Dana Stone
Encyclopedia
Dana Stone was a U.S.
photo-journalist best known for his work for CBS
during the Vietnam War
.
Stone paid his own way to Vietnam in 1965, and became a stringer for UPI. A novice photographer when he arrived in Saigon, he soon became a combat photographer of note. He and his wife Louise left Saigon for Europe in 1968, but returned in 1970.
On April 6, 1970, Stone and his colleague Sean Flynn
were captured by the Viet Cong, after leaving Phnom Penh
on rented Honda motorbikes to find the front lines of fighting in Cambodia. Investigations by fellow photojournalist Tim Page, reported in the UK Sunday Times
on 24 March 1991, indicate that Stone and Flynn were taken first to the village of Sangke Kaong, and then to other villages before being handed over to the Khmer Rouge
. Page and a TV documentary maker tracked down an empty grave in a village known as Bei Met that had allegedly been the final resting place of two foreigners. Forensic examination of the few remains left in the grave suggested they belonged to a tall man and a short man – consistent with the appearance of Flynn and Stone respectively – and that both had died violently. In 2003, the Pentagon's Central Identification Lab in Hawaii confirmed by DNA testing that the remains found by Tim Page were actually of Clyde McKay, a boat hijacker and Larry Humphrey, an army deserter. Stone and Flynn's disappearance is chronicled in Perry Deane Young
's 1975 memoir, Two of the Missing.
His younger brother, John Thomas Stone, joined the U.S. Army in 1971, soon after graduating from high school, reportedly due in part to a desire to discover what had happened to his brother. He later served as a medic in the Vermont National Guard, and was killed by friendly fire
on March 29, 2006 in Afghanistan on his third tour.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
photo-journalist best known for his work for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Stone paid his own way to Vietnam in 1965, and became a stringer for UPI. A novice photographer when he arrived in Saigon, he soon became a combat photographer of note. He and his wife Louise left Saigon for Europe in 1968, but returned in 1970.
On April 6, 1970, Stone and his colleague Sean Flynn
Sean Flynn
Sean Leslie Flynn was an American actor and freelance photojournalist best known for his coverage of the Vietnam War. He started a news service in Saigon with John Steinbeck IV, son of the American author.Flynn was the only child of the marriage of Errol Flynn and Lili Damita...
were captured by the Viet Cong, after leaving Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
on rented Honda motorbikes to find the front lines of fighting in Cambodia. Investigations by fellow photojournalist Tim Page, reported in the UK Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
on 24 March 1991, indicate that Stone and Flynn were taken first to the village of Sangke Kaong, and then to other villages before being handed over to the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
. Page and a TV documentary maker tracked down an empty grave in a village known as Bei Met that had allegedly been the final resting place of two foreigners. Forensic examination of the few remains left in the grave suggested they belonged to a tall man and a short man – consistent with the appearance of Flynn and Stone respectively – and that both had died violently. In 2003, the Pentagon's Central Identification Lab in Hawaii confirmed by DNA testing that the remains found by Tim Page were actually of Clyde McKay, a boat hijacker and Larry Humphrey, an army deserter. Stone and Flynn's disappearance is chronicled in Perry Deane Young
Perry Deane Young
Perry Deane Young is a journalist, author, playwright, historian, and professional gardener. He is the author of Two of the Missing, about fellow journalists Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, who went missing during the Vietnam War and whose fates remain unknown, and the co-author of The David Kopay...
's 1975 memoir, Two of the Missing.
His younger brother, John Thomas Stone, joined the U.S. Army in 1971, soon after graduating from high school, reportedly due in part to a desire to discover what had happened to his brother. He later served as a medic in the Vermont National Guard, and was killed by friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
on March 29, 2006 in Afghanistan on his third tour.
See also
- Sean FlynnSean FlynnSean Leslie Flynn was an American actor and freelance photojournalist best known for his coverage of the Vietnam War. He started a news service in Saigon with John Steinbeck IV, son of the American author.Flynn was the only child of the marriage of Errol Flynn and Lili Damita...
- John Dawson DewhirstJohn Dawson DewhirstJohn Dawson Dewhirst was a British teacher and amateur yachtsman who was one of nine western adventurers that fell victim of the Khmer Rouge during the genocidal rule of Pol Pot. Dewhirst was one of two Britons to die in Pol Pot's Cambodia....
- TortureTortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
- Mayaguez IncidentMayagüez incidentThe Mayaguez incident between the Khmer Rouge and the United States from May 12–15, 1975, was the last official battle of the Vietnam War. The names of the Americans killed, as well as those of three Marines who were left behind on the island of Koh Tang after the battle and who were subsequently...