Joseph L. Galloway

Joseph Lee "Joe" Galloway (born November 13, 1941), is an American newspaper correspondent and columnist. He is the former Military Affairs consultant for the Knight-Ridder chain of newspapers and was a columnist with McClatchy Newspapers. During the Vietnam War, he often worked alongside the troops he covered and was awarded a Bronze Star for carrying wounded men to safety.

Personal life
Galloway is a native of Refugio, Texas. His first wife, Theresa M. Galloway (May 12, 1948-January 26, 1996), died of cancer. They had two sons, Joshua and Lee. In 1998, Galloway married Karen Metsker, daughter of Capt. Tom Metsker who was killed in action at Ia Drang in 1965. They were divorced in 2005. Galloway married Dr. Gracie Liem Lim Suan Tzu, a friend for more than 45 years, on May 13, 2012, in Las Vegas. Former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland, financier Dick Strong, and 7th Cavalry veterans John Henry Irsfeld, and Dennis Deal were in attendance. Mr. and Mrs. Galloway share their time between residences in North Carolina and Mr. Galloway's home county (Refugio County, Texas) in Bayside, in a cottage overlooking Copano Bay.

Newspapers
Galloway started his career at the The Victoria Advocate in Victoria, Texas, afterwards working for United Press International (UPI) in the Kansas City and Topeka bureaus. Later, he served overseas as bureau chief or regional manager in Tokyo, Vietnam, Jakarta, New Delhi, Singapore, Moscow, and Los Angeles.

During the Vietnam War, Galloway worked as a reporter for UPI, beginning in early 1965. Thirty-five years later, he was decorated with the Bronze Star for helping to rescue wounded American soldiers under fire during the battle at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley.

Galloway retired as a weekly columnist for McClatchy Newspapers in January 2010, writing, "I have loved being a reporter; loved it when we got it right; understood it when we got it wrong...In the end, it all comes down to the people, both those you cover and those you work for, with or alongside during 50 years."

Literature
Along with Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore, Galloway co-authored a detailed account of those experiences in the best-selling 1992 book, We Were Soldiers Once… And Young. A sequel was released in 2008: We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam and Moore and Galloway gave an interview on the book at the Pritzker Military Library on September 17, 2008.

In Popular Culture
In We Were Soldiers, a 2002 film based on his 1992 book, Galloway is portrayed by actor Barry Pepper.

Actor Edward Burns portrayed him in the film Vietnam in HD.

Narration
Galloway narrated A Flag Between Two Families, a documentary film based on the events of May 9, 1968 in Vietnam by the members of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry.

Awards
In 1991, Galloway received a National Magazine Award for a U.S. News cover article on the Ia Drang battles in Vietnam. In 1992, he received the New Media Award of the National VFW for his coverage of the Persian Gulf War for U.S. News. In 2002 Galloway received the Robert Denig Award for Exceptional Service of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Assn. In 2006 he received the Tex McCrary Award of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

In 1998, Galloway received the Bronze Star with Valor. The medal was in recognition of his heroism at the November, 1965 Battle of Ia Drang, the first major conflict fought by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War. Galloway was present as a journalist, and during the fighting he repeatedly disregarded his own safety to rescue wounded soldiers under fire. His was the only Bronze Star for Valor awarded by the Army to a civilian for actions in Vietnam. His actions are depicted in the film We Were Soldiers in which he is portrayed by Barry Pepper.