Henri Huet, French (born Vietnam), 1927–1971
Medic Thomas Cole of Richmond, Virginia, looks up with his one unbandaged eye as he continues to treat wounded S. Sgt. Harrison Pell of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, during a firefight, January 30, 1966
Negative January 30, 1966; print 2013
Gelatin silver print
Image: 18 x 11 15/16 in.
Purchased through the Mrs. Harvey P. Hood W’18 Fund and the Miriam H. and S. Sidney Stoneman Acquisition Fund; 2014.10.11
AP photo / Henri Huet
Featured on the cover of Life magazine’s February 1966 issue, this frank depiction of the Vietnam War’s horrors by French photojournalist Henri Huet helped to shape public opinion against the conflict. Here, army medic Thomas Cole treats the wounded Sergeant Harrison Pell in the middle of a firefight. Cole himself is injured and has the use of only one eye. He looks up, perhaps in desperation, and extends his arm out toward the camera and the viewer, inviting them into the frame. In obvious pain and in a state of helplessness, Sergeant Pell slumps against his knee, gripping a can of water. The trench and debris from the firefight in the background accentuate the dire nature of the soldiers’ position. Huet’s image conveys a sense of brotherhood fostered by isolation and suggests deep bonds strengthened through the shared pain of injury.