Le Minh Thai | War photographer, 93

Le Minh Thai, 93, a photojournalist who covered the Vietnam War for the Associated Press and Time Life, died Oct. 10 at a nursing home in Encinitas, Calif., his daughter, Quynh Thai, told the AP.

The eldest son of a merchant family in Vietnam's ancient port city of Hoi An, Mr. Thai went on to become a member of the Saigon press corps, who first worked for the AP in the 1950s and later for Time Life, covering his country's civil war, his daughter said.

He had strong contacts both in the government and among military brass of South Vietnam and was well-known for helping foreign journalists navigate their way through his homeland, the family said. The Vietnamese national was a favored photographer of the South Vietnamese president, Nguyen Van Thieu, who in 1967 requested Mr. Thai for his official portrait.

He covered the simmering tensions in Saigon as the war escalated, including demonstrations by Buddhist monks and students. In 1963, he helped Time magazine open a bureau in Saigon, his family said. Mr. Thai and his family left April 23, 1975, for the United States after months of working behind the scenes to help evacuate the Time Life staff, his family said. - AP