A Saigon Journal

Inside Television's First War

A Saigon Journal, Inside Television’s First War, recounts Ron Steinman’s tenure as bureau chief for NBC News in Saigon. It is an intimate and deeply personal recounting of many of the Vietnam War’s most difficult and harrowing days. These include the huge American buildup of troops, the famous hill battles in the Central Highlands, heavy fighting along the DMZ, the siege of Khe Sanh, riots against the government in the streets, Buddhist monks burning themselves to death in protest of the government and the Tet Offensive, the centerpiece of the book, when Hanoi attempted to take over South Vietnam but failed.

The book also recounts the personal story of Steinman’s romance with Josephine Tu Ngoc Suong, his future wife, and her near fatal accidental shooting. During this period television news learned to cover the war with correspondents and camera crews working alongside the troops, giving people at home an intimate view of what war was really like. Dubbed the living room war, people at home watched it unfold on TV over dinner and in their living rooms, something, until then that had not been possible.