Charles Eggleston
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Charles Richard Eggleston (November 1945 – May 6, 1968) was a photographer with
United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
who was killed in combat in
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
where he was covering the ongoing war.


Early life

A graduate of Indian River Central High School in
Philadelphia, New York Philadelphia is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census, down from 2,140 in 2000. The town contains a village also called Philadelphia. Both are in the northeastern part of Jefferson Co ...
, Eggleston moved to Gouverneur after he graduated from Auburn Community College, and enlisted in the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
where he became a journalist.


Career

He was twice awarded as a Navy journalist. In 1966, he asked to be discharged, and became a UPI photographer in the country instead. Sometime before April 1968, he was wounded during a mortar attack against
Camp Eagle Camp Eagle was a US military base in Bosnia and Herzegovina, near Tuzla Tuzla (, ) is the third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has ...
where he was stationed with the
101st Airborne The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
.


Tet Offensive

In May 1968, a
jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...
carrying five journalists accidentally came across Viet Cong massing outside
Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
during the
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
. Despite the journalists' attempts to dissuade the startled Viet Cong soldiers, four out of the five were shot and killed. Twenty-three-year-old Eggleston swore vengeance, and announced his intention to kill as many Viet Cong as possible. It remains disputed whether he was participating in the May 6th firefight on the Western outskirts of Saigon, or simply photographing it, when he was killed by a bullet to the skull. Most sources agree that he was at least carrying a rifle, if not actually using it. He was the 17th journalist killed in the war. His will had indicated that his possessions were to be given to war orphans. On May 17, ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' reported his death, stating that he had been photographing South Vietnamese paratroopers in a house-to-house search, at the time of the firefight. Other sources indicate that reporter Roger Norum was tape recording a conversation with him during the streetfight, and saw Eggleston shot by a sniper while lighting a cigarette.Requiem: The death of Charlie Eggleston
, Digital Journalist.


Awards

While serving in Vietnam, he was awarded two
bronze star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...
s, two Navy commendation medals and South Vietnam's Honor Medal.


See also

*
List of journalists killed and missing in the Vietnam War This article is a partial list of journalists killed and missing during the Vietnam War. The press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders tallied 63 journalists who died over a 20-year period ending in 1975 while covering the Vietnam War ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eggleston, Charles 1945 births 1968 deaths American male journalists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American photographers 20th-century American non-fiction writers War photographers killed while covering the Vietnam War 20th-century American male writers