Khe Sanh by Robert Ellison, 1968

Khe Sanh, 1968. For war critics and news correspondents, it was a miniature microcosm for the War in Vietnam itself: 6,000 US Marines forced to defend an isolated untenable location that the top brass believed to be indispensable, only to abandon it after hundreds of Americans were sacrificed in its defense. A young photographer took these harrowing images of the battle and he didn’t live to see them published.

Three Communists

Often reprinted in Laos and Vietnam was the image above – that of Laotian Communist […]

Napalm Girl, 1972 | Contact Sheets

In 1972, this picture of a nine-year-old girl, Kim Phuc, fleeing her village after a napalm attack brought the Vietnam War home to many. AP’s decision to publish the photo was controversial. Until then, there had never been images of naked children released by AP.

The Boat of No Smiles, 1977 | Contact Sheets

Between 1975 and 1992, around two million people (nearly four percent of the country’s population) fled Vietnam by boat to escape poverty, oppression, and war. Eddie Adams’ photos convinced the American government to allow 250,000 refugees to enter into the United States.

Burst of Joy, 1973

For a war where the public opinion was shaped by the photographs from the homefront and the warfront, it was fitting that the U.S. involvement in Vietnam ended with an especially poignant image of joy.

Kent State Shootings, 1970

Sixty-seven rounds of ammunition were fired over 13 seconds. They killed four students, wounded nine others, resulting in one permanent paralysis. It was May 4th 1970. The scene: Kent State University in Ohio.