Philip Jones Griffiths The battle for Saigon. U.S. policy in Vietnam was based on the premise that peasants driven into the towns and cities by the carpet-bombing of the countryside would be safe. Furthermore, removed f (...)
rom their traditional value system they could be prepared for imposition of consumerism. This "restructuring" of society suffered a setback when, in 1968, death rained down on the urban enclaves. Cambodia. 1968. © Philip Jones Griffiths | Magnum Photos
Philip Jones Griffiths Prisoners of war were afforded very different treatment by each side. Americans were treated reasonably (the ranting of the MIA movement in America aside), whereas captured Vietcong were tortured, (...)
raped, and killed. Some ended in the tiger-cages of the U.S. administered Con Son prison, where conditions would have staggered a Spanish Inquisitor. Cambodia. 1970. © Philip Jones Griffiths | Magnum Photos
Philip Jones Griffiths This boy was killed by U.S. helicopter gunfire while on his way to church - a Catholic church - whose members were avid supporters of the government, who were in turn pro-American. The result was (...)
a disillusioned urban population, reluctant to believe in or support their discredited leaders. Vietnam. 1968. © Philip Jones Griffiths | Magnum Photos
Philip Jones Griffiths This was a village a few miles from My Lai. It was a routine operation - troops were on a typical " search and destroy" mission. After finding and killing men in hiding, the women and children wer (...)
e rounded up. All bunkers where people could take shelter were then destroyed. Finally the troops withdrew and called in an artillery strike of the defenseless inhabitants. Quang Ngai, Vietnam. 1967. © Philip Jones Griffiths | Magnum Photos
Philip Jones Griffiths The Saigon fire department had the job of collecting the dead from the streets during the Tet offensive. They had just placed this young girl, killed by U.S. helicopter fire, in the back of their (...)
truck, where her distraught brother found her. When The New York Times published this photograph, it implied there was no proof that she was killed by American firepower. Vietnam. 1968 © Philip Jones Griffiths | Magnum Photos
Philip Jones Griffiths This amphibious assault was to establish a beachhead for a barbecue. Vast quantities of meat and beer were consumed while local Vietnamese looked on. Such activities were prompted to engender moral (...)
e among the troops and to expose the Vietnamese to what was considered the superior American ways of life. Cambodia. 1970 © Philip Jones Griffiths | Magnum Photos
Philip Jones Griffiths Mother with wounded child, Vietnam. The american policy of annihilating as many Vietnamese as possible while claiming to be saving them from the 'horrors' of Communism could be confirmed by visitin (...)
g any hospital. Quang Ngai, Vietnam. 1967. © Philip Jones Griffiths | Magnum Photos
Philip Jones Griffiths This woman was tagged, probably by a sympathetic corpsman, with the designation VNC (Vietnamese civilian). This was unusual. Wounded civilians were normally tagged VCS (Vietcong suspect) and all (...)
dead peasants were posthumously elevated to the rank of VCC (Vietcong confirmed). Vietnam. 1967. © Philip Jones Griffiths | Magnum Photos
Philip Jones Griffiths The battle for Saigon. American G.I's often showed compassion toward the Vietcong. This sprang from a soldierly admiration for their dedication and bravery; qualities difficult to discern in the av (...)
erage government soldier. This VC had fought for three days with his intestines in a cooking bowl strapped onto his stomach. Vietnam. 1968. © Philip Jones Griffiths | Magnum Photos