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Georgette Louise Meyer (March 14, 1919 – November 4, 1965) known as Dickey Chapelle[1] was an American photojournalist known for her work as a war correspondent from World War II through to her death in the Vietnam War.[2]

Key Information

Early life

[edit]

Chapelle was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and attended Shorewood High School.[3] By the age of sixteen, she was attending aeronautical design classes at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She soon returned home, where she worked at a local airfield, hoping to learn to pilot airplanes instead of designing them. However, when her mother learned that she was also having an affair with one of the pilots, Chapelle was forced to live with her grandparents in Coral Gables, Florida. There, she wrote press releases for an air show, which led to an assignment in Havana, Cuba.[4]

A story on a Cuban air show disaster that Chapelle submitted to The New York Times got her noticed by an editor at Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA), which prompted her to move to New York City. Working at the TWA publicity bureau, she began to take weekly photography classes with Tony Chapelle, who became her husband in October 1940. She eventually quit her job at TWA to compile a portfolio, which she sold to Look magazine in 1941.[4] In April 1941, she was hired by Lear Avia to handle press liaison work for the New York office, according to a press release from the company. Later, after fifteen years of marriage, she divorced Tony, and changed her first name to Dickey. She changed her name because she looked up to polar explorer Admiral Richard Byrd. Richard's nickname was Dickey.

Breakthrough

[edit]

Despite limited photographic credentials Chapelle managed to become a war correspondent photojournalist during World War II for National Geographic, and with one of her first assignments, was posted with the Marines during the battle of Iwo Jima. She covered the battle of Okinawa as well. By the end of the war, she had written many war-related articles in addition to nine books, mostly about women in aviation.

Known for being unafraid, she made her first parachute jump while in her 40s.[5]

After the war, she traveled extensively and worked in many active war zones. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Chapelle was captured and jailed for over seven weeks. She later learned to jump by parachute, and when in war zones preferred to travel directly with the troops. After being told, on jumping out of a helicopter, that there was no reason to close her eyes, she adopted the motto "Only you can frighten you". Chapelle won many awards for photojournalism, and earned the respect of both the military and journalistic community. Chapelle "was a tiny woman known for her refusal to kowtow to authority and her signature uniform: fatigues, an Australian bush hat, dramatic Harlequin glasses, and pearl earrings."[6]

Later life

[edit]

Despite early support for Fidel Castro,[7] Chapelle was an outspoken anti-Communist, and loudly expressed these views at the beginning of the Vietnam War. Her stories in the early 1960s extolled the American military advisors who were already fighting and dying in South Vietnam, and the Sea Swallows, the anticommunist militia led by Father Nguyễn Lạc Hoá.

Chapelle was a member of the Citizens Committee for a Free Cuba, set up in 1963.[8]

Dickey never got any special treatment because of her sex.[citation needed] Chapelle was killed on November 4, 1965, while on patrol with a Marine platoon during Operation Black Ferret, a search and destroy operation 16 km south of Chu Lai, Quảng Ngãi province, South Vietnam.[9] The lieutenant in front of her kicked a tripwire boobytrap, consisting of a mortar shell with a hand grenade attached to the top of it. Chapelle was hit in the neck by a piece of shrapnel metal which severed her carotid artery and she died soon afterwards. Her last moments were captured in a photograph by Henri Huet.[6] Her body was repatriated with an honor guard consisting of six Marines, and she was given a full Marine burial. There is now a monument near the site of her death. The group of Marines dedicated the memorial marker. It says "She was one of us and we will miss her".

She became the first female war correspondent to be killed in Vietnam, as well as the first American female reporter to be killed in action.[10]

Awards

[edit]
  • Overseas Press Club's George Polk Award for best reporting in any medium, requiring exceptional courage and enterprise abroad.[11]
  • National Press Photographers Association 1963 "Best Use of Photographs by a Newspaper" award for her photograph of a combat-ready Marine in Vietnam which appeared in the Milwaukee Journal newspaper.[12]
  • Distinguished Service Award, presented by the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association.[13]
  • Milwaukee Press Club inducted her into the hall of fame on the 50th anniversary of her death.

Legacy

[edit]
  • The Marine Corps League, in conjunction with the United States Marine Corps, honors her memory by presenting the Dickey Chapelle Award annually to recognize the woman who has contributed most to the morale, welfare and well being of the men and women of the United States Marine Corps.[14]
  • In 1966, a memorial was put near the site of her death, with a plaque with the message: "She was one of us and we will miss her."[15]
  • Chapelle is one of the women featured in the documentary film No Job for a Woman: The Women Who Fought to Report WWII (2011).[16]
  • The Milwaukee Press Club inducted Chapelle into their Hall of Fame in October 2014.[17][18]
  • In 2015, Milwaukee PBS produced a documentary about her titled Behind the Pearl Earrings: The Story of Dickey Chapelle, Combat Photojournalist.[15]
  • The Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association posthumously awarded her The Brigadier General Robert L. Denig Sr. Memorial Distinguished Service Award (DSA) in August 2015.[19]
  • In 2017, Chapelle was declared an honorary Marine at the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association's annual dinner.[15]
  • Chapelle is commemorated by the 2001 Nanci Griffith song Pearl's Eye View (The Life of Dickey Chapelle) from the album Clock Without Hands.
  • In February, 1992, the first biography of Chapelle, Fire in the Wind: The Life of Dickey Chapelle, by Roberta Ostroff, was published by Ballantine Books.[20]
  • In July, 2023, another biography of Chapelle, First to the Front: The Untold Story of Dickey Chapelle, Trailblazing Female War Correspondent, by Lorissa Rinehart, was published by St. Martin's Press.[21]

Publications

[edit]

Books

[edit]
  • Needed: Women in Government Service (as Dickey Meyer). New York: R. M. McBride (1942). OCLC 3119239.
  • Girls at Work in Aviation (as Dickey Meyer). New York: Doubleday, Doran (1943). OCLC 612421869.
  • How Planes Get There. Young America's Aviation Library. New York: Harper (1944). OCLC 2580901.
  • What's a Woman Doing Here?: A Reporter's Report on Herself. Young America's Aviation Library. New York: William Morrow and Company (1962).

Contributions

[edit]
  • "How Castro Won" (1962). In: Osanka, Franklin Mark, and Samuel P. Eluntington (1962). Modern Guerrilla Warfare: Fighting Communist Guerrilla Movements, 1941-1961. New York: Free Press of Glencoe. pp. 325–335.

See also

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References

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Further reading

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[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Dickey Chapelle

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Dickey Chapelle (born Georgette Louise Meyer; March 14, 1919 – November 4, 1965) was an American photojournalist renowned for her daring frontline coverage of 20th-century wars, from World War II to Vietnam, where she became the first U.S. female correspondent killed in action. Chapelle's career began after briefly studying aeronautical design at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and working in aviation photography, transitioning to war reporting during World War II with embeds among Marines in the Pacific theater, capturing pivotal battles such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Her images and dispatches, published in outlets including National Geographic and Life, emphasized the human elements of combat and the resolve of U.S. forces against authoritarian regimes. Postwar, she documented conflicts in Korea, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Algeria's independence struggle, and Cuba's revolutionary upheavals, often parachuting into operations—the first woman to do so with U.S. troops—and marching with fighting units across four continents to secure unfiltered perspectives. In from the early , her pro-military reporting aligned with her lifelong affinity for the , culminating in her death from a booby-trap mine during a near , underscoring her commitment to witnessing history firsthand.

Early Life

Childhood and Formative Influences

Georgette Louise Meyer, later known as Dickey Chapelle, was born on March 14, 1919, in , , to Quaker parents in a middle-class family. She grew up in the suburb of Shorewood, where her early years were marked by a restless spirit and admiration for explorers. As a young child, Meyer adopted the nickname "Dickey" in homage to her hero, Arctic explorer , reflecting an early fascination with daring expeditions and polar adventures. Her father's influence played a key role in shaping her tomboyish tendencies and instilling a belief in boundless adventure, encouraging pursuits typically reserved for boys in that era. By her teenage years, Meyer's interests had crystallized around , fueled by the era's aviation pioneers; she built model airplanes and sought hands-on experience by working at a airfield, honing skills that foreshadowed her later aerial exploits. This period solidified her rejection of conventional domestic paths, prioritizing instead a life of and akin to the adventurers she idolized.

Education and Initial Aspirations

Georgette Louise Meyer, who later adopted the professional name Dickey Chapelle and the nickname "Dickey" after pioneering aviator Dick Merrill, grew up in the suburb of . She attended Shorewood High School, where she excelled academically, skipping a grade and graduating as in June 1935 at the age of 16. From an early age, Chapelle displayed a profound fascination with , sparked by newsreels of transatlantic flights and the exploits of pilots like Merrill, fueling her ambition to design or participate directly in flight operations to explore the world independently. Despite parental opposition to her taking flying lessons, which they deemed unsuitable for a young woman, she channeled her interests toward aeronautical engineering as a compromise path to involvement in the field. In the fall of 1935, Chapelle enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on a to study aeronautical design, but her enthusiasm for practical overtook her coursework. She frequently skipped lectures to observe at nearby airfields and began writing informal stories about flying, leading to failing grades and her departure from the institution after her freshman year. This episode underscored her initial aspirations not merely for academic success, but for hands-on immersion in aviation's mechanical and adventurous dimensions, setting the stage for her pivot toward professional pursuits in related industries.

Entry into Journalism

First Professional Steps

After leaving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1937 without completing her aeronautical engineering studies, Chapelle held miscellaneous jobs, including one at a Milwaukee airfield, before taking positions in and eventually relocating to for employment with (). While working at TWA's publicity bureau, she enrolled in weekly photography classes conducted by the company's staff photographer, Anthony "Tony" Chapelle, who taught her the fundamentals of news photography. Chapelle married Tony Chapelle in October 1940, adopting his surname professionally while continuing to develop her skills under his guidance. She soon transitioned into a role at TWA herself, producing images for the airline's promotional materials and building a portfolio that marked her initial foray into professional . This period represented her foundational steps in the field, shifting from aviation aspirations to visual storytelling, though she later divorced Chapelle after 15 years and freelanced to gain entry into wartime reporting following the Japanese in December 1941.

Aviation Training and Early Assignments

After graduating as valedictorian from Shorewood High School in 1935, Georgette Meyer, who adopted the byline Dickey Chapelle, secured a full to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study aeronautical engineering, driven by her childhood fascination with flight. She enrolled at age 16 but departed after a brief period—accounts vary between a few months and two years—to pursue practical involvement in aviation rather than academic study. Returning to , she bartered secretarial services at a local airfield for introductory flying lessons, though contemporaries noted her limited aptitude as a pilot. In 1940, Chapelle joined the Women Flyers of America, an organization that provided flight training and opportunities to ferry military , including bombers destined for Britain amid escalating global tensions. Relocating to New York, she honed skills in classes alongside future husband Anthony Chapelle and secured work as a photographer covering topics for (). By April 1941, she advanced to a press liaison role at Lear Avia Inc.'s New York office, managing for the firm amid wartime preparations. These experiences equipped her with technical knowledge of and access to industry networks, though her focus shifted toward freelance . Chapelle's initial assignments centered on aviation events, beginning with publicity writing for air shows in Florida during a visit to her grandparents, where she promoted spectacles to draw crowds and media attention. This role propelled her to Havana, Cuba, around 1939, to cover a major air show that ended in tragedy with a fatal plane crash she witnessed firsthand; she promptly filed a report via payphone, marking her breakthrough in on-scene aviation disaster coverage. These early dispatches, emphasizing mechanical failures and safety lapses, honed her reporting style—direct, detail-oriented, and unsparing—while establishing credentials in a male-dominated field before transitioning to war zones.

World War II Reporting

Barriers and Breakthroughs

Chapelle faced formidable barriers in pursuing frontline reporting during , primarily due to entrenched military policies excluding women from combat zones and the skepticism directed at female journalists in male-dominated environments. U.S. regulations banned women correspondents from active battle areas, such as Okinawa, viewing their presence as a distraction or liability that could compromise operational security and troop morale. She encountered overt hostility, including jokes and disdain from servicemen who questioned her capabilities and motives, reinforcing the era's gender norms that prioritized male perspectives in warfare documentation. A pivotal breakthrough came in 1942 when Chapelle obtained accreditation as one of the first female correspondents with the U.S. military, leveraging her aviation photography background and persistence to gain entry despite scant prior combat credentials. This allowed initial assignments, including coverage from Panama, and positioned her to document Marine operations in the Pacific Theater. In January 1945, she achieved further accreditation as the first female photographer with the Navy, assigned to a hospital ship off Iwo Jima, from which she advanced to witness the invasion firsthand. Her determination led to landmark access, such as landing on in February 1945, where she captured images of the brutal flag-raising and assaults, becoming one of the earliest women to report from the island's front lines. Chapelle overcame restrictions by forging rapport with troops through demonstrated resilience—wearing fatigues, carrying gear equivalent to soldiers', and embedding without special privileges—earning their trust and enabling candid photography of combat realities. However, her defiance peaked in April 1945 when she accompanied to Okinawa against explicit orders, resulting in the revocation of her accreditation; undeterred, she continued freelancing and publishing, including with , thus sustaining her career amid institutional pushback.

Coverage of Pacific Theater Battles

Chapelle received accreditation as the first female photographer for the U.S. Navy in January 1945, enabling her to cover combat operations in the Pacific Theater during the final months of World War II. She began her assignments from Guam in February 1945, boarding the hospital ship USS Samaritan to document the human cost of the ongoing campaigns. Her coverage of the , which raged from February 19 to March 26, 1945, focused on medical evacuations and treatment of casualties. Positioned aboard the USS Samaritan off the island's coast, Chapelle photographed surgeons, nurses, , and sailors attending to the wounded amid the battle's intense casualties, which exceeded 26,000 American injuries. With naval approval following positive initial reports, she went ashore on March 5, 1945, to a , producing her first dispatch datelined "FROM THE FRONT AT MARCH 5 – UNDER FIRE." Among her images was a poignant of a dying Marine, which became one of her most widely reproduced works prior to the era. Following , Chapelle documented the from April 1 to June 22, 1945, emphasizing the invasion's early phases and its devastating effects on both combatants and civilians. She captured combat scenes despite restrictions, but her determination to reach the front lines led to her being confined "under arrest in quarters" for disobeying orders to remain offshore. Her Pacific photographs, including those from and other island operations, highlighted the ' resilience and the war's toll, contributing enduring visual records of the theater's brutal amphibious assaults.

Post-War International Coverage

Hungarian Revolution and Algerian War

In October 1956, during the Hungarian Revolution against Soviet control, Chapelle traveled to the Austrian-Hungarian border while working for the , where she documented the uprising's chaos and refugee flows using a concealed camera. She was captured by communist authorities in and imprisoned for approximately seven weeks before her release, an experience that underscored the risks of reporting in Soviet-dominated territories. Her photographs from this period captured the human cost of the failed revolt, including fleeing civilians, though U.S. media coverage was limited due to the event's rapid suppression by Soviet forces on November 4, 1956. Following her release from Hungarian detention, Chapelle shifted focus to the of Independence in 1957, embedding with the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN), the primary nationalist guerrilla group fighting French colonial rule. Her reporting, detailed in her memoir's chapter "Operation Squirrel: Algeria," involved direct participation with FLN units such as the Scorpion Battalion in the , where she photographed rebels during ambushes and daily operations, often sharing coffee and meals with fighters. This approach marked a departure from typical American on the conflict, which largely aligned with French perspectives; Chapelle's work portrayed the FLN as determined insurgents against colonial oppression, though it drew criticism for its partisan tone amid the war's estimated 300,000–1.5 million deaths by its 1962 conclusion. Her images, published in outlets like , highlighted the guerrillas' resilience but reflected her sympathy for anti-colonial struggles, consistent with her pattern of favoring underdog revolutionaries.

Cuban Revolution: Initial Support and Disillusionment

In 1958, Chapelle was dispatched by Reader's Digest to Cuba to document the revolutionary uprising against Fulgencio Batista's regime, embedding with Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement in the Sierra Maestra mountains. She trekked alongside the rebels, photographing combat scenes, including dead fighters and interactions with commanders such as Major Antonio Lusson, while capturing the camaraderie and determination of the guerrilla forces. Her reporting portrayed the insurgents as embodying audacity and moral resolve against Batista's corruption and repression, reflecting her initial sympathy for their anti-dictatorial cause. Chapelle's dispatches emphasized the rebels' idealism, with her later recounting encounters that highlighted their shared hardships and fervor, such as provisioning runs and frontline skirmishes. She documented key figures, including photographs of Fidel and in , contributing to international awareness of the movement's momentum. This phase aligned with her pattern of gravitating toward underdog insurgencies, viewing the Cuban rebels as liberators akin to those she had covered in prior conflicts. Following the rebels' triumph—Batista's flight on January 1, 1959, and Castro's entry into on January 8—Chapelle remained to observe the transition, photographing crowds and soldiers in the capital. However, she grew disillusioned upon witnessing the revolutionary tribunals' proceedings, which resulted in the swift trials and firing-squad executions of hundreds of loyalists, often conducted publicly without . These events, coupled with the regime's pivot toward communist alliances and suppression of dissent, contradicted her expectations of democratic reform, prompting her to publicly oppose Castro's government thereafter. By 1961, Chapelle's break was evident in her involvement with anti-Castro exiles, including participation in a Commando-L raid alongside Cuban operatives, marking her shift to active resistance against what she perceived as a new tyranny. Her , What's a Woman Doing Here? (1962), detailed this evolution, framing the post-revolutionary excesses as a of the rebels' initial promises. This experience reinforced her broader anti-communist outlook, influencing her subsequent reporting on ideological conflicts.

Vietnam War Engagement

Embedments with U.S. Forces

Chapelle first embedded with U.S. forces in in 1961, accompanying American military advisors supporting South Vietnamese troops near the border, where she documented early combat engagements that contradicted official denials of direct U.S. involvement. Her photographs, including one of a Marine advisor alongside South Vietnamese soldiers under fire, provided the initial visual evidence of U.S. personnel in active combat roles, challenging claims of advisory-only missions. In May 1962, marking her 20th year as a war correspondent, Chapelle embedded with U.S. Marine helicopter units conducting aerial support operations against positions, capturing the intensity of helicopter-borne assaults in the . During this period, she noted personal connections with Marines whose fathers she had covered in Pacific campaigns, highlighting her longstanding rapport with U.S. troops. These embeds involved her traveling on UH-34 Choctaw helicopters, introduced for troop transport and heavy-lift roles starting around , though her 1962 work predated widespread deployment. Throughout her multiple Vietnam assignments, Chapelle conducted embeds along contested routes like the , often carrying a for while accompanying U.S. and allied Vietnamese units on patrols and search operations. As one of the few female photojournalists granted such access—a rarity in male-dominated embeds—she focused on ground-level movements, including seven parachute jumps with Vietnamese Airborne forces bolstered by U.S. advisory elements. Her final embed occurred during her fourth trip to in November 1965, when she joined a U.S. Marine platoon for Operation Black Ferret, a search-and-destroy mission launched on November 3 in the I Corps region near . On November 4, while on patrol in mountainous jungle terrain approximately 20 miles southeast of , Chapelle was killed by shrapnel from a booby-trapped , becoming the first American female correspondent to die in combat during the war; six were also wounded in the blast.

Pro-Military Reporting and Anti-Communist Stance

Chapelle's Vietnam dispatches portrayed U.S. and South Vietnamese troops as resolute defenders against communist expansion, embedding deeply with units to capture their operational realities and morale. In 1961, she pioneered coverage by living with anti-communist guerrillas in the —the first American journalist to do so—and parachuting seven times with the South Vietnamese Airborne Brigade, enduring 17 nights in the field, seven firefights, and a 200-mile jungle march. Her accounts praised the Airborne's agility and the guerrillas' resistance to infiltration, framing these efforts as vital to stemming Soviet-influenced insurgency. By 1965, while on assignment for the National Observer, Chapelle patrolled with the First and Third Battalions of the Seventh Marines Regiment—the first woman reporter accredited for such embeds—documenting patrols near and emphasizing the Marines' discipline amid ambushes and mine threats. She openly advocated for the war's anti-communist imperative, viewing as a pivotal battleground against totalitarian oppression, and urged greater U.S. commitment in letters to editors, likening her warnings of communist advances to the prophet Cassandra's unheeded pleas. Though Chapelle maintained a "see and report" in public, examinations of her private correspondence disclose an underlying pro-military partiality that shaped her selections of stories and images, prioritizing narratives of allied valor over systemic critiques, while her vocal pro-Americanism reinforced opposition to North Vietnamese and forces. This stance aligned her work with early-war hawks, contrasting emerging domestic skepticism, as she convinced editors to fund her returns to despite risks.

Death and Immediate Aftermath

Circumstances of Fatal Incident

On November 4, 1965, Dickey Chapelle was accompanying a U.S. Marine Corps platoon on patrol near in Quảng Ngãi Province, , as part of operations targeting positions. The lead Marine inadvertently triggered a consisting of an 81mm mortar round rigged with explosives, detonating the device and propelling shrapnel that struck Chapelle in the neck, severing her . Despite immediate medical efforts, she lost consciousness from blood loss and died aboard an evacuating before reaching a . The incident wounded six other but resulted from an enemy-placed improvised explosive, not .

Military Honors and Tributes

Chapelle's remains were repatriated to the under escort by a Marine honor guard following her death on November 4, 1965. She received a full on November 12, 1965, at Forest Home Cemetery in , , including rites performed by , an exceptional honor extended to few civilian journalists. In 2017, the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association posthumously named Chapelle an honorary United States Marine, acknowledging her repeated embeds with Marine units and her death alongside them in combat. This recognition, announced at the association's annual dinner, highlighted her as the first American female . The association also established the Dickey Chapelle Award in her memory to honor combat correspondents who exemplify her standards of courage and dedication.

Political Views and Controversies

Anti-Communism and Ideological Commitments

Chapelle's ideological commitments were rooted in fervent , which she viewed as a demanding unwavering U.S. and resolve. Her articles and private papers reveal a consistent advocacy for combating communist expansion, framing it as essential to preserving and democratic values against totalitarian threats. This stance extended beyond reporting to personal conviction, as evidenced by her embedding with anti-communist guerrilla units in the , where she became the first to parachute with South Vietnamese marines on operations targeting insurgents. Publicly outspoken, Chapelle proclaimed her pro-American patriotism and opposition to communism early in the Vietnam conflict, praising South Vietnamese forces' resilience and criticizing insufficient allied support that allowed Viet Cong gains. She expressed no sympathy for the National Liberation Front or Viet Cong, documenting their captures and propaganda materials in photographs that underscored her alignment with anti-communist allies. In her 1961 autobiography What's a Woman Doing Here?, she positioned herself as a dedicated patriot embedded in the global struggle against communism, rejecting neutral detachment in favor of advocacy for the U.S.-backed side. These commitments were shaped by earlier experiences, including disillusionment with Fidel Castro's regime after initial coverage of the Cuban , which prompted her shift toward explicit support for anti-communist causes worldwide. While her views emphasized empirical observation of communist atrocities and military necessities, they occasionally drew critique for blending journalism with ideological advocacy, though Chapelle defended this as truthful fidelity to the conflicts' stakes. Her correspondence indicates a broader commitment to individual and equality within an anti-totalitarian framework, tempering rigid with on-the-ground realism.

Criticisms of Bias and Professionalism

Chapelle's immersion with military units often led to criticisms that she compromised by blurring the lines between reporter and participant. Editors frequently expressed dissatisfaction with her unorthodox reporting style, which prioritized personal engagement over detached observation, resulting in work products deemed insufficiently professional. For instance, she routinely wore combat fatigues, adopted soldiers' , and identified closely with the troops she covered, practices that her editors viewed as eroding neutrality and inviting accusations of over . In specific conflicts, her reporting drew charges of partisan bias. During the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962), Chapelle embedded extensively with the National Liberation Front (FLN) rebels, producing sympathetic accounts that French authorities and some observers perceived as propagandistic; she was described as functioning as a "propaganda voice" for the insurgents, having been the first American correspondent to cover the conflict in depth from their perspective. Similarly, in , her staunch and early endorsements of the regime, coupled with calls for escalated U.S. troop commitments as early as 1964, prompted critiques from outlets favoring more skeptical coverage, framing her as aligned with military narratives rather than balanced inquiry. These assessments, often from editors and analysts emphasizing traditional detachment, contrasted with Chapelle's self-described commitment to experiential truth, though they highlighted tensions in her approach amid environments rife with propaganda pressures.

Publications

Authored Books

Chapelle authored three notable books, two early works under her maiden name Dickey Meyer promoting women's wartime contributions and a later autobiography chronicling her combat reporting career. Needed: Women in Government Service, published in 1942 by R. M. McBride & Company, argued for expanded federal employment opportunities for women amid World War II mobilization efforts, drawing on her observations of civil service needs. Similarly, Girls at Work in Aviation, released in 1943 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, highlighted training programs and job prospects for women in the aircraft industry, reflecting the era's push for female labor in defense production. Her most prominent work, What's a Woman Doing Here? A Reporter's Report on Herself, appeared in 1961 from , serving as an that recounted her embeds with U.S. Marines and other forces from through the early era. The book detailed her perseverance against gender barriers, including training as a parachutist and surviving injuries, while emphasizing firsthand accounts of military operations in the Pacific, Korea, Cuba, and . It earned her the Memorial Award for excellence in in 1962, recognizing its vivid portrayal of a female correspondent's frontline challenges. Chapelle's in the volume underscored her pro-military perspective, framing her reporting as a commitment to documenting American efforts against without romanticizing the hardships.

Photographic Contributions and Essays

Chapelle's photographic contributions emphasized immersive frontline documentation of military personnel and conflict zones, often paired with her own essays that underscored the strategic and human dimensions of warfare. Her images, captured during , the , and , appeared in outlets including National Geographic, Life, Reader's Digest, Cosmopolitan, and National Observer. These works typically featured close-range shots of troops in action, such as Marines training or Vietnamese paratroopers, reflecting her practice of embedding deeply with units to convey operational realities. Early collaborations with her husband, Tony Chapelle, produced photo essays for on international relief efforts. In April 1953, they co-authored "Report from the Locust Wars," illustrating anti-locust campaigns and humanitarian responses in affected regions. A 1956 photo essay extended this focus to post-World War II European reconstruction, highlighting rebuilding initiatives amid ongoing challenges. By the late , Chapelle shifted toward conflicts; in 1959, she photographed South Vietnamese forces patrolling the by , contributing to a feature on riverine warfare tactics. In Vietnam coverage from the early 1960s, her essays and images detailed U.S. and allied innovations, including helicopter assaults. A 1961 Reader's Digest piece recounted her embeds with the Vietnamese Airborne Brigade, involving seven parachute jumps and a 200-mile march, with photos capturing paratrooper maneuvers and endurance. For National Geographic in 1963, she documented aerial operations near Vinh Quoi, earning the National Press Photographers Association's Photograph of the Year for an image of soldiers in a hovering helicopter. Later Vietnam essays, such as a 1965 National Observer report on naval engagements, included visuals of patrols and captured Viet Cong, emphasizing adaptive combat strategies. Her Life contributions, notably from the 1956 Hungarian uprising, featured on-the-ground shots of resistance fighters and refugee aid, including her delivery of penicillin supplies. These pieces collectively advanced photojournalistic standards for war reporting by prioritizing verifiable tactical insights over detached observation.

Recognition and Legacy

Awards and Posthumous Honors

Chapelle was buried on November 12, 1965, at Forest Home Cemetery in , , with full military honors—a rare distinction extended to a civilian . In 1966, the U.S. Marine Corps dedicated a memorial plaque at the site of her death near , , where paused to honor her during the unveiling on November 4. The Marine Corps League, in partnership with the U.S. Marine Corps, established the annual Dickey Chapelle Award to recognize women who have significantly contributed to the morale and well-being of , honoring her legacy as a combat correspondent who covered from through . On September 15, 2017, Chapelle was posthumously designated an honorary Marine by Marine Corps Commandant General at the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association's annual banquet, acknowledging her embedded reporting with Marine units and her death alongside them in .

Influence on War Journalism and Gender Barriers


Dickey Chapelle advanced war journalism through her immersive frontline reporting, embedding with combat units across multiple conflicts and prioritizing firsthand observation over official briefings. Beginning in , she became the first woman accredited by the U.S. military as a war correspondent in 1942, though she faced expulsion for violating combat restrictions by entering forward areas. Her approach emphasized the human elements of warfare, capturing photographs and narratives that highlighted soldiers' morale, tactics, and daily hardships, as seen in her coverage of Marine operations in where she marched 200 miles, endured seven nights in the field, and came under fire multiple times in 1961. This method influenced subsequent reporters by demonstrating the value of direct participation in patrols and jumps, contributing to more authentic depictions of and . Chapelle shattered gender barriers in a male-dominated by securing unprecedented access to roles typically reserved for men. In , she became the only female photojournalist to parachute into with U.S. and South Vietnamese airborne forces, jumping seven times with units like the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. Despite facing skepticism and physical demands—such as passing Army fitness tests to prove her capability—she integrated with troops, sleeping in foxholes and riding into battle, which challenged assumptions about women's suitability for war zones. Her persistence earned respect from military personnel, who welcomed her presence from in 1945 onward, and she confronted abuses directly, such as reprimanding officers over prisoner treatment. Her legacy endures in paving the way for female war correspondents, inspiring figures like who followed similar paths in by 1967. Chapelle's 1962 George Polk Memorial Award for her reporting made her the second woman to receive it, recognizing her bravery and contributions to . Posthumously honored as an honorary in 2017, over five decades after her death, her work underscored the feasibility of women excelling in combat journalism, influencing the field's gradual acceptance of female embeds and ethical, on-the-ground storytelling.

References

  1. https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKchapelle.htm
  2. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/world-photography-day-dickey-chapelle-female-war-photographer-combat-vietnam
  3. https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS3953
  4. https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives%3Bcc=wiarchives%3Brgn=main%3Bview=text%3Bdidno=uw-whs-us0087af
  5. https://thewarhorse.org/first-to-the-front-story-of-war-journalist-dickey-chapelle/
  6. https://womeninwisconsin.org/profile/dickey-chapelle/
  7. https://www.nationalwomenshistoricalsociety.org/blog/2022/2/20/dickey-chapelle
  8. https://pbswisconsin.org/news-item/wisconsins-pioneering-war-correspondent-dickey-chapelle/
  9. https://www.vietnamwar50th.com/education/week_of_november_5/
  10. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/chapelle-georgette-meyer
  11. https://www.narratively.com/p/female-photojournalist-war
  12. https://thejourneytaken.wordpress.com/2016/07/17/dickey-chapelle-photojournalist/
  13. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS6260
  14. https://www.combat.ws/S3/BAKISSUE/CMBT04N3/DICKEY.HTM
  15. https://digicoll-dev.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives%3Bcc=wiarchives%3Bview=reslist%3Bsubview=standard%3Bdidno=uw-whs-us0087af%3Bfocusrgn=bioghist%3Bbyte=897760543
  16. https://www.pbs.org/video/behind-the-pearl-earrings-the-story-of-dickey-chapelle-com-xocfnc/
  17. https://archive.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/legendary-war-photographer-dickey-chapelle-back-in-focus-b99371912z1-279644882.html/
  18. https://theglindafactor.com/dickey-chapelle/
  19. https://www.technologyreview.com/2016/12/20/155119/the-frontline-reporter/
  20. https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/2023/07/10/dickey-chapelle-first-front-rinehart-lorissa-shorewood/70376420007/
  21. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS3953
  22. https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2017/07/24/photos-front-lines/
  23. https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;cc=wiarchives;rgn=main;view=text;didno=uw-whs-us0087af
  24. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS505
  25. https://www.americanheritage.com/dickey-chapelle-fight
  26. https://www.historynet.com/a-combat-photographers-initiation-on-iwo-jima/
  27. https://topanganewtimes.com/2023/08/25/dickey-chapelle/
  28. https://www.historynet.com/eyes-wide-open/
  29. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/a-tribute-to-a-pioneering-woman-war-correspondent
  30. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08821127.2005.10677642
  31. https://charterforcompassion.org/arts/arts/online-exhibits/dickey-chapelle/operation-squirrel-algeria.html
  32. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306484828_An_American_Journalist_in_the_Role_of_Partisan_-_Dickey_Chapelle%27s_Coverage_of_the_Algerian_War
  33. https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/green-sheet/2016/11/30/dickey-chapelle-covered-castro-cuban-revolution/94616774/
  34. https://charterforcompassion.org/arts/arts/online-exhibits/dickey-chapelle/assignment-in-cuba.html
  35. https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM84494
  36. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM84484
  37. https://www.vietnamwar50th.com/1965_stemming_the_tide/Photojournalist-Dickey-Chapelle-is-Killed/
  38. https://search.proquest.com/openview/21b9e6ae75d87ad8b3d81d2f4d785a0e/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
  39. https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/dickey-chapelle-first-female-photojournalist-killed-in-action/
  40. https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/dickey_chapelle_female_correspondent_killed_in_combat.php
  41. https://www.wnyc.org/story/138986-overseas-press-club-dickey-chapelle-1964/
  42. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2017/09/10/first-us-female-war-correspondent-to-die-in-combat-named-honorary-marine/
  43. https://apnews.com/general-news-62dd14080f2e48d18f3b0d3be5275f43
  44. https://marinemilitaryexpos.com/dickey-chapelle-award-sponsor/
  45. https://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/92319
  46. https://historybecauseitshere.weebly.com/journalists-in-history.html
  47. https://hundredheroines.org/historical-heroines/dickey-chapelle/
  48. http://search.proquest.com/openview/21b9e6ae75d87ad8b3d81d2f4d785a0e/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
  49. https://charterforcompassion.org/arts/arts/online-exhibits/dickey-chapelle/resources.html
  50. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/dickey-chapelle/whats-a-woman-doing-here/
  51. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/dickey-chapelle-under-fire/
  52. https://www.catscradlebks.net/pages/books/4000182/tony-and-dickey-chapelle/report-from-the-locust-wars-article-published-in-national-geographic-magazine-volume-103-number-4
  53. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM33133
  54. https://marinemilitaryexpos.com/dickey-chapelle-and-iron-mike-award-recipients/
  55. https://womenmarines.wordpress.com/2016/09/03/betty-moseley-brown-2016-dickey-chapelle-award-winner/
  56. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2017/09/15/shorewood-photographer-dickey-chapelle-who-died-vietnam-named-honorary-marine/669320001/
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