President Harry S. Truman was his mentor, imparting stories from his private library to this 19-year old eager reporter for the United Press. The young journalist came from a military family and had a strong passion for patriotism. He volunteered to go into combat. He insisted on covering the battlefield action in the middle of the Vietnam War. He would learn no military tactics, take no jungle training and was armed with a simple notebook and Nikon camera, until they put a machine gun in the military correspondentâs hands.
For seven months during the war his job was to continually pursuit the big battles, to capture war stories in person. With a slippery enemy and no front lines that was a harder feat than it would seem. But this âSoldierâs Reporterâ changed his life and his heart in that war, earning the fourth highest decoration for heroism in combat, a Bronze Star Medal with a âVâ for Valor. He was the only civilian that the U.S. Army distinguished with this military award.