Four Photojournalists Killed During Vietnam War Come Home For Burial

from NPPA News & Events

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 31, 2008)—Remains from the crash site where four photojournalists were killed when their helicopter went down in Laos during the Vietnam war will be buried on Thursday April 3, 2008, during a ceremony at the Newseum in Washington.

On February 10, 1971, photographers Henri Huet, 43, of the Associated Press, Larry Burrows, 44, of LIFE magazine, Kent Potter, 23, of United Press International, and Keisaburo Shimamoto, 34, of Newsweek were killed their South Vietnamese helicopter lost its way over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and was shot down by a North Vietnamese 37-mm anti-aircraft gun. Three of Saigon's soldiers and the four-man flight crew also perished in the midair explosion.

The four photojournalists were in Laos to cover Operation Lam Son 719, AP's Richard Pyle says. It was a massive armored assault by Saigon's forces to interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Hanoi's supply conduit to the south.

Retired AP photographer and picture editor Horst Faas and Pyle, AP's former Saigon bureau chief, the co-authors of Lost Over Laos: A True Story of Tragedy, Mystery and Friendship, will be among Thursday's speakers. Their book tells the story of the crash and the subsequent discovery years later of the crash site, and the efforts journalists made to find and recover the remains of their four comrades 27 years after that fateful day...

READ ON at NPPA.org

Burrows's Leica. The serial number found on the top of a battered Leica found at the crash site in Laos indicates the camera belonged to Larry Burrows of LIFE magazine. AP Photo by Ronen Zilberman.

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Mike  (Thanks to Jason Orth. Note that because I quoted more of this article than I usually do prior to the link, I secured permission from the NPPA.)

Comments

[Robert Clark]

That is an extremely poignant photograph of the Leica. One can only imagine the forces involved to crush it like that and it hardly bears thinking about what happened to its wearer.

[Bill Mitchell]

I didn't realize that Huet and Burroughs were killed at the same time.
What a f*****g waste the whole f*****g war was! And apparently we learned NOTHING from it!

[Chris Y.]

Film. Tiny cans, slung from hand to hand, chopper pilot, 707 captain, long-haired kid on a Triumph Bonneville, lab tech in LA, the eyes of the world. 8171 miles. Your skill, your faith, the miracle. Rest in Peace.

[Ed Richards]

> And apparently we learned NOTHING from it!

Sure we did - keep the press under better control so they will not confuse the public with facts.

[Mark Sampson]

what a sad, evocative picture. That chunk of camera wreckage should be on display next to the Capa negative suitcases, surrounded by the photographs all five of those brave men made.

[photogdave]

It's sad that such a tragic story and an important moment in the history of photography, and the world, receives so few comments compared to articles about rumours of possible upcoming camera models.

[Mike Johnston]

photogdave,
Perhaps, but perhaps it's enough to read an item like this; maybe it just doesn't necessarily invite or require a comment. (At least, my hope is that the number of comments is not directly related to how interesting people think the posts are. I think some relatively trivial posts draw lots of response, and some relatively more important ones are received in relative silence.)

FWIW, on April 1 and 2 our traffic was unusually heavy, slightly below and slightly above 24,000 page views on each day, respectively. So at the very least, a lot of people saw this. I don't think they were *all* coming for the spoof post about the Canon....

Mike J.

[photogdave]

I did consider that Mike. Maybe I'm using this one example to vent a frustration I see on a larger scale, here and other places.
I guess it's easier to talk about pixels and vignetting that important issues. Anyway, it's more fun!

[Mark Sampson]

Mike, photogdave, the fact that this site is interested in photography and the part it plays in the world is the reason I look at it, and occasionally participate. If it was only a camera-geek, magic-bullet gear-of-the-month site, I'd have looked at it once and probably never come back. mike, keep up the good work.

[Steve Rosenbach]

Zilberman's photo of Burrows' camera - wow! that really impacted me. It says it all.

Burrows was such an incredible photographer. His photo, "Near Dong Ha, South Vietnam, 1966" (A wounded marine reaches out to a comrade stricken during fighting) shows amazing humanity and tenderness literally in the middle of hell.

The wounded black sergent, oblivious to his own condition and with concern written all over his face, reaches out to a white, apparently more gravely wounded marine, lying spread-eagled in the mud. The sergent also seems to be oblivious of the two marines helping him walk, pulling him away, apparently to be tended to or evacuated.

Those of us who have never been in combat can never understand what it's like, especially the bond between those who must fight. But Burrows in this one exposure gives us a glimpse that's as close as one could get without being there.

[John OLeary]

I was fortunate to have met Larry in the late 60's. The photo of the Leica stunned me. It not only represents the loss of his life; it adds a bitter coda - Larry was known for the very meticulous care that he took of his equipment.

[tigelille]

After spending several hours studying the extraordinary on-line photographs of Larry Burrows, I am stunned to learn that he died 37 years ago. Rest in peace, all you brave men.