Hubert Van Es was the Dutch photojournalist who took the famous photo of the US helicopter on top of a building taking evacuees - symbolising "the desperate US evacuation and the broader American debacle in Vietnam." An editors error captioned the image to suggest the helicopter was evacuating people from the US embassy. In reality, the picture was taken in downtown Saigon where the helicopter was on top of the apartment building, resident to many CIA officers. "When the over-loaded craft took off, it left behind many distraught Vietnamese employees of US government agencies.Apparently Van Es had tried for years to correct the mistake, but the caption and connotations remained. In 2005 on the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, Van Es said "Thus one of the best-known images of the Vietnam War shows something other than what almost everyone thinks it does." He went on to say that "it was somehow fitting that, as with so many other things about the war, the photo was not exactly as it seemed." Interesting that the media maintained the incorrect caption for so long, manipulating the perspective and opinion of the public.
Sourced from the Dompost, May 21.
See the image at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_van_Es
Very interesting story and very indicative of the Vietnam War as a whole. The media was certainly used to manipulate public opinion (particaurly in the US but also NZ) to see North Vetnamese as "the baddies" and to create such anti-communist feeling. But in truth, I think even today, the reality of the war and motivation of both sides is not fully evident. However, I think greater understanding is starting to emerge as we have been able to look back and be critical on the behaviour of the past. The truth of this famous photo being told does indicates this.
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