Over this past Women’s History Month I’ve profiled several women whose work in Vietnam as journalists and photographers contributed to our understanding of the war and the toll it took on the military and on civilians at home and abroad. To cap this series, here’s a sketch of Martha Gellhorn, and a list of other important female journalists who reported from the cities and rice paddies, the ships and firebases.
Born in St Louis in 1908, Martha, blonde and beautiful, brilliant and brittle, was 28 years old and the published author of two books when, in December of 1936 she crossed paths with Ernest Hemingway at Sloppy Joe’s bar in Key West. Hemingway was married to his second wife, Pauline at the time but he never let marriage stand in the way of romance. He and Martha began a love affair that lasted for several years, despite his attempts to undermine her work. In 1937 they went to Spain to cover the burgeoning civil war. In 1940, back home in the states, Ernest divorced Pauline and seventeen days later, he and Martha were married in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The Hemingways continued their work as war correspondents as the Second World War heated up, Ernest always striving to stay ahead of Martha. But on D Day, June 6, 1944 she one upped him by stowing away on a hospital ship, becoming the only woman to land with our troops at Normandy. As the wounded were brought aboard the ship, Martha assisted the hospital medical staff in caring for them.
By 1966 she was 58 years old and divorced from Hemingway for two decades when she went to Vietnam to report on the war for the British publication The Guardian. Like my fictional characters in A Season In Saigon, Martha focused her reporting on the suffering of the Vietnamese people, and on the hubris and mistakes of the US military. Alarmed by her criticisms, the South Vietnamese government expelled her after only two months and six articles. Those articles are included in her book, The Face of War.
She continued her work into her early eighties, but by 1998 she was alone in London and suffering from numerous ailments. On February 15, 1998 at the age of 89, Martha took her own life.
A FEW GOOD WOMEN: In addition to the extraordinary women profiled in this series, here are others who contributed important work in Vietnam and inspired A Season In Saigon. I think you’ll enjoy learning about them.
Tad Bartimus, Gloria Emerson, Denby Fawcett, Frances Fitzgerald, Beverly Deepe Keever, Ann Morrisey Merrick, Laura Palmer.
