True? More journalist died in vietnam war than in WW2 or any war?

Question

The history channel told me that the enemy didn't know what a camra is, so they shot the camraman instead of the American soldiers. True?

MY SECOND QUESTION
The history channel also told me that the enemey used large speakers to tell black people not to fight side by side with whites, because of the issues of discrimination going on in the U.S. True?

Answer 1

Using speakers on a battle field is impractical because you give away your position, secondly I dont think the Charlie cared about what was going on in the U.S. I could see it as a isolated incident, but nothing really ever repeated.

Also, journalists arent soldiers, so of course they got shot.

Answer 2

I don't believe there is any documentation that says how many correspondants were killed in either war. One dying is enough. Second with the LOUD SPEAKER: True, but to no avail. Since World War II, loud speakers were used in the Pacific Theater as well as the European Theater. During that war, radio propaganda was used also, hence Tokyo Rose for one. There was a "famous" German woman, but I can't think of her name right now. During Viet Nam, not so much the loud speaker, but the radio was used extensively to spread the news about how badly the Black population had it, and they were being exploited, and nobody cared for them, etc.
I could put a few personal notes into all this, but I will say, after 21 years in the Army and being retired for 15 years (you do the math) what I have been through tells me that the propaganda doesn't carry any weight with Americans. Black, Hispanic, Oriental, American Indian, etc. In combat, we all know that we are brothers in arms, and screw anybody that thinks a loud speaker or radio waves is gonna change our loyalty to each other.
As far as I can tell, through reunions, all the ethnic groups that I had the priveledge to serve with and survive have all said, in one way or another to each other, "Man, if you hadn't said this, or been there when 'this happened', or I am really glad you were there.
Nothing like the military, police or fireman, even the EMT to let you know the true meaning of comradierie.
Sorry this is so windy, but this is a great passion of mine. I have worked 4 or 5 different jobs since I retired, and nothing compares to what I experienced in the Military.

Answer 3

well the NVA did use Cameras but there is a possibility that some of them didnt know what exactally a camera was so its possibly true they thought of a journalist as a soldier since they were on the side of where the americans were. and Armys have been using psychological warfare for years. The Germans would drive halftracks near the russian lines telling the russians to surrender and they would get good food and a warm bed if they surrendered to the "friendly german allies" and in Korea we dropped flyers over the enemys territory to try and make them think we were surrounding them or that we will give them a better life if they choose to come over to our side. if that answeres both of your questions

Answer 4

For nearly all of the Vietnam War Newspaper Journalists & Photogrephers and Film crew suffered very little in the way of casualties, but towards the end of the conflict it seems their luck ran out and quite a few were killed, most notable "Sean Flynn" the son of the famous film actor Errol Flynn.
Try a search using the name "Tim Page" as well a British photographer during the Vietnam War.

All corrospondents in the Vietnam conflict carried badges to identify themselves as PRESS, even the ones who were asigned to the US Military carried cloth tags with the words "Correspondent" & "Reporter" in English and Vietnamese.

And yes, Vietnames propaganda units used to broadcast messages to coloured troops trying to create disruption and ethnic tensions.

Answer 5

Take that History Channel with a grain of salt. It's as susceptible to wrong opinions as anywhere else. (Here, for instance? )

My experiences with journalists was limited. As a group, they tended NOT to get out of the hotel bars in Saigon, but rather depended on second and third-hand information from the service staff.

Flynn's kid was one of the exceptions, apparently, and his luck ran out.

We did get one pair of journalists, one with a still camera, one with a movie camera, and both with tape recorders. They got as far as Brigade Hq, and didn't seem to appreciate how good they had it there. They wanted to go back to Da Nang....

OTOH, a good bit later, we got a writer and journalist duo from Paris Match, down in III Corps. He had been a French paratrooper during the French time, His wife was Vietnamese, but spoke flawless English -- educated at the Sorbonne, I think. Those two WANTED to go out with a line company, and, a couple of days later, got their wish.

As luck would have it, the company hit the Sh__. In the middle of the firefight, those two picked up weapons from the wounded, and joined the squad they happened to be with. By all reports, damned good fighters, too!

At the end of the day, the company CO was on the horn -- they wanted those two to stay overnight with the company. Brigade wouldn't hear of it, though. We had to drop a Huey in there, and pull them out. But, not before they became honorary members of the 1/5 Cavalry, with a standing invite to come back any time.

I have no idea of what they wrote for Paris Match, nor of their personal opinions. By all reports, they fought, and fought well, with no hesitation.

That the grunts wanted to keep them speaks volumes. Compare that to any pair of American reporters?

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I didn't hear any North Vietnamese loudspeakers while I was in Vietnam, but then, I was with the 1st Cavalry in 1968 and 1969. By then, the NVA knew not to attack the Cav directly.

On the other hand, we (the U.S.) toyed with propaganda broadcasts over loudspeakers, and from the air. What we found out is that even a powerful amplifier and multiple speakers in a UH-1 (Huey) could not be coherently heard from the ground. The Huey drivers wouldn't fly below 1,500 feet with that rig -- 1,500 feet was tracer burn-out for the AK-47 rounds. Conversely, Anything long under 1,500 feet would get them shot full of holes.

So, they loaded up my OH-6 LOH with a smaller amplifier, two speakers, and an ARVN interpreter to do live voice appeals. the idea was that as a Scout, I would fly at tree-top level, and the sound would be "better".

Nice idea, sort of. It did mean I had to give up my gunner, and leave the mini-gun unloaded (too much weight). I was suppose to survive by maneuvering among the tree-tops. Quickly, of Course!

To test this mess, we flew over a grunt (infantry) company, and had their Kit Carson Scout (a Vietnamese national) listen for us.

As I said, nice idea. Only, the Viet I had with me got airsick, and threw up all over the back of the aircraft. A Hard dude, though -- he kept fighting the airsickness, and attempting to pass his " Chieu Hoi" message.

The reports I got from the grunts were that all that could be heard was the interpreter barfing all over the microphone, and the ocaissional "Chieu Hoi" -- maybe.

So, it was a bust. When I landed, the first thing the interpreter did was fall out of the aircraft, and alternate between kissing the ground, and barfing some more. (Nouc Mam and rice smell bad enough. Partially digested Nouc Mam is worse, let me tell you! I have to tip my hat to the guy -- when he finally recovered enough to stand, he volunteered to clean up his own mess -- much to the relief of my ground crew.

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Both sides did drop leaflets -- we, by air, they, by leaving them on the trails. In both cases, the leaflets could be found off the side of the trail. Both sides were using them for toilet paper! (Infantrymen of any country are practical souls.)

The propaganda on their leaflets would have insulted a ten-year-old. I suspect they had similar opinions about ours.

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AM radio reception of Radio Hanoi was fairly good in the northern I Corps; I suspect they had a re-broadcasting antenna just north of the DMZ. The evening program consisted of rock music DJ'd by a " Hanoi Hannah", interspersed with some lousy attempts at propaganda, and the odd mention of a unit name or two. Mostly they were a week late on unit movements. Every now and then, they would name individuals, but that was rare.

Since AFVN's AM radio reception was spotty that far north, troops tended to dial up Radio Hanoi in the evenings, mostly for the rock music.

Myself and my Scout buddy got our fifteen minutes of fame. "Wild Thing" and "Gaucho" got mentioned, and notified that there was a price on our respective heads. What did that tell us? Somebody had been listening in on our aircraft frequency, most likely. Those were our call-signs.

wsulliva