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Arnett in Vietnam in 1967. In 1966, he was inches away from an American colonel who was shot to death by a North Vietnamese sniper. Arnett won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting from the war-torn country.
AP Corporate Archives/AP Photo
Episode 3168 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about the renowned Vietnam War correspondent Peter Arnett. The featured story is titled: Peter Arnett, Journalist Who Braved the World’s War Zones, Dies. It appeared on the AARP website.
It was reported that Peter Arnett, the Pulitzer Prize–winning war correspondent whose career spanned more than four decades of front-line reporting, has died at age 91. Known for his fearless presence in some of the world’s most dangerous conflicts, Arnett brought eyewitness accounts of war to global audiences, from Vietnam to the Middle East. He died in Newport Beach, California, surrounded by family, after battling prostate cancer.
Arnett rose to prominence as an Associated Press reporter during the Vietnam War, where his reporting from 1962 through the fall of Saigon in 1975 earned him the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. His work combined vivid storytelling with close proximity to combat, and he often reflected on how narrowly he escaped death while covering battles alongside U.S. troops. Mentored by veteran journalists in AP’s Saigon bureau, Arnett developed survival instincts that sustained him throughout his career.
Though respected within journalism circles for years, Arnett became a household name during the 1991 Gulf War when he stayed in Baghdad as missiles struck the city, delivering calm, live reports for CNN while most Western journalists had evacuated. His broadcasts defined a new era of real-time war coverage on cable news.
Arnett later left the AP to join CNN and continued reporting from conflict zones, securing controversial interviews with figures such as Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. His career was also marked by disputes and dismissals, including high-profile exits from CNN and NBC, yet he repeatedly returned to reporting for international outlets.
Born in New Zealand in 1934, Arnett discovered journalism early and pursued it across Asia before joining the AP. In later years, he taught journalism in China and retired to Southern California. He is remembered as a courageous reporter, influential mentor, and enduring figure in war journalism.
Listen to Episode 3168 and discover more about the renowned Vietnam War correspondent Peter Arnett.
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