Frank M. Smart - Vietnam War - "A Day In The Life Of A Combat Reporter/photographer" Submitter: Frank M. Smart fsmart@goldrush.com Date: Sep 1999 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** TIPS FOR SEARCHING RECORDS ON THE INTERNET Netscape & Ms Explorer users: If searching for a particular surname, locality or date while going through the records in the archives or anywhere....try these few steps: 1. Go to the top of the report you are searching. 2. Click on EDIT at the top of your screen. 3. Next click on FIND in the edit menu. 4. When the square pops up, enter what you are looking for in the FIND WHAT ___________blank. 5. Click on DIRECTION __DOWN. 6. And last click on FIND NEXT and continue to click on FIND NEXT until you reach the end of the report. This should highlight the item that you indicated in "find what" every place it appears in the report. You must continue to click on FIND NEXT till you reach the end of the report to see all of the locations of the item indicated. ------------------------------------------ "A Day In The Life Of A Combat Reporter/Photographer" by Frank M. Smart, formerly with "The Cavalier" newspaper, the official publication of the First Cavalry Division (Airmobile), in the Republic of South Vietnam, April 68-April 69. The grunts did the dirty and dangerous work. The helicopter pilots and door gunners did their part, daily displaying uncommon valor. The medics risked their lives to save others. Someone had to tell their stories. In Vietnam, as in other wars, that job fell to the Combat Reporter/Photographer. To get these stories we had to 'hump the boonies' with the grunts, suffer the agonizing cries of pain alongside the medics, and we rode with the helicopter pilots and door gunners in order to bring those stories to print so the American people would know what their young men and women were enduring. This then, is the story of a day in the life of the Combat Reporter/Photographer, and while it is not necessarily a typical day, it is nevertheless a close approximation of those many days we spent plying our military trade. We did not have the freedom of our civilian counterparts. Regardless of what went down in the field we still had the military to contend with at the end of each day and all that entails. We could not, for instance, return to Saigon each day, file our stories and then head to the rooftop bar at the Caravelle Hotel for cocktails and dinner as our civilian counterparts did. The best we could hope for was a hot Army meal, a cold shower and maybe a couple of cold sodas or a beer. And then the military extracted it's pound of flesh with KP, defensive line guard duty, charge-of-quarters or the infamous xxxx-burning detail. (AUTHORS NOTE: Vietnam had no sewerage removal system. To eliminate our waste we simply burned it using kerosene. It was an onerous detail to say the least. Use 'feces-burning' if you wish). To get our stories we worked out of the Third Brigade Public Information Office (PIO) spending time in the field with the infantry companies. Normally we would team up with a photographer and spend three to five days in the field with the grunts. While ammunition and artillery rounds were abundant, cameras were often in short supply and when they were available we did our own photography as we were cross-trained. Each Brigade consisted of three battalions of five companies each plus logistics and support units. Our Brigade office attempted to cover as many units as possible. They were all rife with human interest stories, stories of bravery and courage, sad, poignant and funny stories. One factor we had to contend with was to try to be self-sufficient while in the field. Logistics for the troops in the field was always a problem and each additional mouth to supply with food and water was just another burden on that system. The key was the proper loading of your field pack and that became an art, a science. The rule of thumb was to take enough food for three days, yet keep your pack as light as possible. After all you had to hump the pack through the jungle each day. To accomplish this, you stripped the C-Rations down to the basic of one can of Fruit Cocktail and coffee for the breakfast meal, a main meal for lunch and supper, a few heat tabs, matches and cigarettes, toilet paper and two to four quarts of water and you were almost set. Add your bayonet, an entrenching tool, poncho and liner, a .45 pistol and ammo, an M-16 rifle and 200 rounds of ammo, several smoke and concusussion grenades, your web gear and the field pack in which to pack, store and attatch most of this necessary merchandise, and you were set. Oh yeh, don't forget writing materials, three cameras, professional and personal, film, some soap in case you got a chance to bathe, some Chuckles candy and you would probably be packing about 70 pounds on your back, your chest and around your waist. Packing it through triple-canopy jungle in 100-plus degree heat with the humidity always hovering around 100%. And Vietnam is not a flat country. And add to that mix the constant danger and you might get a little stress. A check with the Brigade Tactical Operations Center (BTOC) to see where the various companies were and what they were doing next, and then a trip to the company area to arrange a ride on the next outbound log bird (chopper) and your mission was on. Normally we took more than the two required bandoleers of M-16 ammo, plenty of grenades and anything else we could get our hands on to give to the grunts in the field. They never turned down extra ammunition and grenades. Whenever possible we would take extra clothing, cigarettes, candy and writing materials to the men in the field. These items were normally given to the company or platoon commander for distribution and they were always grateful. Arriving in the field the Reporter/Photograper introduced himself to the commander and explained what he was looking for and how long he expected stay. Sometimes we were welcomed, especially if we were well-known to the company as honest and fair journalists and had proven that we were not a liability in the field. Sometimes we were simply considered a pain in the posterior and unnecessary baggage. When the unit moved out on an operation we took our assigned position (with a particular squad, platoon or the Command unit) and moved out with them. Whatever the unit was assigned to do we attempted to assist them in any way or at least not to be a hinderance while still doing our job of taking photos and notes for our articles. All Reporter/Photographers had undergone Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training and knew the fundamentals of fire and maneuver and enough fieldcraft to take care of themselves in the field. If the infantry company was on a search and cordon mission, then what befell them, befell us also. If they were on 'stand-down' (a break from the field) at the Fire Support Base or a Main Base camp area, then so were we. We did our share of sand-bagging, foxhole guard duty and radio watch in the field and on stand-down. The more adventurous went out on night ambushes and night combat assualts. I went on several, but that's another story I'll tell you sometime. Some of our people followed Special Forces and SEAL units on combat missions and a number of them were killed-in-action. Still others received medals for valorous actions while doing their jobs. All in all, the Combat Reporter/Photographers plied their trade much the same way everyone did in Vietnam, to the best of their ability under oft-times trying, uncomfortable and dangerous conditions. In no way is this story intended to portray the job of Combat Reporter/Photographer as being as dangerous as those who actually did the fighting. But our job was important, and it was dangerous and dirty at times. It required great stamina, fortitude, initiative and a nose for news. We were not heroes. But we were in the foxholes, on the jungles trails, in the villages and on the combat aircraft with the real heroes, taking their pictures and getting the information to tell their stories. And those stories and photos will live for time immemorial in print and film. --------------------------------- Bio of Frank Madision Smart, Born 14 May 1940, North Louisiana Sanitorium, Shreveport, LA. Parents Frank M. Sr., and Mary Erma White Smart. One older sister, Sheila, two younger sisters, Marylynn and Elizabeth Ann Smart. Raised at 6013 Southern Ave., Shreveport. Attended Fairfield Elementary, Linwood Jr. High and C.E. Byrd High School, class of '58. Drafted into the US Army, Sept. 10, 1964. Basic at Ft. Polk, LA, AIT at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO., Combat Engineer 12B20. Stationed at Johnson Kaserne, Furth, Germany, assigned to Co. B., 24th Engineer Battalion, 4th Armored Division, April 65 to Dec. 66. Attended the DOD Basic Military Journalism Course, Ft. Benjamin Harrison, IN. Assigned to Reynolds Army Hospital, Ft. Sill, OK, ordered to Vietnam, April 68, assigned to 15th Administrative Company, First Cavarly Division (Airmobile) with duty as Combat Reporter/Photographer, staff writer for the Division's official publication, "The Cavalier". Returned to US, April 69, assigned to Ft. Ord, CA. Editor of Ft. Ord newspaper, "The Panorama" 70-71. Discharged from Army, Nov. 71. Have since worked at newspaper reporter/photographer, free-lance writer, bartender/manager and for the past six years on the management team at the Sonora, CA. Wal*Mart. Ran for County Supervisor twice, lost, been active in veterans affairs for 12 years, and now co-founder and president of Habitat for Humanity of Tuolumne County, Inc. since Dec. 1967. Now married to my third wife, four children, three grandchildren. More info on request.