1,000 Words: Because you'll never see a picture of this

One day in the life of Catherine Leroy,  the first and only accredited female combat photographer in Vietnam, will tell you more about her character than the tens of thousands of words I wrote in my book about her.

I recently had the great privilege of speaking with a US Marine who met Cathy in 1967, in the Demilitarized Zone around Cồn Tiên after the single worst day in Marine Corps history.

"I looked for her for 50 years," the battle-hardened marine told me. "She impressed me so much. And for me to say that, that’s a big deal."

Combat Photographer Catherine Leroy in Vietnam, circa 1967

Operation Buffalo, a 13-day battle during the Vietnam War inflicted more casualties on the Marine Corps than did their famous island-hopping victories in the Pacific during WWII.
 
Few people know the part French Photographer Catherine Leroy played in that historic battle. 

Catherine Leroy,  who documented some of the fiercest fighting in the 20-year conflict, once said, "When you're young, you might as well live dangerously." And she did.  She was wounded in action, captured by the People’s Army of Vietnam and later documented the Fall of Saigon.

Catherine flew to Vietnam on a one-way ticket at age 21 to launch her career  with no formal photographic training.

A year later, in the spring of 1967, Catherine headed to the hottest spot in Vietnam, catching a military plane north to Dông Hà, a US Marine combat base and airfield just south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between South and North Vietnam.
 
She returned to Saigon numerous times to shower and drop off film at the Associated Press Office, but spent so much time in the field, she called the men "my marines." 

US Marines treat one of their wounded near Cồn Tiên, DMZ, May 19, 1967. (Dotation Catherine Leroy)

Sometime in the afternoon the day Catherine took the above photo, a mortar shell exploded near her. Flying shrapnel ripped into her body. Only the cameras strapped around her neck protected her chest and saved her life. 
 
After surgery and recuperation on a hospital ship, Catherine was back with the marines in time for Operation Buffalo. That's when the 22-year-old photographer crossed paths with 19-year-old, Marine Corporal Larry Miller.
 
Recent losses in his unit had been so heavy, he was the only Forward Observer left. I was an E4 corporal," he said, "and it was stressful doing an officer’s job, taking coordinates, determining what round to fire, what spotting round, etc."

​​​​​​​At 19, USMC Forward Observer Larry Miller was facing an officer's responsibilities during combat at the DMZ. (Photo courtesy of Larry Miller & The History Network)

The First Battalion, Ninth Marines’ Alpha and Bravo Companies launched Operation Buffalo, July 2, 1967, the sweep in the area north of Cồn Tiên turned in an ambush by the North Vietnamese Army, making it the single worst day for Marines in Vietnam: 84 dead, 190 wounded, nine missing.
 
The battle lasted 13-days with all the worst aspects of war—body mutilation, trench warfare, massed artillery. In the blazing heat and choking dust they were targeted by snipers and under constant threat of ground attacks.
 
Thousands of American men faced thousands of Vietnamese. Total Marine casualties for the operation were 159 killed, 845 wounded and 1 missing. 

"Operation Buffalo—that was bad," Larry told me. "That was the end of the world....Dead bodies came in on the tanks, they'd been dead for three days...."

"I looked her [Catherine] in the eye and she looked me in the eye. She was so cool.

She went over and set her camera down, her notebook down, and she came over and we started taking bodies off the tanks. I don’t think we even said a word. She helped me unload the dead bodies all day." 

That day Larry didn't even know Catherine's name, but he never forgot her.

Recent photo of Larry Miller, courtesy his daughter Amber Miller.

"UPI, Time, Life, [photographers] they didn’t do shit," Larry said. "[Catherine] didn’t back up a bit. She was a little bitty girl. She wasn’t a marine. She wasn’t trained. You can’t train for that shit anyway."

Larry told me he'd kind of lost his faith in humanity and that day, he got it back. "I wondered for years what happened to that little French girl. I thought of her from time to time."

I'm grateful to Larry's daughter Amber Miller helped him look for information one more time and found my book. Like me, he was distressed when he discovered she'd died at age 62. He had always hoped to reconnect with her.

In the 1960s, a woman had a tough time succeeding in a "man's job," but no workplace was more toxic than the battlefields of Vietnam. Only one woman dared join the ranks of photojournalists covering the war 1966-1969, the bloodiest years of the conflict.
Bold, determined, and cool under fire, Catherine slogged with marines into the jungle and crawled through rice paddies. She gravitated toward the thickest battles, and was the only photojournalist to parachute into combat with American soldiers.
 
 Catherine saw more combat in Vietnam than any photographer of any gender, and was soon a serious competitor to her male colleagues. They responded by spreading insulting rumors about her character, and collaborated with military officers to revoke her press credentials. Catherine fought back, regaining the right to do her job.

Catherine went on to photograph conflicts in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Libya and became the first woman to receive the Robert Capa Gold Medal for her coverage of the Civil War in Lebanon
Sources
Author interview with Larry Miller, 10/15/25
Close-Up On War by Mary Cronk Farrell
https://www.historynet.com/my-war-larry-miller/

Starred Reviews 
Close up on War:  The Story of Pioneering Photojournalist Catherine Leroy in Vietnam

⭐"... well-contextualized, quick-moving biography...offering an intimate glimpse of the photographer’s personal observations and needs amid discussions of the war and of Leroy’s actions in Vietnam, which include proving herself again and again to male colleagues and the U.S. military, and risking injury while documenting air strikes."  (Publishers Weekly)

​​⭐"Farrell also gives a compelling history of Vietnam and the events that led to the conflict. Life in Vietnam during the war is told in vivid detail, as is the hardship endured by soldiers and peasants."​ (School Library Journal)

​⭐"Smooth, engaging writing nimbly...putting readers directly in the action beside Leroy…. "Farrell blends Leroy’s experiences and achievements in Vietnam with historic details, information on combat action and shifting attitudes toward this war, and fascinating insights into the world of freelance news photography. (Booklist)

​⭐"A riveting biography that puts an overlooked, award-winning female photojournalist into historical context." (Kirkus)