OLD JOURNOS NEVER DIE THEY JUST BECOME THE STORY

They are still known as the most famous press corps in the world. The men and women who covered the Vietnam war for over a decade, their words and images creating a benchmark in reportage that is still recognised today.

Back then they were called Bao Chi, today they call themselves the Vietnam Old Hacks and they stay connected via their blog site, cat herded by Carl Robinson (ex-AP). It was clear from the first night at the rooftop bar of the Huong Sen hotel, that during this week of 40th anniversary celebrations of the end of the war, that the Old Hacks were to become the biggest show in town.

The rooftop was bathed in TV lights, cameras catching every hug and handshake as they ambled in, arriving from all over the world. They have been gathering here in Ho’ville every 5 years since 1995 holding their own reunions, re-connecting with old mates, re-living old memories and most importantly, remembering absent friends. This was the first time the Vietnamese government had invited them as special guests, all expenses paid and they were treated like old friends with VIP status. (Also invited were fraternal media from Cuba, Hungary, Russia & Algeria). At the official welcome they were thanked for their reporting during the war; that got an immediate response; “we just reported what we saw”.

First on the agenda was a meeting with the Vietnam Veterans Association of HCMC. Hosted by Admiral Tran Thanh Huyen and a group of army officers, the room struggled to accommodate the Old Hacks and all the media crews. After long speeches and translations about that last day in Saigon, it was opened up to a Q&A session.

They might be Old Hacks but they’ve lost none of their edge - Jimmy Pringle (ex-Reuters) asked a question about the Spratley & Paracel Islands and Tim Page enquired if they could help with the missing media in Cambodia and could he have access to a particular file that he had learnt about.

“I thought I am never going to get this opportunity again, we’re all getting old and would just like to resolve their fates” Page said. The Admiral and the Generals conferred and gave Page what seemed a genuine promise to help. Jimmy Pringle’s Q&A was sort of lost in translation.

At the Palace, there were more interviews on the steps and the unexpected arrival of many old veterans, men and women representing every unit that took part in the war, for their own photo opportunity. They were delighted to find themselves there with the Old Hacks.

A staple at all the reunions is a visit to the REQUIEM/HOI NHIEM exhibition at the War Remnants Museum to honour their old mates. Realising who they were, tourists tagged along behind the camera crews creating a logjam inside the exhibition. They had all lost friends whose photos were hanging on the walls. This is the only place that REQUIEM now hangs in perpetuity, albeit without the images from Cambodia.

After a week of visits to the people’s achievements that included the Cu Chi tunnels, the Hi-Tech Agricultural Farm but not the promised container port or milk factory, the parade with over 600 accredited media on their own podiums, was almost an anti-climax.

The Old Hacks were herded into the scrum of iPhone coverage mirroring the true liberation of today’s Vietnam –the new gods of capitalism, Honda and Apple.

Ho Chi Minh beaming down on the event might have been squirming in his mausoleum while the fourth estate, über interviewed held the high ground.

Marianne Harris

Wife of the late Tim Page, legendary war photographer (1944-2022).