01 Work, The art of War, John Olson’s Wounded Marines being evacuated during the Battle of Hue in February 1968, with Footnotes

John Olson

Wounded Marines being evacuated during the Battle of Hue in February 1968

The fighting in Hue City, Vietnam, was as intense and confusing as anything the Marines there had ever seen. It was mid-February 1968, and American and South Vietnamese forces were desperately trying to counter a surprise onslaught that became known as the Tet offensive. First Battalion, Fifth Marines had breached the city’s historic Citadel. Radio communications were out. From front-line positions, Marines ran back a block or two to give updates to commanding officers and to receive orders. Many of them had already been wounded or killed. As more casualties accumulated, Marines in Charlie Company’s Third Platoon helped lift a gravely wounded and unconscious infantryman onto the front of a tank; the man was sprawled on a wooden door that served as a stretcher. No more than a few blocks away, through streets littered with rubble and alive with gunfire, the tank stopped to pick up three Marines who had been injured by a mortar blast. One man’s face was swathed in bandages. He was helped aboard and situated near the tank’s back end. More on this photograph

John Olson (born 1947) is an American photographer, former combat photographer and Robert Capa Gold Medal winner for his photographs of the Battle of Hue during the Vietnam War. His photograph of a tank on which a group of wounded marines are piled is considered one of the most emblematic images of the conflict.

While working as a combat photographer for Star and Stripes newspaper, Olson took a series of photographs of the Battle of Hue fighting while following the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment trying to take back the city. The photographs were published by Stars and Stripes and also in Life magazine. It is often attributed to the rawness of his images that they played a significant role in America's subsequent withdrawal from the Vietnam War. Olson was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal in 1968 for this work, for his "exceptional courage and initiative". More on John Olson

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