Vietnamization by Donald 'Don' McCullin

Vietnamization

Photo Stories, first prize stories

1972

Landing helicopter during the Vietnam War, with South Vietnamese soldiers. In 1969, US President Richard Nixon introduced a new strategy, called ‘Vietnamization’, aimed at ending the American involvement in the Vietnam War. Step by step, all military responsibilities were transferred to the South Vietnamese army, in order to prepare South Vietnam to defense itself against North Vietnamese attacks. During the spring of 1972, North Vietnam started what is now called the Easter Offensive against South Vietnam, intensifying the fighting and bombardments. The North aimed at gaining as much territory as possible and crippling the South Vietnamese army, in order to strengthen its position during the ongoing peace negotiations, while demonstrating the failure of US’ Vietnamization policy. Major battlegrounds of the Easter Offensive were the province Quang Tri and the city of An Loc. In 1973, after negotiating a treaty with North and South Vietnam, the USA withdrew its forces from Vietnam and declared the Vietnamization process complete. However, in 1975, South Vietnam would fell to the Communist army.

Commissioned by: The Sunday Times

Photo Credit: Donald ‘Don’ McCullin

Donald 'Don' McCullin (London, UK, 1935) is one of history's great war photographers. His interest in photography was sparked during his national service (1953-1955), when he served as a photographic assistant in aerial reconnaissance in the Royal Air Force. His photojournalistic career took off when his photo of a local London gang was published in the national daily newspaper The Observer. In 1964, The Observer offered him his first war assignment in Cyprus where he covered the conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. After working as a freelance photojournalist for The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, and magazines such as Paris Match, Stern and Life, Don McCullin became a staff photographer at The Sunday Times in 1966. During his 18 years at the The Sunday Times he covered numerous international conflicts to great appraise. His reportages include the famine in Biafra (1967), the Vietnam War (1968-1972), the Troubles in Northern-Ireland (1971), the fall of Phnom Penh (1975) and the civil war in Lebanon (1975-1982). After leaving The Sunday Times in 1984, he began to explore different kinds of photography, notably landscape photography. In recent years, he has focused primarily on the African content. Since 1995, he has been associated with Contact Press Images. Don McCullin has been awarded numerous wards including the Word Press Photo of the Year 1964, and in 2006 the Cornell Capa Award by the International Center for Photography in New York for his lifetime contribution to photography. In 1992, he became the only photojournalist to be made Commander of the British Empire (CBE).