The gruesome realities of warfare took the nation by surprise and from this (in large part) gave rise to the activism that Vietnam has become associated with.  This activism often turned into hatred as returning soldiers frequently found themselves the targets of protest and assault.  For the first time in American history, many viewed our soldiers as villains and murderers.

As the years passed and the truth about Vietnam and the Vietnam Soldier’s experience surfaced, America took another turn on the American Soldier’s wartime experience. Since the mid-70’s, first hand accounts, biographies, and mainstream Hollywood movies cast a shadow of sympathy upon–not just the Vietnam Vet–but any soldier serving in war.  No longer were our soldiers merely heroic gun slingers, nor were they nothing but blood thirsty murderers. Instead, most came to see them as they were; mostly young kids looking for a chance to prove something to themselves, fulfill a dream, or take an opportunity to get out of a situation at home.  These kids were often put into situations which most could never fathom and asked to do things most could never do.

And this is, many would argue, largely due to the unprecedented news coverage that the Vietnam War received.  The news coverage of the Vietnam war was often imbalanced in its delivery but ultimately allowed for a certain level of truth that the American People never had access to.

On one hand, with the current level of technology, the world is ever shrinking and war coverage has become viewed as a right.  On the other hand, over the past few decades, the American Solider has been given a face and a humanity that simply did not exist before.  We view them as heroic individuals still, but we also see them as our Sons and Daughters, Mothers and Fathers, Husbands and Wives. Because of this, there is a certain demand for the truth and yet a certain respect for privacy that we have bestowed upon our soldiers.

Within the last year, debate on this topic has been centered around whether or not photographs of the coffins of dead American Soldiers returning home should be allowed to be photographed. On one side, an argument is made for the privacy of the soldiers and their families. On the other is an argument for the truth of American policy to be viewed by the American People.

Recently, the AP news agency was forced to make this decision after one of its photographers photographed the death of an American Soldier, twenty-one year old Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard of New Portland, Maine.  AP photographer Julie Jacobson was embedded with a squad of marines on patrol and found herself in the middle of an ambush, which lead to the death of Lance Cpl. Bernard.  Jacobson had photographed Bernard prior to the ambush, during the ambush, and took photographs of a memorial his fellow Marines held for him after his death.

Jacobson, who kept a journal wrote about her experience, was clearly touched by what she had witnessed, describing how Bernard’s fellow marines tried to talk him through the experience.

AP decided to release the photographs, despite Bernard’s father stating that he felt the photographs were a disrespect to his son’s memory.

Read the AP story and decide for yourself. Share your comments here or follow The Photo Dictionary on twitter and send us your thoughts there.

The AP Story
http://www.ap.org/fallen_marine/

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