John Olson (born 1947) is an American photographer, former combat photographer and

Robert Capa Gold Medal The Robert Capa Gold Medal is an award for "best published photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise". It is awarded annually by the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC). It was created in honor of the war phot ...

winner for his photographs of the

Battle of Hue A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

during 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 ...

. His photograph of a tank on which a group of wounded

marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

are piled is considered one of the most emblematic images of the conflict.

Battle of Hue

While working as a combat photographer for Star and Stripes newspaper, Olson took a series of photographs of the

fighting while following the 1st Battalion,

5th Marine Regiment The 5th Marine Regiment (also referred to as "5th Marines") is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the most highly decorated regiment in the Marine Corps and falls ...

trying to take back the city. The photographs were published by Stars and Stripes and also in

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

magazine. It is often attributed to the rawness of his images that they played a significant role in America's subsequent withdrawal from the

. Olson was awarded the

in 1968 for this work, for his "exceptional courage and initiative".

References

External links

Photographs by John Olson
on the website dedicated to the exhibition held in 2018 by

Newseum The Newseum (April 18, 1997–March 3, 2002 and April 11, 2008–December 31, 2019) was an American museum located first in Rosslyn, Virginia, and later at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in Washington, D.C., dedicated to news and journalism that ...

on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the

Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched a surprise attack on 30 January 1968 against the forces of ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, John American photographers Vietnam War photographers 1947 births Living people