Joseph Lee Galloway (November 13, 1941August 18, 2021) was an American newspaper correspondent and columnist. During the Vietnam War, he often worked alongside the American troops he covered and was awarded a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

in 1998 for having carried a badly wounded man to safety while he was under very heavy enemy fire in 1965.We Were Soldiers
BSM Citation From 2013 until his death, he worked as a special consultant for 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 ...

50th anniversary Commemoration project run out of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and has also served as consultant to

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...

' production of a documentary history of the Vietnam War broadcast in the fall of 2017 by

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. He was also the former Military Affairs consultant for the

Knight-Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

chain of newspapers and was a columnist with

McClatchy Newspapers McClatchy Media Company, or simply McClatchy and MCC, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law. Originally based in Sacramento, California, United States, and known as The McClatchy Company, it ...

Early life

Galloway was born in

Bryan, Texas Bryan is a city in and the county seat of Brazos County, Texas, United States. It is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley (East and Central Texas). As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 83,980. Bryan borders the city of C ...

, on November 13, 1941. His father, Joseph, fought in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; his mother was Marian Dewvall. His family relocated to

Refugio, Texas Refugio ( ) is a town in Refugio County, of which it is the county seat, in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 2,712 as of the 2020 Census. Refugio is the birthplace of Baseball Hall of Fame member Nolan Ryan. Geography Refugio is lo ...

, after his father was employed by

Humble Oil Humble Oil and Refining Co. was an American oil company founded in 1911 in Humble, Texas. In 1919, a 50% interest in Humble was acquired by the Standard Oil of New Jersey which acquired the rest of the company in September 1959. The Humble bran ...

upon his return from military service. Galloway initially enrolled in community college in 1959, but dropped out after six weeks to join the Army. His mother convinced him to go into journalism, and he subsequently majored in the subject at Victoria College. His paternal great-grandfather James Isham Galloway lost his right leg at the

Second Battle of Manassas The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederat ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, and his maternal great-grandfather James William Reid (whose daughter married James Isham Galloway) lost his left leg at the

Battle of the Wilderness The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant general (United States), Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General (C ...

. They ended up on adjoining farms. After the war, they got together once a year and went to town to buy boots. They would buy one pair and split them up, giggling over how they'd screwed the shopkeeper.

Career

Newspapers

Galloway started his career at ''

The Victoria Advocate ''The Victoria Advocate'' is a daily newspaper independently published in Victoria, Texas. It is the second-oldest paper in Texas and the oldest west of the Colorado River, dating back to May 8, 1846, following the Battle of Palo Alto The Ba ...

'' in

Victoria, Texas Victoria is a city and the county seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 65,534 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The three counties of the Victoria, Texas metropolitan area, Victoria Metropolitan Statis ...

, afterwards working for

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

(UPI) in the

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

and

Topeka Topeka ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeaste ...

bureaus. Later, he served overseas as bureau chief or regional manager in Tokyo,

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, New Delhi, Singapore, Moscow, and Los Angeles. He worked as a reporter for UPI during the early part of Vietnam War in 1965. Thirty-three years later, he was decorated with the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

for helping to rescue a badly wounded soldier while under enemy fire on November 15, 1965, during the

Battle of Ia Drang The Battle of Ia Drang (, ; in English ) was the first major battle between the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), as part of the Pleiku campaign conducted early in the Vietnam War, at the eastern foot of the Chu Pong M ...

Landing Zone In military terminology a landing zone (LZ) is an area where aircraft can land. In the United States military, a landing zone is the actual point where aircraft, especially helicopters, land (equivalent to the commonwealth landing point.)The Han ...

X-Ray in Vietnam. Galloway retired as a weekly columnist for McClatchy Newspapers in January 2010, writing, "I have loved being a reporter; loved it when we got it right; understood it when we got it wrong...In the end, it all comes down to the people, both those you cover and those you work for, with or alongside during 50 years."

Literature

Along with Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore, Galloway co-wrote a detailed account of those experiences in the best-selling 1992 book, ''

We Were Soldiers Once… and Young ''We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: la Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam'' is a 1992 book by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and war journalist Joseph L. Galloway about the Vietnam War. It focuses on the role of the First and ...

''. A sequel was released in 2008: ''We Were Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam'' and Moore and Galloway gave an interview on the book at the

Pritzker Military Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and research library for the study of military history located in a state-of-the art facility in Kenosha, WI. The institution was founded in 2003, ...

on September 17, 2008.

In popular culture

In ''

We Were Soldiers ''We Were Soldiers'' is a 2002 American war film written and directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. Based on the book '' We Were Soldiers Once… and Young'' (1992) by Lieutenant General (Ret.) Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. ...

'', a 2002 film based on his 1992 book, Galloway is portrayed by actor

Barry Pepper Barry Robert Pepper (born April 4, 1970) is a Canadian-American actor. His best-known film roles include Private Daniel Jackson in ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), Corrections Officer Dean Stanton in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), Roger Maris in '' ...

. Actor

Edward Burns Edward Fitzgerald Burns (born January 29, 1968) is an American actor and filmmaker. He rose to fame with '' The Brothers McMullen'' (1995), his low-budget independent film that became successful worldwide. His other film appearances include '' ...

portrayed him in the miniseries ''

Vietnam in HD ''Vietnam in HD'' (known as ''Vietnam Lost Films'' outside the US) is a 6-part American documentary television miniseries that originally aired from November 8 to November 11, 2011 on the History Channel. From the same producers as ''WWII in HD' ...

'', and

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Tommy Lee Jones, various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Scre ...

played him in the 2017 film ''

Shock and Awe Shock and awe (technically known as rapid dominance) is a military strategy based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and destroy their will to fight. Though ...

''.

Narration

Galloway narrated ''A Flag Between Two Families'', a documentary film, based on the events of May 9, 1968, in

by the members of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry.

Awards

In 1991, Galloway received a

National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...

for a ''

U.S. News ''U.S. News & World Report'' (''USNWR'', ''US NEWS'') is an American media company publishing news, consumer advice, rankings, and analysis. The company was launched in 1948 as the merger of domestic-focused weekly newspaper ''U.S. News'' and ...

'' cover article on the Ia Drang battles in Vietnam. In 1992, he received the New Media Award of the National VFW for his coverage of the Persian Gulf War for U.S. News. In 1999, Galloway received the Vietnam Veterans of America Excellence in the Arts Award, along with Gen. Hal Moore, for his journalism and for ''We Were Soldiers Once and Young'' at the VVA National Convention in Anaheim, California. In 2002, Galloway received the Robert Denig Award for Exceptional Service of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Assn. In 2005, he received the Tex McCrary Award of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. On May 1, 1998, Galloway was decorated with the

with

"V" device A "V" device is a metal Letter case, capital Letter (alphabet), letter "V" with serifs which, when worn on #Decorations eligible for the "V" device, certain decorations awarded by the United States Armed Forces, distinguishes a decoration award ...

. The medal was in recognition of his heroism on November 15, 1965, during the

, the first major battle by U.S. and North Vietnamese troops in the Vietnam War. Galloway was present as a journalist. During the fighting, he risked his own safety to assist wounded soldiers. His actions are depicted in the film ''

'' in which he is portrayed by actor

. He is the only civilian to be awarded the Bronze Star for combat valor for heroism in the Vietnam War from the U.S. Army.

Personal life

Galloway married his first wife, Theresa Magdalene Null, in September 1966 and they remained married until her death on January 26, 1996, from cancer. Together they had two sons, Joshua and Lee. In 1998, Galloway married Karen Metsker, daughter of Captain Thomas Metsker who was Hal Moore's Intelligence Officer and was killed in action in 1965 at the Battle of Ia Drang in the Vietnam War. After they divorced in 2003, he married Dr. Gracie Liem Lim Suan Tzu, a friend for more than 45 years, on May 13, 2012, in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. In attendance at the ceremony was former U.S. Senator

Max Cleland Joseph Maxwell Cleland (August 24, 1942 – November 9, 2021) was an American politician from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a disabled United States Army, U.S. Army vete ...

and 7th Cavalry veterans John Henry Irsfeld and Dennis Deal. The Galloways resided in Concord, North Carolina. Galloway died on the morning of August 18, 2021, at a hospital in

Concord, North Carolina Concord ( ) is the most populous city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 105,240 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Concord is the second-most populous city in the Cha ...

. He was 79, and suffered from a heart attack prior to his death.

Recognition

In January 2025, President Joe Biden named Galloway as a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal.

References

External links

'The Vietnam War Episode 3' preview, PBS Tuesday
The Vietnam War – The River Styx
Joseph Galloway interviewed on ''Conversations from Penn State''

Interview on ''We Were Soldiers Once... and Young''
at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and research library for the study of military history located in a state-of-the art facility in Kenosha, WI. The institution was founded in 2003, ...

Joe Galloway discusses ''We Were Soldiers Once... and Young''
at the

Joe Galloway and Hal Moore on ''We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam''
at the

* *
with Joseph Lee Galloway
by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, November 18, 1996 {{DEFAULTSORT:Galloway, Joseph 1941 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians American male journalists American male non-fiction writers American war correspondents of the Vietnam War Battle of Ia Drang Historians of the Vietnam War Victoria College (Texas) alumni Presidential Citizens Medal recipients People from Refugio, Texas Historians from Texas Journalists from Texas