Henri Huet
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Henri Huet (4 April 1927 – 10 February 1971) was a French
war photographer ''War Photographer'' is a documentary by Christian Frei about the photographer James Nachtwey. As well as telling the story of an iconic man in the field of war photography, the film addresses the broader scope of ideas common to all those in ...
, noted for his work covering the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
for the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
(AP).


Early life

Henri Huet was born in
Da Lat Da Lat (also written as Dalat, vi, Đà Lạt; ), is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province and the largest city of the Central Highlands region in Vietnam. The city is located above sea level on the Langbian Plateau. Da Lat is one of the mo ...
,
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
, the son of a
Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...
engineer and
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
mother. At age five he was sent to
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, where he was educated at
Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
in
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
and studied at the art school in
Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
, beginning his adult career as a painter. Huet later joined the
French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
and received training in photography, returning to French Indochina in 1949 as a combat photographer in the
First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...
. After discharge from the navy at the end of the war ended in 1954, Huet remained in
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
as a civilian photographer working for the French and U.S. governments. While employed by the United States Operation Mission (USOM) photo lab (1955–1960), he enjoyed the mentorship of lab director, Charles E. (Gene) Thomas, who himself had been a combat photographer in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Several of Huet's photos reflect the influence of Thomas's work. He went on to work for
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 ...
(UPI), later transferring to the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
(AP) in 1965, covering the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.


Photographic career

Huet's photographs of the war were influential in moulding American public opinion. One of his most memorable series of photographs featured Pfc Thomas Cole, a young medic of the 1st Cavalry Division, tending fellow soldiers despite his own wounds. The series of twelve photographs was published in the 11 February 1966 edition of ''Life'' magazine, with one of the haunting images featuring on the cover. In 1967 the
Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...
awarded Huet the
Robert Capa Robert Capa (born Endre Ernő Friedmann; October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954) was a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist as well as the companion and professional partner of photographer Gerda Taro. He is considered by some t ...
Gold Medal for the "best published photographic reporting from abroad, requiring exceptional courage and enterprise".


Death

On February 10, 1971, during South Vietnam's invasion of southern
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
, known as
Operation Lam Son 719 Operation Lam Son 719 or 9th Route – Southern Laos Campaign ( vi, Chiến dịch Lam Sơn 719 or Chiến dịch đường 9 – Nam Lào) was a limited-objective offensive campaign conducted in the southeastern portion of the Kingdom of Laos ...
, Huet and three other photojournalists joined the operation commander, Lt Gen
Hoàng Xuân Lãm Hoàng Xuân Lãm (10 October 1928, Huế–2 May 2017, Davis, California) was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). In late 1965, while Lãm was serving as commander of the 2nd Division, COMUSMACV General William Westmoreland ...
, on a helicopter inspection tour of the battlefront. The pilots of the
Republic of Vietnam Air Force The South Vietnam Air Force, officially the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF; vi, Không lực Việt Nam Cộng hòa, KLVNCH; french: Force aérienne vietnamienne, FAVN) (sometimes referred to as the Vietnam Air Force or VNAF) was the aer ...
(RVNAF)
UH-1 Huey The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helico ...
carrying the photojournalists lost their way and flew into the most heavily defended area of the Ho Chi Minh trail, where it and a second chopper were shot down by hidden
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
ese 37mm anti-aircraft guns, killing all eleven on the photographers' aircraft and four on the other. Huet was 43. Huet's fellow photographers were
Larry Burrows Henry Frank Leslie Burrows (29 May 1926 – 10 February 1971), known as Larry Burrows, was an English photojournalist. He spent 9 years covering the Vietnam War. Early career Burrows began his career in the art department of the Daily Express ...
of ''Life'' magazine, Kent Potter of UPI, and Keizaburo Shimamoto of ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
''. The crash site was rediscovered in 1996 and, two years later, a second search team from the Joint Task Force Full Accounting (JTFFA), the Pentagon unit responsible for recovering
MIA Mia, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA., a German rock/pop band formed in 1997 * Mia (singer) (born 1983) ...
remains in Indochina and elsewhere, excavated the mountainside. They discovered aircraft parts, camera pieces, 35mm film, along with traces of human remains, which proved too scant for laboratory identification. In late 2002, the search unit, renamed the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), declared the case closed on grounds of circumstantial group identification. After bureaucratic complications blocked efforts to bury the group remains on official ground, the
Newseum The Newseum was an American museum dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication. The purpose of the museum, funded by the ...
in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
agreed to accept them and arranged in 2006 for their acquisition from JPAC. The ceremony on April 3, 2008, which preceded the Newseum's own official opening by a week, was attended by more than 100 guests including relatives of Huet, Burrows and Potter, and many former Vietnam War colleagues. Speakers included Richard Pyle, Saigon bureau chief of the AP at the time of the crash, and
Horst Faas Horst Faas (28 April 1933 – 10 May 2012) was a German photo-journalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. He is best known for his images of the Vietnam War. Life Horst Faas as born on 28 April 1933 in Berlin, which was then part of Naz ...
, former AP Saigon photo chief. Pyle and Faas were co-authors of ''Lost Over Laos: A True Story of Tragedy, Mystery, and Friendship'', published by Da Capo Press in 2003 and re-released in paperback in 2004, which recounts the personal stories of the four photographers, the events leading to their deaths, and how Pyle helped the JTFFA locate the crash site. Speakers in addition to Pyle and Faas included Newseum president Peter Prichard and AP president
Tom Curley Thomas Curley (born July 6, 1948) is an American businessman and journalist who served as President of the Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from La Salle Universi ...
, and Burrows' son Russell spoke for the families. A second book about Huet, titled ''Henri Huet: J'etais photographe de guerre au Vietnam'', was published in Paris in 2006, authored by Helene Gedouin, a senior editor at Hachette Livre publishers of
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, and Faas, with contributions from Pyle and other former Vietnam colleagues. The story of the shootdown also was told in ''Requiem, by the Photographers who died in Vietnam and Indochina'', edited by Faas and Tim Page, and published by Random House, New York, in 1997. Among his colleagues covering the war, Huet was respected for his dedication, bravery and skill in the field, and known for his sense of humor and kindness.
Dirck Halstead Dirck Storm Halstead (December 24, 1936March 25, 2022) was an American photojournalist. He was editor and publisher of ''The Digital Journalist,'' an online photojournalism magazine. Early life Halstead was born in Huntington, New York, on De ...
, the Photo Chief of United Press International in 1965, remarked that he "always had a smile on his face".


Work

Image:Henri Huet, LIFE cover, 110266.jpg, Huet's photograph of Thomas Cole featured on the cover of
LIFE Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
magazine Image:Huet, Chapelle.jpg, Huet's poignant photograph of colleague
Dickey Chapelle Georgette Louise Meyer (March 14, 1918 – November 4, 1965) known as Dickey Chapelle was an American photojournalist known for her work as a war correspondent from World War II through the Vietnam War. Early life Chapelle was born in Milwa ...
receiving
last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. They may be administered to those awaiting execution, mortall ...
after being fatally wounded by a booby trap in Vietnam.


See also

* List of journalists killed and missing in the Vietnam War


Notes


References

* * *


External links


Digital Journalist, photographs by Henri Huet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huet, Henri 1927 births 1971 deaths War photographers killed while covering the Vietnam War French people of Vietnamese descent French photojournalists French Navy personnel