Question: How did Eddie Adams’ Saigon execution change people’s perspective on the Vietnam War?
May 2019 Session
IB 20th Century History HL
Word Count:
Table of Contents
Cover Page………………………………………………………………………………………1
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………..2
Identification and Evaluation of Sources………………………………………………………3
Investigation……………………………………………………………………………………..5
Reflection…………………………………………………………………………………………9
Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………..11
Identification and evaluation of sources:
The research question that I will be investigating is: “How did Eddie Adams’ Saigon execution change people’s perspective on the Vietnam War?” In order to understand this question, one needs to have a grasp on photojournalism and specifically war photography. Photojournalism ,according to Merriam-Webster, is the act of communicating news using photographs. One must also understand the importance of photojournalism as it was one of the only ways for people back home to interpret and form their own opinion on the actions of the government internationally. They no longer needed to rely on the messages ,which most of times were lies, in order to understand and grasp a current situation. Thus to visualize this effect, I will be analyzing the reaction of the people to this photo as well as the change in the course of the war.
“A Photo That Changed the Course of the Vietnam War.” is an important source that will be examined in my investigation that was written by Maggie Astor and published by the New York Times. Astor wrote this news article to explain the history of the war and each element of the photo. The author explains how visual text and photography helped raise awareness among the Americans on the situation of the war and posed the question on how plausible the American win was. The article includes details of the original view of the Americans and the changed view as well as specific to the individuals featured in the photo. The article uses quotes and information displayed by individuals are well versed on the topic of the Vietnam War and the photo as they are professors and experts. The source is valuable because it reflects and analyzes the event leading to the photo and the reaction to it exactly 50 years after the day the photo was shown to the world. Furthermore, it also is one of the main sources that presented the world to this photo 50 years prior on February 1st. Though this source is a considerably valuable source, it is limited as it is a second hand source which was written after the time of the Vietnam war and may not include all the reactions clearly. There is also bias as in any historian there is inevitable bias that occurs due to their past history and most of times will view history through the lens of the group that they agree with.
Another source that I used is the “THREE IMAGES: The Effects of Photojournalism on the Protest Movement during the Vietnam War” written by Brady Priest, Shayla Schneider, Marty Whited, and Brian Coates. This is a source that goes into details about this photo that became a significant iconic symbol during the war as it was in the American media for weeks. The source identifies specific reactions after the photo was released specifically protests led by students. Millions of students around the country demonstrated against a war which they felt to be unjust and inhumane. These protests led to conflicts with local police, and even the National Guard in some instances. Additionally, it goes into the details of the reaction of the people as well as the more coverage of the war in general. Due to these detailed evidences of these events, this makes the source valuable. However, there are limitations to the source as there is no recognition of the other side that believed the war was necessary and the source is second hand meaning this event was reflected on.
Investigation:
The Vietnam War (1954-1975) was a conflict between the communist government of North Vietnam and South Vietnam alongside its principal ally, the United States (Culbert). In fear of the “domino effect”, which is the idea that communism in Vietnam would lead to communism in neighboring areas, Kennedy sent US aid. When Johnson became president, with a strong support from the American public, US forces were sent into Vietnam. The Tet offensive was a distinct turning point in the war as it proved to the troops that this war was far from being over (Culbert).
Being one of the first televised wars, the media played a huge role in the war and its outcome. Media was able to speak louder than anything during this war. One of the most influential photos was the Saigon execution, which was take by Eddie Adams on Feb. 1, 1968. The photo was taken two days after the Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces launched the coordinated attacks of the Tet offensive (Astor). It showed the Americans ,visually, the outcome of the attack by the Vietcong. The photo shows the national police chief of South Vietnam, Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, calmly approaching a prisoner, Nguyen Van Lem, in the middle of a Saigon street and firing a bullet into his head (Astor). The prisoner gives the appearance of a defenseless young boy in contrast to the pitiful appearance is the authoritarian stature of the chief (Priest, Brady, et. al). This last instance of this prisoner’s life became unerasable and it was seen on the front pages of papers, TV, etc. everywhere in the world. Without this photo, the war would have taken a drastic turn and the public would not have obtained such strong opinions on the war and actions needed to be taken by the government.
This black and white photo is the epitome of the foundation that photojournalism comes from, which is the idea of becoming a witness to an important event. The photo showed something that needed to be recorded and shared despite its disturbingness. One of the main reasons why this photo caused much shock in its audience was because it conflicted with the statements given by President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top general, William C. Westmoreland, that the enemy was on its last legs (Astor). The Americans were taken aback by the numerous amounts of casualties and felt betrayed by all the lies and reassurance that they received that the war would come to an end soon (Priest, Brady, et. al). It then caused many different thoughts to come across the people. They realized all the possibilities that they were being fed lies by the administration and began to question if the war was actually winnable as it was made out to be. The photo depicted the other side of being a strong and compelling power that Americans became unsure that there would be a possibility of winning. This one photo made the American public lose its trust in their government.
Not only did it instill a fear that the war was unwinnable, but it also tested people’s moral compass since the person in the photograph who was shooting was a South Vietnamese who was an ally of the United States. They began to question if the US should even win this war in the first place. People now began to question the justifications and intentions of US involvement in fighting this war. They now were unsure if the US was the “good guy” in the war since a police chief had fired a bullet into the head of a handcuffed man. This was not only most likely a violation of the Geneva Conventions, but the act in itself appeared to inhumane. Furthermore, the official was not a Communist, but a member of South Vietnam’s government. Thus, meaning that the man with the gun was an ally of the United States. The legitimacy of the presence in the war and the extent to whether or not it was morally right to be apart of the war became a big problem with the public. It is not surprising that this photograph dominated the American media for weeks, and even months after it was taken, as it became a symbol for everything that was going wrong in the Vietnam War. The photo personified for many the idea that the South Vietnamese, the very people that Americans were sacrificing their lives for, were not the helpless victims of a communist onslaught that the government would have had them believe, rather, they were a people just as capable as the North Vietnamese of all types of brutality.
This war that is fought on the land of Vietnam, now also became a war that was being fought in America. Students around the country gathered to demonstrate against the war which they felt was inhumane. These protests ended with many conflicts with the police and the National Guard. For instance, a group of protestors at Kent State University were protesting when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on an on May 4, 1970, which killed 4 and wounded 9 (Priest, Brady, et al). From a fully supportive public that agreed and wanted the president to put troops into Vietnam, the perspective of the war took a drastic turn. This photo fueled all pessimistic views on this war and most could come to a conclusion to how they felt about this war through this photo.
Although this is how the American public reacted, the photo gave a total opposite opinion to the South Vietnamese as they saw it as a weakening of the North Vietnamese and the communists (Astor). This did not cause any questioning or debate that would be unwinnable but rather gave them the idea that the North Vietnamese lack this omnipotence. Despite all the praise and influence, this photo has, Eddie Adams, felt bad because "two people's lives were destroyed that day". He feels guilty because of the consequences of this photo because of the context that was missing. Everyone took the photo for what it was in simply what they could see. However, in actuality, the prisoner had killed the family of one of General Loan’s deputies which is why the Vietcong was shot (‘Eddie Adams..’. He responsible for killing the general with his camera as he was depicted as this brutal and inhumane individual. Thus, showing how powerful these still photographs are that not only it affected someone's life, but a whole war.
Therefore, it can be seen that Saigon Execution indeed did change the former perspective of the public that supported and agreed with war with the latter of wanting the US to take out all their troops and stop all involvement in the war. Not only did they disagree to it, but they also lost all trust that they had in their government through the exposure of the truth of the photo. However, despite the immediate and true effects of the photo on the people it also showed a flaw to media and the necessity for a context in any scenario. Furthermore, it showed that one photo can bring out two different responses and views on it based on the people and how much they knew about the war and the Tet Offensive.
Reflection:
The process of this investigation has allowed me to use a various types of researching methods and experience challenges that historians face. Through my use of secondary sources, I came to appreciate the difficulty of gaining accurate historical knowledge. Although primary sources are useful and more accurate they are from first hand experiences, in the end it is inevitable that there will be speculation and analysis through our perspective. This then brings up another question of the accuracy and the bias in the knowledge of history in general. I was able to see this within my article from the New York Times which included the bias of historians. Since the article was written with the help of different historians which will view history in their own perspective and their lenses based of of their experience which then can hinder the accuracy of the knowledge that was presented.
Due to its immense popularity, Saigon Execution has had many articles and papers written on its effects on the course of the Vietnam War. Thus, another challenge is presented as one needs to be able to pick and choose the facts wisely. When presenting anything as historian, it must be as objective as possible which was taken into account when choosing the sources that would be included in the paper. There is evidently information that is better or is more appreciated because they present the ideas that are wanted. Thus, a historian must always be cautious and ensure that their selection of information is the best and gives the most cohesive perspective on a certain issue. This is what I kept in my mind while I was writing and made sure to include information that answered my question and gave the reader a complete explanation.
When presenting an argument with the help of the chosen sources, I needed to consider another challenge that historians face which is the interpretation of the history such as what is written in my analysis. When writing, I saw that there was two sides to a story which that people during the Vietnam War failed to see and show during the time period. This proved a flaw in visual media as it is a very helpful tool in providing evidence, but there is always need to review and ensure that all perspectives are considered. This is what I attempted to present in my paper.
Reference
Astor, Maggie. “A Photo That Changed the Course of the Vietnam War.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 1 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/01/world/asia/vietnam-execution-photo.html.
Culbert, David. "Television's Visual Impact on Decision-Making in the USA, 1968: The
Tet Offensive and Chicago's Democratic
“Eddie Adams' Iconic Vietnam War Photo: What Happened Next.” BBC News, BBC, 29
Jan. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42864421.
“Execution Photo Framed Americans' View of the Vietnam War.” CBS News, CBS
Interactive, 29 Jan. 2018, www.cbsnews.com/news/tet-offensive-vietnam-war-execution-photo-framed-americans-view-eddie-adams/.
Grundberg, Andy. “Eddie Adams, Journalist Who Showed Violence of Vietnam, Dies at
71.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Sept. 2004, www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/arts/eddie-adams-journalist-who-showed-violence-of-vietnam-dies-at-71.html.
Priest, Brady, et al. “THREE IMAGES.” Chem 211 – Techniques,
academics.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/Vietnam/ThreeImages/brady2.html.
"UT gets archive of photo legend." Austin American-Statesman [TX], 19 Sep. 2009, p.
A01. U.S. History in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A208085536/UHIC?u=newb23175&sid=UHIC&xid=1022afd5.