War Reporter
ARTHUR ZICH '56 describes himself as a commuter. His job of writing war stories for TimeLife takes him from his home in Hong Kong to Vietnam at one- to three-week intervals.
Art is an Air Force veteran who studied Japanese and Mandarin Chinese at Yale's Institute of Far Eastern Languages.
A recent Life description of his experiences returning from an interview with Captain William (Lonely End) Carpenter, the hero who called in napalm on his own position . . .
"Caught frantic night jeep ride over insecuredirt road on which VC mine killed one, woundedtwo, hours before. Choppered Kontumwardthrough opaque fog, accidentally skirting blazingfan of artillery fire when pilot unappraised of.Begged CC-130 lift from cool-cat airman whoinformed me I smell bad, outrode stomach-turningthunderstorms to arrive Saigon past midnightcurfew. Taxiless, walked estimated additionalthree miles before hitching ride on backa garbagetruck (now I do smell bad). Have rash on myneck from bamboo fleas."
... is a bit different from a ride on the 6:06 from Grand Central to New Jersey.
Art disclaims any personal heroics in doing his job and says his experiences are on a par with those of other newsmen there.
He describes a fairly easy week: "I was gassed countless times, hit on the forehead with a rock (the gas mask saved me from a nasty cut), chased for three blocks by about a dozen punks throwing more rocks, and finally engulfed inside a car by a mob bent on beating the car's contents and burning the car, hopefully with us inside it.
"Romance and excitement? Forget it. It's grubby, grisly, and a place unfit for man or beast. But as a journalist, it's also the most important and compelling and complicated story in the world, which is why I went there in the first place."
The wives of "commuting" husbands probably have the hardest time, he says.
"Mine's great. She puts up with the endless war stories, runs the house (a flat on the back side of Hong Kong Island), teaches English to 40 refugees, is learning Cantonese, makes her own clothes, and cooks like Maxim's."
Art calls his weeks in Hong Kong with wife Janet and four-year-old daughter Shortie idyllic. "Usually I'm loafing around some lovely island in my yacht, feet up on the cockpit, gin and Schweppes in hand. Occasionally the idyll is interrupted by blasting at some construction site or other, and at such times I invariably and immediately go directly over the side."
