Anne Morrissy Merick
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Anne Louise Morrissy Merick (October 28, 1933 – May 2, 2017) was an American journalist who persuaded the
Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...
to reverse an order, known as the "Westmoreland Edict", which effectively prevented female reporters from accompanying troops to the front lines in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
.Sam Roberts
"Anne Morrissy Merick, a Pioneer from Yale to Vietnam, Dies at 83"
''
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'', May 9, 2017.Samantha Schmidt
"Anne Morrissy Merick, a Trailblazing Vietnam War Journalist, Dies at 83"
''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', May 9, 2017.Associated Press
"Anne Morrissy Merick Obituary"
published at ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', May 9, 2017.Rachel Vorona Cote
"Esteemed Vietnam War Journalist, Anne Merick, Dies at Age 83"
''Jezebel'', May 8, 2017.


Early life and education

Merick was born in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, New York City, on October 28, 1933. As a student sports journalist in the 1950s at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
, she received national attention for her struggle to succeed despite sexism. She was the first woman sports editor at Cornell, and the first woman journalist credentialed for the press box at prestigious universities such as Cornell and
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
.


Career

While working in
Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
for
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
, Merick and Ann Bryan Mariano organized women journalists to meet with the Ministry of Defense, who subsequently reversed the order issued by
William Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (26 March 1914 – 18 July 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably the commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army f ...
that forbade women to be with troops overnight.


Death

Merick, who suffered from
dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
later in life, died on May 2, 2017, in
Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...
.


References


Further reading

* Morrisy Merick et al., ''War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam'' (2002) * Joyce Hoffmann, ''On Their Own: Women Journalists and the American Experience in Vietnam'' (2008) 1933 births 2017 deaths 21st-century American women American women journalists Cornell University alumni Deaths from dementia in Florida Journalists from New York City Mass media people from Manhattan {{US-journalist-1930s-stub