Reporter Wallace Terry, the Vietnam War, and Bloods

In honor of Veterans Day, IHS Press senior editor Ray E. Boomhower will talk about the experiences of pioneering journalist Wallace Terry, who was raised in Indianapolis and reported about the Vietnam War as deputy bureau chief in Saigon for Time magazine.

Boomhower is the author of Terry’s biography, Wallace Terry: A Reporter’s Journey from Selma to Saigon to Bloods, published by the University of New Mexico Press. Copies of the book will be available for sale at the talk.

Terry lived a life filled with danger and betrayal, scoops and cover-ups, while immersing himself in events that changed the course of U.S. history.

While in Vietnam, Terry captured the voices and experiences of Black soldiers and used the insights he gained to produce Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans. The book remains a classic reflection of a war that fractured U.S. society and cost the lives of nearly 58,000 Americans.

Before risking his life on the front lines, Terry became deeply involved in reporting about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s in the United States. Working for the Washington Post, he wrote the first newspaper series about the Nation of Islam, during which he interacted with Malcolm X, who sheltered him from harm when his stories upset some members of the movement.

Terry also grew close to those who sacrificed their lives in the struggle for equality, including Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King Jr., who became godfather to Terry’s eldest son. Making civil rights his focus gave him the opportunity to report on such seminal events as the Birmingham campaign, the March on Washington, and the Selma to Montgomery marches.

During his time in Vietnam, Terry traveled overseas to conduct numerous interviews with Black fighting men – soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines – that he later used as the basis for Bloods. Terry faced numerous challenges, including rejections from publishers who believed the public did not want to read about Black veterans from the conflict. Finally published in 1984, Bloods became a bestseller and remains a landmark work of military and oral history.

This program is included with admission.