What do you think?
Rate this book
On The Frontlines Of The Television War: A Legendary War Cameraman In Vietnam
“Tony Hirashiki was simply one of the best television cameramen to cover the Vietnam War. His soaring video, often acquired only at great personal risk, gave wings to even the most mundane narration. For those of us who worked with him he was also a source of gentleness and joy in a place where both were in terribly short supply.” - Ted Koppel, Former Nightline anchor ABC
On The Frontlines of the Television War is the story of Yasutsune "Tony" Hirashiki's ten years in Vietnam—beginning when he arrived in 1966 as a young freelancer with a 16mm camera but without a job or the slightest grasp of English and ending in the hectic fall of Saigon in 1975 when he was literally thrown on one of the last flights out.
His memoir has all the exciting tales of peril, hardship, and close calls as the best of battle memoirs but it is primarily a story of very real and yet remarkable people: the soldiers who fought, bled, and died, and the reporters and photographers who went right to the frontlines to record their stories and memorialize their sacrifice. The great books about Vietnam journalism have been about print reporters, still photographers, and television correspondents but if this was truly the first “television war,” then it is time to hear the story of the cameramen who shot the pictures and the reporters who wrote the stories that the average American witnessed daily in their living rooms.
An award-winning sensation when it was released in Japan in 2008, this book been completely re-created for an international audience. In 2008, the Japanese edition was published by Kodansha in two hardback volumes and titled "I Wanted to Be Capa." It won the 2009 Oya Soichi Nonfiction Award-a prize usually reserved for much younger writers—and Kodansha almost doubled their initial print run to meet the demand. In that period, he was interviewed extensively, a documentary was filmed in which he returned to the people and places of his wartime experience, and a dramatization of his book was written and presented on NHK Radio. A Kodansha paperback was published in 2010 with an initial printing of 17,000 copies and continues to sell at a respectable pace.
"Tony Hirashiki is an essential piece of the foundation on which ABC was built. From the day he approached the Bureau Chief in Saigon with a note pinned to his shirt saying he could shoot pictures to the anxious afternoon of 9/11 when we lost him in the collapse of the Twin Towers (and he emerged covered in dust clutching his precious beta tapes,) Tony reported the news with his camera and in doing so, he brought the truth about the important events of our day to millions of Americans." David Westin, Former President of ABC News
Table of Contents
Foreword by Ted Koppel
Editor’s Note
Preface
PART I: GOOD LUCK OMIKUJI
1. Happy Valley
2. Rookie
3. Teacher
4. Hawks or Doves
5. The Bureau
6. Con Thien
7. Meet the Bosses
8. Independent Guy
9. He Loved Mozart
10. Son of a Minister
11. Veteran
12. Tuckner’s Crouch
PART II: BAD LUCK OMIKUJI
13. Competition
14. Charming Dictator
15. Reinforcements
16. Photographers
17. American Guy
18. Documentarian
19. Quiet in Kontum
20. Roger Returns
21. Battle of An Loc
22. Quang Tri
23. Survivor’s Guilt
24. Ceasefire
25. Fall of Cambodia
26. Fall of Saigon
Epilog
Acknowledgments and Thanks
Notes
Index
On The Frontlines of the Television War is the story of Yasutsune "Tony" Hirashiki's ten years in Vietnam—beginning when he arrived in 1966 as a young freelancer with a 16mm camera but without a job or the slightest grasp of English and ending in the hectic fall of Saigon in 1975 when he was literally thrown on one of the last flights out.
His memoir has all the exciting tales of peril, hardship, and close calls as the best of battle memoirs but it is primarily a story of very real and yet remarkable people: the soldiers who fought, bled, and died, and the reporters and photographers who went right to the frontlines to record their stories and memorialize their sacrifice. The great books about Vietnam journalism have been about print reporters, still photographers, and television correspondents but if this was truly the first “television war,” then it is time to hear the story of the cameramen who shot the pictures and the reporters who wrote the stories that the average American witnessed daily in their living rooms.
An award-winning sensation when it was released in Japan in 2008, this book been completely re-created for an international audience. In 2008, the Japanese edition was published by Kodansha in two hardback volumes and titled "I Wanted to Be Capa." It won the 2009 Oya Soichi Nonfiction Award-a prize usually reserved for much younger writers—and Kodansha almost doubled their initial print run to meet the demand. In that period, he was interviewed extensively, a documentary was filmed in which he returned to the people and places of his wartime experience, and a dramatization of his book was written and presented on NHK Radio. A Kodansha paperback was published in 2010 with an initial printing of 17,000 copies and continues to sell at a respectable pace.
"Tony Hirashiki is an essential piece of the foundation on which ABC was built. From the day he approached the Bureau Chief in Saigon with a note pinned to his shirt saying he could shoot pictures to the anxious afternoon of 9/11 when we lost him in the collapse of the Twin Towers (and he emerged covered in dust clutching his precious beta tapes,) Tony reported the news with his camera and in doing so, he brought the truth about the important events of our day to millions of Americans." David Westin, Former President of ABC News
Table of Contents
Foreword by Ted Koppel
Editor’s Note
Preface
PART I: GOOD LUCK OMIKUJI
1. Happy Valley
2. Rookie
3. Teacher
4. Hawks or Doves
5. The Bureau
6. Con Thien
7. Meet the Bosses
8. Independent Guy
9. He Loved Mozart
10. Son of a Minister
11. Veteran
12. Tuckner’s Crouch
PART II: BAD LUCK OMIKUJI
13. Competition
14. Charming Dictator
15. Reinforcements
16. Photographers
17. American Guy
18. Documentarian
19. Quiet in Kontum
20. Roger Returns
21. Battle of An Loc
22. Quang Tri
23. Survivor’s Guilt
24. Ceasefire
25. Fall of Cambodia
26. Fall of Saigon
Epilog
Acknowledgments and Thanks
Notes
Index
304 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2017
27 people are currently reading
384 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 10, 2023
This was almost a four-star book; only the fact that it was condensed down from two volumes to one while being translated from Japanese into English cost it that fourth star. I understand the necessity- I'm sure that Casemate Publishers has not been raking in gigantic windfall profits, or, quite honestly, profits any larger than usual from this, even though it is certainly one of the best books, and may well be the very best book, I have yet seen them publish. Casemate deserves to be commended for having the courage and commitment necessary in taking on a project like this, and seeing it through to completion, despite the unfortunate realities of the modern publishing business.
It is a sad commentary on our modern society that there is little public appetite, and less appreciation, for good journalism than at any time within (at the very least) the last two or three centuries. Although this situation is bad enough within the English-speaking world, it extends throughout nearly every language and culture on earth. A few days ago, while still reading Mr. Hirashiki's excellent memoir, I saw one morning the news that the Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung was ceasing daily publication of a hard-copy print edition after nearly 320 years. One of the oldest news publications not only in Europe, but in the entire world, the Wiener Zeitung published its first edition on 8 August 1703, and its last on 30 June 2023 (although it is intended to continue the daily digital issue on their website just as previously).
[More to follow...]
It is a sad commentary on our modern society that there is little public appetite, and less appreciation, for good journalism than at any time within (at the very least) the last two or three centuries. Although this situation is bad enough within the English-speaking world, it extends throughout nearly every language and culture on earth. A few days ago, while still reading Mr. Hirashiki's excellent memoir, I saw one morning the news that the Austrian newspaper Wiener Zeitung was ceasing daily publication of a hard-copy print edition after nearly 320 years. One of the oldest news publications not only in Europe, but in the entire world, the Wiener Zeitung published its first edition on 8 August 1703, and its last on 30 June 2023 (although it is intended to continue the daily digital issue on their website just as previously).
[More to follow...]
January 3, 2019
Fantastic book
I’m giving this book 5 stars because it’s just amazing.. for some of us (who were born after Vietnam war) it’s a fantastic way to see how things happened, from a different point of view, from Tony’s eyes. In so many chapters I could really feel the pain and suffering that all people there experienced. I really enjoyed reading the television war, despite all the sad parts of it. It’s a good dosis of reality.
I’m giving this book 5 stars because it’s just amazing.. for some of us (who were born after Vietnam war) it’s a fantastic way to see how things happened, from a different point of view, from Tony’s eyes. In so many chapters I could really feel the pain and suffering that all people there experienced. I really enjoyed reading the television war, despite all the sad parts of it. It’s a good dosis of reality.
April 28, 2017
i edited this book for the past 18 months. I think it's a classic.
July 6, 2017
I highly recommend this remarkable first-hand account of TV coverage during the Vietnam War. The book by legendary war cameraman Yasutsune “Tony” Hirashiki (and edited by longtime ABC producer Terry Irving) tells the story of Hirashiki’s ten years on the frontlines in Vietnam. There are big on-air names you will recognize (Ted Koppel, Sam Donaldson) – but also many others who covered what became known as the first “television” war. Some of the stories are filled with drama and heroism; others are scary as they recount the constant danger that journalists were in covering this war; and there’s also plenty of light-hearted moments. Like how Yasutsune Hirashiki got the nickname “Tony” so the ABC reporter he was working with could warn him to get out of danger quickly (“Keep your head down, Tony!”) instead of taking time in a firefight to say his full name! It’s a great read about this tumultuous time in our history
April 26, 2017
I have not read many books about the Vietnam War, but this book was written by my father-in-law, so I was very interested in reading about his experiences of being a cameraman during the war. The first half was full of interesting stories about the people he met during his time in Vietnam. The second half of the book was particularly touching, as it focused on the sad stories and experiences. Hirashiki's character is one of courage and humility- reading about his decision to forgo submitting his work for film awards (and the reason why) is something that stood out to me. Overall, it is a quick read and honest perspective from a man who was behind the camera.
April 27, 2018
On the Frontlines of the Television War: A Legendary War Cameraman in Vietnam, by Yasutsune “Tony” Hirashiki is definitely an ODTAA kind of memoir. It’s a collection of impressions & experiences with various newsmen and colleagues of Hirashiki during the American war in Vietnam. The author’s command of the English language is not polished but that doesn’t really detract from his story; in some ways it makes it more authentic.
It’s always seemed to me surprising that motion picture cameramen are less celebrated than the still photographers who cover the same conflicts. Hirashiki is acknowledged as one of the best, both for his aesthetic sense and his bravery. Only the ephemeral nature of fleeting images makes him less renowned than his still photographer colleagues such as Larry Burrows, Henri Huet, and Philip Jones Griffiths, etc. Still images burn into your psyche. Motion pictures are here and gone.
As one of the longest serving foreign correspondents in the conflict, Hirashiki experienced the loss of several colleagues, including two for whom he is still haunted with survivor’s guilt. The account of this is touching.
Hirashiki was highly competitive, yet on principle he decided that, “Getting an award for taking pictures and filming the suffering of humankind was wrong. It’s an important and honorable job to cover war and tragedy as a news cameraman, but it is a serious thing and not something to do just for a statue or plaque. I continued this practice for the rest of my career,” and he never submitted work for an award.
It’s always seemed to me surprising that motion picture cameramen are less celebrated than the still photographers who cover the same conflicts. Hirashiki is acknowledged as one of the best, both for his aesthetic sense and his bravery. Only the ephemeral nature of fleeting images makes him less renowned than his still photographer colleagues such as Larry Burrows, Henri Huet, and Philip Jones Griffiths, etc. Still images burn into your psyche. Motion pictures are here and gone.
As one of the longest serving foreign correspondents in the conflict, Hirashiki experienced the loss of several colleagues, including two for whom he is still haunted with survivor’s guilt. The account of this is touching.
Hirashiki was highly competitive, yet on principle he decided that, “Getting an award for taking pictures and filming the suffering of humankind was wrong. It’s an important and honorable job to cover war and tragedy as a news cameraman, but it is a serious thing and not something to do just for a statue or plaque. I continued this practice for the rest of my career,” and he never submitted work for an award.
February 23, 2018
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
Yasutsune "Tony" Hirashiki worked as a television cameraman in Vietnam for nearly a decade. Starting out in 1966 as a greenhorn who spoke almost no English, and ending with the retreat from Saigon in 1975, Tony tells the story of what it was like to watch the war through the lens of an ABC News camera. It's an interesting and, at times, deeply personal story about his work and the other cameramen, sound-men, and news correspondents who worked alongside him.
I learned a lot from this book. It's a side of the war that I had not seen and Hirashiki does a nice job of bringing his experiences (from the funny to the horribly tragic) to life. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the Vietnam War or about television war-reporting in general. The men and women in these pages were heroes who put their lives on the line to keep the public informed, and the story is worth reading.
Yasutsune "Tony" Hirashiki worked as a television cameraman in Vietnam for nearly a decade. Starting out in 1966 as a greenhorn who spoke almost no English, and ending with the retreat from Saigon in 1975, Tony tells the story of what it was like to watch the war through the lens of an ABC News camera. It's an interesting and, at times, deeply personal story about his work and the other cameramen, sound-men, and news correspondents who worked alongside him.
I learned a lot from this book. It's a side of the war that I had not seen and Hirashiki does a nice job of bringing his experiences (from the funny to the horribly tragic) to life. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the Vietnam War or about television war-reporting in general. The men and women in these pages were heroes who put their lives on the line to keep the public informed, and the story is worth reading.
July 12, 2018
A MUST read for anyone who wants great insight on the Vietnam War, from a new, different perspective, from a master who saw it all.
September 1, 2021
I enjoyed this memoir by "Tony" Yasutsune. I enjoyed his stories about the different well-known journalist he worked with over his career/life time.
December 3, 2018
Having served in the Army I found this book quite interesting. A totally different perspective versus a military lens. This book demonstrates just how important our constitution and freedom of the press is to our democracy. The amount of courage demonstrated by the compilers of "news" is truly admirable. The book is not an easy read due to the author's language difficulties but the life and concepts presented are universal.
May 3, 2017
Wow. This book opened my eyes to the incredible risks that the people behind the new cameras and videos in the Vietnam War, as well as the correspondents, sound technicians and countless others contributing to the news stories, took to provide coverage of the events to people around the world.
I commend author Yasutsune “Tony” Hirashiki for not only taking risks as an ABC News cameraman to show the realness of war across peoples’ living rooms but also for how he profiles all of those people who were behind the lens in this book. He pays tribute to many video journalists who were injured or lost their lives in Vietnam when their “luck” ran out, to use Tony’s phrasing.
Thank you as well to Terry Irving for maintaining Tony’s genuine voice through the translation to English and including snippets of original news correspondence, as well as photos from 1955-1975, when the war was in progress. These pieces provide a deeper level of understanding of the journalists who were in front of and behind the camera during wartime.
I highly recommend this heartfelt and educational memoir!
I commend author Yasutsune “Tony” Hirashiki for not only taking risks as an ABC News cameraman to show the realness of war across peoples’ living rooms but also for how he profiles all of those people who were behind the lens in this book. He pays tribute to many video journalists who were injured or lost their lives in Vietnam when their “luck” ran out, to use Tony’s phrasing.
Thank you as well to Terry Irving for maintaining Tony’s genuine voice through the translation to English and including snippets of original news correspondence, as well as photos from 1955-1975, when the war was in progress. These pieces provide a deeper level of understanding of the journalists who were in front of and behind the camera during wartime.
I highly recommend this heartfelt and educational memoir!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews