Topic: “War and Peace: Too Much of the Former, Not Enough of the Latter“
Location: Ballroom, Nittany Lion Inn
Introduction / Moderator: Rodney Erickson / Patty Satalia
Joseph L. Galloway, one of America’s premier war and foreign correspondents for half a century, recently retired as the senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers. Before that he held an assignment as a special consultant to General Colin Powell at the State Department.
Galloway, a native of Refugio, Texas, spent 22 years as a foreign/war correspondent and bureau chief for United Press International, and previously, nearly 20 years as a senior editor and senior writer for U.S. News & World Report magazine.
During the course of 15 years of foreign postings–including assignments in Japan, Indonesia, India, Singapore and three years as UPI bureau chief in Moscow in the former Soviet Union–Galloway served four tours as a war correspondent in Vietnam and also covered the 1971 India-Pakistan War and half a dozen other combat operations.
In 1990-1991 Galloway covered Desert Shield/Desert Storm, riding with the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) during the assault into Iraq. Galloway also covered the Haiti incursion and made trips to Iraq to cover the current war in 2003 and 2005-2006.
Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf called Galloway “the finest combat correspondent of our generation—a soldier’s reporter and a soldier’s friend.”
On May 1, 1998, Galloway was decorated with a Bronze Star Medal with V (valor) for rescuing wounded soldiers while under fire in the Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam, in November 1965. His is the only medal of valor the U.S. Army awarded to a civilian for actions during the Vietnam War.
Galloway is co-author, with Lt. Gen. Hal G. Moore, USA (Ret.), of the national bestseller “We Were Soldiers Once-And Young“, which is presently in print in six different languages and with more than 1.2 million copies having been sold. The book has been made into a critically acclaimed movie, “We Were Soldiers”, starring Mel Gibson.
In 2009, Military History magazine polled 50 leading historians to choose the Ten Greatest Books Ever Written on War. “We Were Soldiers Once-and Young” was selected as one of those ten books.
Galloway also co-authored “Triumph Without Victory: The History of the Persian Gulf War” for Times Books, and in 2008, he and Gen. Moore published their sequel to We Were Soldiers, a work titled: “We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam“.
AWARDS:
In 1991, Galloway received the National Magazine Award for a U.S. News cover article on the 25th anniversary of the Ia Drang Battles.
In 1992, he received National News Media Award of the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars for coverage of the Gulf War.
In 2000, he received the President’s Award for the Arts of the Vietnam Veterans Association of America.
In 2001, he received the BG Robert L. Denig Award for Distinguished Service presented by the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association.
In 2005, he received the Abraham Lincoln Award of the Union League Club of Philadelphia.
Also in 2005, he received the John Reagan (Tex) McCrary Award of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
Joe Galloway has been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Norwich University and from Mount St. Mary’s College.
MEMBERSHIPS AND PUBLIC SERVICE:
Member of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Member of the Board of Directors of the nonprofit organization No Greater Love which was founded to assist the victims of war.
Member of the Board of Directors of the 1st Cavalry Division Association.
Member of the Board of Directors of the National Infantry Foundation.
Member of the Board of Directors of the School of Social Studies of The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.
Member of the Board of Directors of the Museum of America’s Wars.
Member of the Board of Directors of the Military Reporters and Editors Association.
Since retiring from Knight Ridder in 2006, Joe Galloway has lived in his native South Texas.
