Kent Potter, Henri Huet, Tu Vu, Keisaburo Shimamoto, and Larry Burrows were photojournalists killed when the Huey helicopter they were flying in was shot down over Laos in 1970. Today, their surviving family members and professional colleagues are seeking a final resting place for their remains.
These remains were interred at Newseum, a museum in Washington D.C. that is devoted to the history of journalism, at least it was until the entire endeavor went out of business. It shut down in late 2019, and now the remains of the journalists are held by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, a spokesman for DPAA told Connecting Vets. They will remain there until a more permanent solution can be found.
All five journalists boarded a South Vietnamese Huey in February 1971.
Operation Lam Son 719 had just kicked off a few days prior, and the photojournalists were eager to deal themselves into the action so to speak. The operation was an American supported Vietnamese incursion into Laos, similar to the one in Cambodia the year prior with the same intent: cut off Ho Chi Minh trail and with it the logistics that supplied the Vietnamese communists.
The Huey lifted off and began flying towards Landing Zone Ranger South, deep inside enemy territory. Drifting off course, the pilots came under attack from anti-aircraft fire. An American pilot named Maj. James Newman witnessed the event from the air as he was nearby when it occurred. He had just come through the same area and knew there was an enemy presence below. He tried to warn them via radio but got no response. The pilot saw orange-colored tracer fire leap up from the jungle, and then "suddenly, the lead helicopter vanished in a burst of orange-and-yellow flame, debris raining down."
The journalists, pilots, and crew onboard the helicopter were all killed instantly.
Decades later, the predecessor organization to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) visited the crash site in Laos and was able to unearth teeth and bone fragments. With Newseum going out of business, there is now an effort to find a new final resting place for their remains.
Currently, there is some thought that a memorial could be built through the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation but this includes its own challenges.
The foundation is dedicated to helping journalists killed in the line of duty, however, "the idea needs approval from Congress. Then private funds would have to be raised, and the memorial built," all of which could take years according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Until then, the remains of these four journalists remain in a state of limbo, awaiting a final resting place.
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Reach Jack Murphy: jack@connectingvets.com or @JackMurphyRGR.
