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Revision as of 15:45, 20 February 2018 by Onward&Upward (talk | contribs) (Minor additions and corrections.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| John (Jack) Laurence | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1939 Bridgeport, Connecticut |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, war correspondent |
| Notable work | The World of Charlie Company (1970) The Cat from Huế (2001) |
John (Jack) Laurence (born in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an American journalist who covered many of the most important news events of the second half of the 20th Century.
Biography
Laurence attended Fairfield College Preparatory School and then Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania. While at Penn, he worked at the campus radio station, WXPN which led to his career in broadcast journalism. He worked at WWDC in Washington, D.C. for a year, and at WNEW-AM/FM in New York from 1962-64. He joined CBS News as a radio correspondent in January, 1965. He covered the U.S. intervention in the Dominican Civil War in April-May 1965.
Vietnam War
Laurence was sent to South Vietnam in August 1965 as a radio correspondent. However, as a spare camera crew was available, he transitioned into television reporting, beginning with an exclusive report on the arrival of the 1st Cavalry Division's advance party in South Vietnam. He covered Operation Piranha, the Battle of An Ninh, the Siege of Plei Me, the aftermath of the Battle of Ia Drang and Operation Masher.
Laurence was initially supportive of U.S. policy in Vietnam and gave favorable if neutral coverage in what was referred to by the U.S. Army public information officers as "being with the program". However, as he witnessed more and more of the war--seeing the deaths of Vietnamese civilians, the mistaken bombing of a village in neutral Cambodia, coming under fire from friendly forces, and seeing the corruption endemic in South Vietnam--he became more critical of the U.S. presence and what might actually be achieved there.
Through his friendship with UPI photojournalist Steve Northup, Laurence became a frequent visitor at 47 Bui Thi Xuan, Saigon, the home of Northup and fellow correspondents Joe Galloway, Tom Corpora, Tim Page, Martin Stuart-Fox, David Stuart-Fox, Simon Dring, Sam castan, and Sean Flynn. It was known as "Frankie's House" after the resident Vietnamese houseboy. Frankie's House became a social club for a small group of young correspondents between field assignments.
On 10 March 1966 following the Battle of A Sau, Laurence interviewed Marine Lt. Col. Charles House, commander of HMM-163, the unit which had evacuated the survivors of the battle and who had himself been shot down and rescued from the battlefield. House stated that panicking CIDG troops had overrun the evacuation helicopters and the crews and Special Forces troops had had to fire on them to establish order. The story caused criticism when broadcast and led to an investigation by Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) and III MAF.
Laurence left Vietnam in late May, 1966, returning to the U.S. and working out of CBS' bureaus in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Having seen so much violence and bloodshed, he suffered from Posttraumatic stress disorder. He decided to get help by undergoing psychoanalysis five days a week, but had to leave his hectic job at CBS News to do so. He went back to work at WNEW Radio News as an investigative reporter. After a year of analysis, his symptoms had abated enough for him to return to CBS.
Laurence went back to Vietnam in mid 1967. He covered the siege of Con Thien, the Battle of Khe Sanh and the Battle of Huế before leaving Vietnam again in May 1968.
In March, 1970, Laurence returned to Vietnam to produce and report a documentary that would later become The World of Charlie Company. Along with his cameraman, Keith Kay, and sound technician James Clevenger, they spent four months recording the daily lives and experiences of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, in Tây Ninh Province in War Zone C near the Cambodian border. Laurence and his team joined Charlie Company as they conducted a helicopter assault into Memot District at the start of the Cambodian Campaign in April 1970.
1970s
In 1970 Laurence moved to London to take over as bureau chief from Morley Safer. He and Keith Kay covered the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 from East Pakistan.
In 1977 Laurence quit CBS and began working on his autobiography and in 1978 joined ABC News.
In July 1982 Laurence returned to Vietnam for the first time since 1970.
References
- ^ Laurence, John (2001). The Cat from Hue. Public Affairs. p. 425. ISBN 1586481606.
- Shulimson, Jack (1982). U.S. Marines in Vietnam: 1966, an Expanding War. History and Museums Division, USMC. p. 62-3.