LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter Arnett, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who spent decades documenting the realities of war from the rice paddies of Vietnam to the deserts of Iraq, has passed away at the age of 91.
Arnett, honored with the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for his international reporting during the Vietnam War for The Associated Press, died on Wednesday in Newport Beach, surrounded by family and friends, according to his son Andrew Arnett. He had entered hospice care just days earlier, battling prostate cancer.
Though Arnett was a familiar name among journalists covering Vietnam from 1962 until the war’s conclusion in 1975, he rose to national prominence in 1991 when he provided live reports for CNN during the first Gulf War.
While most Western journalists evacuated Baghdad before the U.S.-led attack, Arnett remained, delivering a harrowing live broadcast from his hotel room as missiles struck nearby. “There was an explosion right near me, you may have heard,” he reported, his New Zealand accent calm even amid chaotic air-raid sirens.
Close Calls in Combat
Arnett's career was defined by his proximity to danger. In January 1966, while embedded with a U.S. battalion, he witnessed a colonel get shot inches from him, forever etching the sobering realities of war into his memory.
He recalled, “As the colonel peered at it I heard four loud shots as bullets tore through the map and into his chest.” This incident would foreshadow the historic obituaries he would write throughout his career.
After some initial struggles—including his dismissal from Indonesia after reporting on the nation's economic issues—Arnett became an integral part of the AP’s Saigon bureau, honing his skills alongside other notable journalists.
He remained in Vietnam until the fall of Saigon in 1975, storing valuable papers from his tenure that would eventually find their way into the AP archives.
Rise to Prominence in Broadcast Journalism
In 1981, Arnett joined CNN, further elevating his profile in journalism. He made headlines again in 1991 with his reports from Baghdad and secured controversial interviews with key figures, including then-President Saddam Hussein.
His memoir, “Live From the Battlefield,” published in 1995, chronicled his extraordinary adventures over three and a half decades.
Despite facing professional turmoil—including being fired from CNN in 1999 and criticized for his comments on U.S. military strategies—Arnett’s fervor for journalism remained unwavering, leading him to work for various international media outlets even after retirement.
In his later years, he taught journalism at Shantou University in China and settled in Southern California with his wife, Nina Nguyen.
Born on November 13, 1934, in Riverton, New Zealand, Arnett's career began in the local newspaper shortly after high school. His journalistic journey took him across the globe, documenting conflicts and exposing truths.
Peter Arnett is survived by his wife and their two children, Elsa and Andrew.
