Pulitzer Winner Peter Arnett, War Correspondent, Passes Away

Peter Arnett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist known for his fearless coverage of war and conflict across the globe, has passed away at the age of 91. His death occurred in Newport Beach, where he was surrounded by loved ones, as confirmed by his son, Andrew Arnett. He had been admitted to hospice care on Saturday after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Arnett's career began in the 1960s as a wire-service correspondent for The Associated Press, covering events in Vietnam from 1962 until the war ended in 1975. However, it was during the 1991 Gulf War that he became widely recognized by the public. While most Western journalists evacuated Baghdad ahead of the U.S.-led attack, Arnett chose to stay and report live updates for CNN.

During one of his broadcasts, he described the chaos unfolding around him while sitting in his hotel room. “There was an explosion right near me, you may have heard,” he said calmly over the phone. Moments later, the sound of a missile strike echoed through the air, followed by the blaring of air-raid sirens in the background. “I think that took out the telecommunications center,” he added, describing another explosion. “They are hitting the center of the city.”

This moment solidified Arnett’s reputation as a journalist who consistently placed himself in the heart of danger. His bravery was not new; he had faced life-threatening situations before. In January 1966, he joined a U.S. battalion in Vietnam and was standing next to the battalion commander when the soldier was shot dead by a sniper. Arnett recalled the incident in a 2013 speech, describing how the bullets tore through the map the colonel was holding and into his chest.

He wrote the obituary of the fallen officer, reflecting on the tragic irony of his death: “He was the son of a general, a West Pointer and a battalion commander. But Lt. Colonel George Eyster was to die like a rifleman.”

Arnett’s journey to journalism began in New Zealand, where he worked at the Southland Times shortly after high school. He later moved to Thailand, where he fell in love with the country and began working for the Bangkok World and its sister newspaper in Laos. These experiences led him to join The Associated Press, marking the start of a legendary career.

At the AP’s Saigon bureau, Arnett worked alongside notable journalists such as Malcolm Browne and Horst Faas, who would go on to win multiple Pulitzers. Browne, in particular, taught Arnett survival techniques that would keep him safe in war zones for decades. Among these tips were avoiding proximity to medics or radio operators, as they were often targeted, and not looking back if a gunshot came from the other side, as the next one might hit.

Arnett remained in Vietnam until the fall of Saigon in 1975. As the war wound down, he was ordered to destroy the bureau’s papers, but instead, he sent them to his apartment in New York, believing they would hold historical value. They are now part of the AP archives.

After leaving the AP in 1981, Arnett joined CNN, where he covered the 1991 Gulf War. He gained attention for conducting exclusive interviews with Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. In 1995, he published his memoir, “Live From the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Baghdad, 35 Years in the World's War Zones.”

His career was not without controversy. In 1999, he resigned from CNN after the network retracted an investigative report he did not prepare but narrated. Later, during the 2003 Iraq War, he was fired from NBC and National Geographic for granting an interview to Iraqi state TV, where he criticized the U.S. military’s strategy. Despite this, he quickly found work with international stations in Taiwan, the UAE, and Belgium.

In 2007, Arnett took a teaching position at Shantou University in China. After retiring in 2014, he and his wife, Nina Nguyen, moved to Fountain Valley, California.

Born on November 13, 1934, in Riverton, New Zealand, Arnett always felt a deep connection to journalism. “I didn’t really have a clear idea of where my life would take me, but I do remember that first day when I walked into the newspaper office as an employee and found my little desk, and I did have a — you know — enormously delicious feeling that I'd found my place,” he reflected in a 2006 AP oral history.

Arnett is survived by his wife, Nina Nguyen, and their children, Elsa and Andrew.