Review of "Combat Photographer: The Vietnam Experience," by Nick Mills

  Review of

Combat Photographer: The Vietnam Experience, by Nick Mills ISBN 0939526085

Five out of five stars

A photographic record of the American war in Vietnam

 Photos of combat scenes were done for the first time in the Crimean War in 1853 to 1856. The images were primitive, for the exposure times were quite long. Technical progress was made, but it was not until the Spanish-American war of 1898 and the Boer War of 1899-1902 that action photos of war were made.

 Additional changes were due to modifications in the attitudes of those in charge of making war, both civilian and military leaders. As wars got larger and now had to be justified to the populations, the leaders were more willing to allow people with cameras into the actual war action. For this reason, the American involvement in Vietnam was called the “first television war. “

 This book contains a collection of images from the war in Vietnam, from happy times to combat to images of the dead lying in the dirt. There is text explaining the context of the shot, which is very helpful. What is missing is of course the reality of what was happening inside the people of Vietnam. Despite all the talk of “winning the hearts and minds” of the Vietnamese people, that never took place to the extent needed for an American victory.

 People in front and behind the cameras died in order to make these images. Yet, despite the power of the pictures to denote the action in Vietnam, they do not include the reality that would forever prevent the United States and the South Vietnamese from winning the war.