Roll of Honor

Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps (NROTC) parade, 1965 Columbian


Putnam Welles Hangen

  • School: Journalism
  • Class Year: 1966
  • War: Vietnam War
  • Date of Death: June 1970

Putnam Welles Hangen, a former lieutenant in the U.S. Army and New York Times writer, was working as an NBC-TV correspondent in Vietnam when, during the American invasion of Cambodia, he and a crew entered that nation and were captured by Khmer Rouge guerrillas on May 31, 1970. It is believed that they were executed three days later. Hangen was 40 years old. His body was found 22 years later by a joint American-Cambodian search team, and he was buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetery on January 29, 1993. A collection of his audio and video tapes was later installed at the Museum of Broadcasting in New York City.

Putnam Welles Hangen
Putnam Welles Hangen

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