolf returned home, many people asked him what it was like in Vietnam and the battles in which he fought.
“Many of the guys who came back from Vietnam were often prodded, and what Marv told me was ‘I shot hundreds, usually at F11 [1/]250,’” Yablonka said, referring to Wolf’s camera settings.
Similar to civilian reporters, Yablonka said the military reporters had to earn the trust of their fellow servicemen. Once they did, they were open to talking about their thoughts about the war.
“These guys were humping the boonies, and they didn’t know what tomorrow would bring,” Yablonka said. “So when the combat correspondent took out their pad and pen to write a [story], I think many of these guys, not knowing what tomorrow would bring, were happy to submit to an interview.”
He added, “They felt special and hoped that their family would be able to read about them in the newspaper. The thought of being immortalized was an enticement to them.”
Yablonka is scheduled to attend a Memorial Day service at 11 a.m. on May 27 at McCambridge Park, 1515 N Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, where he will be selling and signing copies of his book. Portions of his proceeds will be donated to the Burbank Veterans Committee.
Anthony Clark Carpio
Posted and published May 14th, 2019
REVIEW IN THE EPOCH TIMES NEWSPAPER
The adage that experience is the best teacher has a profound meaning for Southern Californian Marc Phillip Yablonka, who found his passion for writing by accident.
The military journalist, author, and retired educator came across this lesson at the start of his unexpected 36-year run as an instructor of ESL (English as a second language) in adult education with the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Now retired from teaching, he reflects on his initiation to classroom teaching, something no amount of schooling had prepared him for.
A day after he observed an ESL class at Evans Community Adult School on the outskirts of Chinatown in Los Angeles, the relatively fresh college grad with no training in pedagogy was asked by the school principal if he wanted his own class.
“Uh, uh, okay,” Yablonka said. The butterflies in his stomach were understandable considering that in 1976, ESL was a field scarcely heard of, nor were there many qualified people to teach it. College programs had not yet invented disciplines like TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).
The school district, its back in a corner, needed degree-holding candidates in any discipline with at least twenty units of credit in English. Yablonka’s bachelor’s in English literature satisfied the condition. His role would be to facilitate the language needs and overall cultural acclimation of the influx of Indochinese refugees—called “boat people”—fleeing from the communist takeover after the Vietnam War, as well as immigrants from many other nations. Left to sort things out by himself, he had the keys to the classroom and had to hit the ground running.
He had at least one thing his students didn’t have but direly needed: English. Even with that, Yablonka arrived at school hours before class to prepare. Teaching was a lot like on-the-job training, a trial and error of what worked and what didn’t.
“Baptism under fire,” Yablonka recalled of the experience, which he attributes to helping him sharpen his own skills in his native language. “Suffice to say, whatever I know of the English language, which is quite a lot, I learned by teaching it.”
He came to admire students from Southeast Asia in particular for “their zest for life, sense of humor, and fortitude in the face of war,” he told The Epoch Times.
Earning a master’s degree in professional writing from the University of Southern California while teaching full time helped connected the dots to the next phase in his life.
Born into Jewish traditions in Boyle Heights, a neighborhood east of downtown Los Angeles, his writing led him to another kind of cultural awareness, firsthand, as a stringer for the National Catholic Register. This adaptability to learn new things by immersion put him on track to writing for military-themed periodicals, notably “Stars and Stripes,” “Soldier of Fortune,” and “American Veteran.”
A growing passion for writing and a knack as a raconteur culminated in his authoring several nonfiction books about the Vietnam War, those who served in Vietnam, and those most affected—the group that became his students.
“Distant Wars,” “Tears Across the Mekong,” and his most recent release “Vietnam Báo Chi: Warriors of Word and Film,” have the sound of action thrillers. Each book is a compassionate undertaking on many unique aspects of this unsettling time in history. For many old enough to remember, it was the the first war brought into American homes in primetime television, on the Evening News with Walter Cronkite, or another network. Those videos on television were largely created by civilians, however.
Báo Chi, loosely translated, means journalist. Publisher’s Weekly commends the book for “fill[ing] a void,” as it “shines light on the all-but-forgotten role of American military.” It’s a compilation of 35 true tales of soldier-photographers in Vietnam whose decisions often spelled life or death.
“[T]here were many times when a still or motion picture photographer had to make a split-second decision on whether to shoot his camera or his M-16,” said Yablonka, a current member of the California National Guard. He concedes that although he did not serve in the armed forces in Vietnam, this book, like the others, is the way for him to pay homage to those who did.
“They [soldier-photographers] were also tasked with showing the good that our troops did in Vietnam and braveness with which they did it,” he said.
Yablonka does not shy away from offering his thoughts on the American war effort in Vietnam, which runs counter to many mainstream narratives. Based on his interviews with soldiers and civilians, and many trips to post-war Vietnam, he concludes that the United States did not lose the conflict; rather, its spirit of free-market economy eventually had a strong influence. “If you go to Vietnam today, you see resorts and golf courses springing up everywhere. Saigon is a bustling city again.”
Even Hanoi, formerly in the Communist-held north region during the war, is different, he claims.
“The fact that former President Barack Obama and late chef Anthony Bourdain could schmooze late into the night over a beer in a Hanoi cafe and make the evening news doing so is not the result of communism. It’s the result of capitalist monetary infusion from us, France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Even those who still cling to an iota of communist ideology call themselves ‘Red Capitalists’ today.”
Timothy Wahl
Posted and Published August 7th 2019
BOOK REVIEW: VIETNAM BAO CHI
The Sentinel
By Marc Phillip Yablonka
Casemate Publishers (December 2018)
304 Pages
By Kenn Miller
Perhaps the least known elite members of the US military in the Vietnam War were the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guard members who served as both warriors and reporters, often putting their lives on the line in order to gather and tell the story about what their fellow military members were doing in Vietnam. Among those in this book who may be fairly well known are Dale Dye, John Del Vecchio, Jim Morris, and Marvin Wolf. They are among the elite of this elite because they were among the military journalists who had combat arms training and experience before becoming Bao Chi. But even the Bao Chi who had no such training and experience before they became military journalists were almost certain to learn and experience a lot of both the combat and the non-combat sides of the war. Through the eyes and ears, thoughts and memories of a broad and diverse assembly of former military journalists Marc Yablonka's VIETNAM BAO CHI gives us as wide and varied a picture of the American experience of the Vietnam War as any other single book of which I am aware.
The duties of military journalists in Vietnam were diverse and many. Perhaps the most important mission of the American military Bao Chi in Vietnam was to let the American people—and the military members serving in Vietnam—know what our service personnel were doing, from infantry combat, to logistics, to road building and building construction, to aircraft maintenance, to taking pediatric dentistry out to rural villages, and just about everything in between. Another important role the Bao Chi and other public personnel took very seriously was to interview and photograph soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guard members and see that these pictures and short interviews got to the service member's hometown news media.
And then there was combat. Military journalists spent much of their time living with, covering, fighting alongside, and sharing danger with combat soldiers. Some of the men in this book had combat wounds before they became military journalists, and were wounded again as military journalists. Chapter 78 member Jim Morris, for example, had already suffered some legendary wounds before the 5th Special Forces Group made him the group's Public Information Officer and, as military journalist as well as a fighting Green Beret, he received yet another gunshot wound, one so serious it almost cost him his life, and did force him to take a medical retirement.
Theirs was a very dangerous job, and those who had that job has also to have a large battery of courage. But one of the military journalists interviewed in this book raised an interesting question about the definition of a "combat soldier" when he comments about a signal corps soldier without a "combat arms" military occupational specialty high up on a telephone pole calmly stringing wire while under heavy enemy fire.
In some ways the American military Bao Chi in Vietnam were a privileged elite. They may be out on some miserable re base, or out in the bush with the infantry, or ying in a helicopter or fixed wing aircraft, or on a river boat, or learning about life and logistic work in some large warehouse, and then be filming and shooting in the midst of hellish close in urban fighting in the streets of Hue, or o at some isolated Special Forces camp—but they would rarely be in any of those places for a very long time, and when they returned to the rear area, they would have plenty of work writing and developing photos, but then they would usually have at least a short break before being sent out again. Bao Chi military journalists were at least occasionally able to interview senior officers for the "bigger picture" and get a better understanding of what's going on than the mainstream of soldiers, sailors, air men, and Marines out there doing the hard and dangerous jobs. It seems that wherever they were and whatever unit they were covering, the Bao Chi considered themselves members of those units when with them.
Among the many duties of American military journalists was the job of escorting civilian journalists and occasional other prominent visitors. Among the civilian journalists their military counterparts were fortunate enough to know were the likes of Catherine Leroy, Eddie Adams, and Nick Ut. Some of the military journalist in this book continued into civilian journalism, and some went in other directions. But they did a difficult and also dangerous job with skill and dedication worthy of our admiration. VIETNAM BAO CHI: Warriors of Word and Film tells some of the most interesting stories of the war, told by people who were able to see it with a wide and unique perspective.
(Reviewed June 2019)
REVIEW FROM SOF NEWS
Marc Phillip Yablonka, the author of Vietnam Bao Chi: Warriors of Word and Film, provides a glimpse of the Vietnam War that many are not familiar with. His book documents the stories of the U.S. military’s combat journalists and photographers that recorded the events of the Vietnam War through news reports and photographs. There are a lot of books about the civilian media that covered the war in Southeast Asia; but very few about the men and women who wore a uniform with the same job.
The book contains interviews with 35 combat correspondents and photographers who reported on the Vietnam War. The profiles are of men from all the services – Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and the Coast Guard. The stories by Yablonka cover the exploits of these military journalists and photographers from 1962 to the end of the war in 1975. The book’s title – Vietnam Bao Chi – comes from the Vietnamese word (loosely translated) for journalist – Bao chi.
A few of the people that Yablonka writes about will likely be well-known within the military community. Dale Dye is one of them. He was a Marine officer who served his first Vietnam tour in the infantry. He later moved to a new job – Marine Corps Combat Correspondent. After the war Dye would work in Hollywood advising the entertainment industry in the production of movies about the military. He was a member of the cast in the film Platoon where he played the of Captain Harris – a company commander. Dye was the technical advisor for that movie as well.
Those in the Special Forces community will recognize the name of Jim Morris. Yablonka provides a concise history of his writings both during the Vietnam conflict and after. Jim served in both the 1st and 5th Special Forces Groups and is one of the better known writers of the Green Beret experience in Vietnam. Part of his career (for a short time) in SF was serving as a Public Information Officer (PIO). While serving on Okinawa with the 1st SFG(A) Jim edited The Liberator – the monthly magazine of the 1st SFG(A). Later, while serving in Vietnam he edited The Green Beret – the magazine of the 5th SFG(A). Morris’s work has been published in periodicals such like Esquire, Saturday Evening Post, and Soldier of Fortune. Morris eventually turned to writing books – both fiction and non-fiction. One of his better known books is War Story.
One story of interest by Yablonka is of Chip Maury – a Navy seaman who learned to skydive with the 1st Special Forces Group Parachute Club on Okinawa. In time, he would accumulate over 1,800 jumps. He also did lock outs from submarines as well. His photography work took him on trips on board Swift Boats traversing the rivers and canals of Vietnam. His time with the Navy included free-fall camera work as a member of the Navy Special Warfare’s “Leap Frogs”. While serving in Vietnam he carried not only his camera – but weapons such as the M-16, 9-mm pistol, CAR-15, and a grease gun.
This book is an easy read. The numerous stories – in their own separate chapter – can be read one at a time or several at a time. So the reader can read a few of the stories, put the book down, and then pick it up again much later without losing the focus of the book. This story of military combat journalists and photographers will be of interest to those who served in the Vietnam conflict as well as historians, journalists, photographers, and others. A good read!
John Friberg
Posted August 14th, 2020