Government. Host joining us now on cspan is Peter Prichard, the former editor in chief of the usa today newspaper and he is a former president of them museum and author of this book, killing grace a vietnam war mystery. What made you write a novel about the vietnam war . Guest i had always dreamed of writing a novel but then life intervened and and i becamea newspaper editor and an executive. E. But when covid it i finally thought i had the time to try to write a novel and i wanted to write something that wasnt really a a combat novel, that ws more in the vein of quiet american or the ugly american, both books had a great influence. Host without getting way any spoilers come whats the books s synopsis . Guest two mps in saigon in 1967 at the height of the war are called to investigate the murder of an american tourist named grace waverley whose body is found in the saigon river. And it appears to be a drowning, and she is an antiwar activist who said she came to vietnam ass a piece of
Place. Mark bowden will join the discussion. He is the author of hue 1968. We are live. Welcome. Im peter prichard, chair of the museum, and we are here tonight oakmark the opening to mark our opening of our latest exhibit. This is almost the 50th anniversary of the tet offensive, which, if you are a millennial, i will explain it to you, was a coordinated offensive by viet cong and north vietnamese troops on more than 100 towns, cities and american and south vietnamese military facilities. It began on the night of january 30th, 1968. And i remember it well, because i was an intelligence clerk with mac fee at the time. Our exhibit showcases the work of john olson, who, like me, was a young army draftee. John was a photographer for Stars Stripes, the militarys daily newspaper. And he spent three days in february with the marines as they took back the city of hue, in what turned out to be the bloodiest battle of the vietnam war. This innovative exhibit features 20 large format photographs
Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the newseums theater. I am peter prichard, chair of the newseum and we are here to mark the opening of our latest inibit, the marines and tet, the battle that changed the vietnam war. This is almost the 50th anniversary of the tet offensive, which, if youre a millennial, i will explain it. It was a coordinated offensive by viet cong and north vietnamese troops on more than 100 towns, cities, and american and south vietnamese military facilities. It began on the night of january 30, 1968. I remember it well because i was an intelligence clerk at the time. Our new exhibit showcases the work of john olson, who, like me, was a young draftee. He was a photographer for Stars Stripes, a daily newspaper. He spent three days in february with the marines as they took back the city of hue, in what turned out to be the bloodiest battle of the vietnam war. This exhibit features 20 large format photographs and 10 tactile versions of these photos, with touch activat
And three marines who fought in hue. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the newseums theater. I am peter prichard, chair of the newseum and we are here to mark the opening of our latest theater. Exhibit, the marines in tet, the battle that changed the vietnam war. This is almost the 50th anniversary of the tet to mark the marines in tet, the battle that changed the vietnam war. This is almost the 50th anniversary of the tet offensive, which, if youre a millennial, ill explain it to you, was a coordinated offensive by vietcong and north vietnamese troops on more than 100 towns, cities and american and south vietnamese military facilities. It began on the night of january 30th, 1968. And i remember it well, because i was an intelligence clerk with mac fee at the time. Our exhibit showcases the work of john olson who, like me, was a young army draftee. He was a photographer for Stars Stripes, the militarys daily newspaper. And he spent three days in february with the marines as they took
My choice was to get as close to the action in vietnam as i possibly could. I was writing features about kids from fort worth. It is the single most rewarding thing i ever did in all my years in journalism because this would brighten up their day that someone from their hometown would look them up. My best pictures were not on the periphery of the fighting but were woven through it. The kind of pictures i took showed people waiting for something to happen. I basically tried to block out the emotional side of it in the early years, because i really believe that the journalism of detachment was what war coverage was all about. I was very jingoistic when i got there in the beginning. When i got back, i was convinced the war, whatever our good intentions, simply could not be won. Part of the reason i have always done it is a sense of wanting to be where the action is. In the bigger theater, we cast a light in dark corners around the world that you would not see without photographers. So, t