Joseph L. Galloway, senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers and co-author of the national bestseller, We Were Soldiers Once … and Young, comes to the University of New Mexico this week for two appearances as part of the “Vietnam: Voices and Visions Unfiltered” symposium.
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf has called Galloway “the finest combat correspondent of our generation – a soldier’s reporter and a soldier’s friend.” On May 1, 1998, Galloway was decorated with a Bronze Star Medal with V for rescuing wounded soldiers under fire in the Ia Drang Valley, in November 1965. His is the only medal of valor the U.S. Army awarded to a civilian for actions during the Vietnam War.
Galloway will talk about the events of the battle in the Ia Drang Valley, detailed in the book he co-authored with Lt. General Hal Moore (retired) and portrayed in the recent Mel Gibson movie, “We Were Soldiers.” The film will be shown, followed by discussion with Galloway who served as its advisor, on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 6 p.m. in Anthropology 163 next to the Maxwell Museum on the UNM campus.
Galloway will also speak about his four tours as a civilian war correspondent in Vietnam during a lecture on Friday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m., also in Anthropology 163.
As the senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers, Galloway works in their Washington Bureau and is also author of a weekly column on military and national security affairs. He recently concluded a brief assignment as a special consultant to Gen. Colin Powell at the State Department.
A native of Refugio, Texas, he spent 22 years as a foreign and war correspondent and bureau chief for United Press International, and nearly 20 years as a senior editor and senior writer for U.S. News & World Report magazine.
His overseas postings include tours in Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Singapore and three years as UPI bureau chief in Moscow in the former Soviet Union. During the course of 15 years of foreign postings, Galloway served four tours as a war correspondent in Vietnam and also covered the 1971 India-Pakistan War and half a dozen other combat operations. In 1990-1991 Galloway covered Desert Shield/Desert Storm, riding with the 24th Infantry Division (Mech) in the assault into Iraq.
Galloway received the National Magazine Award in 1991 for a U.S. News cover article on the 25th anniversary of the Ia Drang Battles, and the National News Media Award of the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1992 for coverage of the Gulf War. In 2000 he received the President’s Award for the Arts of the Vietnam Veterans Association of America. In 2001 he received the BG Robert L. Denig Award for Distinguished Service presented by the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association.
Galloway is a member of the advisory boards of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the nonprofit organization No Greater Love that was founded to assist the victims of war, the 1st Cavalry Division Association and the National Infantry Foundation. We Were Soldiers Once…and Young is presently in print in four different editions which have sold more than 1.2 million copies. He also co-authored Triumph Without Victory: The History of the Persian Gulf War for Times Books.
About “Vietnam: Voices and Visions Unfiltered”
This multi-component public history of the Vietnam War includes displays and lectures at several venues on the UNM campus through mid-January 2005. “Vietnam Visions: Art from the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum” can be seen at the University Art Museum and Jonson Gallery. “Vietnam Voices: Letters Home” is on display at the Center for Southwest Research Gallery in Zimmerman Library. “Another Vietnam: Pictures of the War from the Other Side,” which features a collection of photos taken by North Vietnamese combat photographers, can be seen at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology.
Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1989