Neil Davis
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Neil Brian Davis (February 14, 1934 - September 9, 1985) was an Australian combat cameraman who achieved worldwide recognition for his work as a photojournalist during the Vietnam War and other Indochinese conflicts.
Born to a rural Tasmanian family on Saint Valentine's Day 1934, he was famed for his courage, professionalism, and sheer pigheadedness in the face of danger. He was the only cameraman who remained filming as tank 834 famously broke through the gates to the Presidential Palace in Saigon in 1975, and this image has long remained a symbol of the American failure to stop Communism in Vietnam.
After nearly 20 dangerous assignments on the battle fronts, "charmed" Neil Davis met an incongruous death by shrapnel in Bangkok, while filming a minor Thai coup attempt that ended after only a few hours. Both Davis and his American soundman were killed when a coup faction tank opened fire on them without warning.
His work has been commemorated in the documentary 'Frontline' and in his biography 'One Crowded Hour'.
