Les Wasley as a cameraman for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), South Vietnam 1975, interviewed by David Bradbury

Wasley speaks of working, as a cameraman, with ABC television journalist Alan Hogan; his arrival in South Vietnam in April 1975; his impressions of Saigon as a peaceful city despite the curfews at night; hearing explosions from the Mekong Delta area in his hotel room at night; an explosion at Bien Hoa ammunition dump; his motivation for going to Vietnam; his ability to overcome his fear when filming for a story; a famous incident at Xuan Loc where he kept filming with a camera tucked under his arm as he and Alan Hogan were boarding an evacuation helicopter; being kept awake at night in Saigon by explosions from the Mekong Delta area; his relief at leaving Vietnam; his war service in Korea; comparisons between the war in Korea and the war in Vietnam; one Sydney journalist's inability to control his fear in Vietnam; his wife's reaction to him accepting a job in Vietnam; his departure from South Vietnam two weeks before the end of the war; his inability to help the South Vietnamese people who were trying to escape.
A transcript of this recording may be available. For further information please contact the Sound section.