Peter Arnett

Peter Gregg Arnett, the New Zealand-born journalist whose frontline war reporting from Vietnam to the Gulf War made him one of the most recognizable correspondents of his generation, died December 17, 2025, in Newport Beach, California. He was 91 and had been battling prostate cancer.

Born November 13, 1934, in Riverton, New Zealand, Arnett began his career at his local paper, The Southland Times, shortly after finishing high school. He never completed a college degree but went on to build a career that earned him global acclaim as a hard-charging reporter in some of the world's most dangerous conflicts.

Arnett first gained widespread attention for his coverage of the Vietnam War, where he reported for the Associated Press from 1962 to 1975. His eyewitness dispatches from the front lines won him the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting.

In one harrowing incident in January 1966, bullets from an enemy sniper tore through the map of a U.S. battalion commander standing inches from Arnett - a testament to the personal risk he embraced in pursuit of the story.

Arnett's fame extended beyond print journalism. In 1981, he joined CNN and, during the 1991 Gulf War, delivered live reports from Baghdad as Allied bombing began - a defining moment for both the network and modern war coverage.

Over a decades-long career, Arnett covered more than a dozen conflicts and secured rare interviews with figures such as Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. His work, including the memoir "Live from the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Baghdad, 35 Years in the World's War Zones," influenced generations of journalists.

Arnett's career was not without controversy. In 2003, he was dismissed from an assignment covering the Iraq War after comments made during an interview with Iraqi state media drew sharp criticism in the United States.

Beyond reporting, Arnett taught journalism at Shantou University in China beginning in 2007.

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

Reflecting on his colleague's legacy, Associated Press United Nations bureau chief Edith Lederer said, "Peter Arnett was one of the greatest war correspondents of his generation - intrepid, fearless, and a beautiful writer and storyteller."

By Legacy News Staff

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