Terry, Wallace Houston II
1938-2003 · Contribution: 1958-2003
War correspondent; author
Served as Time magazine’s first Black war correspondent on permanent duty in Vietnam, covering the Tet Offensive and combat missions from 1967 to 1969, then spent over a decade compiling Bloods (1984), the landmark oral history of Black Vietnam veterans that inspired Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods

Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- 1938, New York City
- Active since
- 1958
- Category
- Press & Photography
- Best known for
- Time's first Black Vietnam war correspondent and author of Bloods
Impact on the world
Terry corrected the historical record's near-erasure of Black soldiers, first through frontline reporting and then through an oral history that gave twenty Black veterans their own voice.
Sources
- University of New Mexico Press
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