STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE: ARMY MEDIC JAMES E. CALLAHAN!





STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE: ARMY MEDIC JAMES E. CALLAHAN!

REMEMBERING ONE OF OUR HEROES!

Some of you may have seen this iconic picture before.

The picture is of James E. Callahan was considered one of the most famous pictures taken during the Vietnam War. 

Photographer Henri Huet captured a young medic trying to save the lives of his buddies in the midst of machine gun fire on 17 June 1967. 

It was not just that which made this a remarkable picture, it was the look on Callahan’s face that told the entire heart wrenching story. A story of desperation and helplessness of sadness and loss. Arguably, the quintessential story of Vietnam.

In the picture, Callahan was trying to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dying Solider. 

The battle was three-hour battle long and took place approximately 50 miles northeast of Saigon. Callahan treated numerous fellow Soldiers injuries during the battle. 

During the guerrilla ambush on the 1st Infantry Division on that day, thirty-one Soldiers were killed and more than 100 wounded.

Many people have wondered the fate of Medic James E. Callahan. Did he make it out of Vietnam or did he succumb to the war?

Callahan was 20 years old when the now famous picture was taken in 1967. 

Callahan did survive the war and served as a sergeant in the US Army from 1965-69 as a combat medic during the Vietnam War. After the war, he was a life member and president of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Chapter 65, VFW.

In March of 2008, Callahan returned to Vietnam, his trip was suppose to be one of healing, and it served its purpose. There was the feeling that a tremendous burden was lifted from his shoulders after his return to Lai Kei to revisit the location of the battle where the iconic picture was taken.  

His family noticed a sense of peace that came over him that he hadn’t had in many years. 

Sadly, James Callahan passed away on 29 July 2008 after a motorcycle accident. After his death, the Pittsfield chapter was renamed the James E. Callahan Chapter 65 in his honor.

REST IN PEACE!

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