Icons and their makers
The lasting influence of the Vietnam War cannot be overstated. It remains a touchstone not only for those who fought it and lived through it, but for the generations that have followed. The American experience in Vietnam has profoundly affected four decades of military and political policy. The lessons learned or not learned, the memories that haunt and inspire our current thinking and world. Out of such a monumental time emerge a select number of iconic images and impressions that become burned into our consiousness. Perhaps no single vision, as that of a Huey roaring above the jungle, no sound like the rotor blades of a chopper ripping the air, is more evocative of the war in Vietnam. To those who were on the ground, it remains visceral. It was a helicopter war. But as author David Crosby reveals in our cover story, even though the machines were menacing, they were also extremely vulnerable. It was the men who flew them, taking incredible risks, that created the true legacy, a legacy that lives today in the way wars are fought. A cunning but low-tech enemy, facing a vastly superior technology, devised effective and deadly tactics that had to be countered with equal cunning. As Crosby shows us, it was the innovative genius of the intrepid pilots— who took a step beyond courageous—that always found an answer in the ever evolving game of cat and mouse. Another enduring icon of the war was created one chaotic 1968 spring day on a Saigon street. When Eddie Adams snapped his photo of a summary execution of a Viet Cong guerrilla during Tet, he didn’t imagine that the single image would help shape the history of the war. Adams was neither soldier nor advocate, but rather a chronicler of the events that transpired around him. In his images, he exposes myriad realities about this war, and any war. In this issue we present a special portfolio of several of Adams’ extraordinary pictures. Nine of the finest journalists who covered Vietnam have each selected their favorite Adams image, and they eloquently reveal to us how and why it moves them. Another iconic figure, stretching across generations but mostly associated with an earlier era, Jimmy Stewart, had a little-known cameo appearance in Vietnam. As a brigadier general in the Air Force Reserves, Stewart’s last combat mission was in a B-52 over Vietnam, and now a story long kicking around in the realm of urban legend, is told here for the first time—Hollywood ending and all.
Originally published in the August 2009 issue of Vietnam Magazine. To subscribe, click here.
