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Letter to the editor

Combat cameraman Robert Hecox dies at 93

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 8, 2007

GULFPORT - Robert Hecox, a combat cameraman who captured the creation of Israel, wars in Vietnam and Korea and major stories around the world for Paramount News, NBC and the Associated Press, has died at 93.

Mr. Hecox, who died Aug. 1, had been in failing health for the last few months, said his wife of 60 years, Helen Hecox.

Working first in black and white and then in color, Mr. Hecox shot from war zones across the globe. A military cameraman during World War II, he moved to Paramount News, where his film during the creation of Israel was shown across the United States as part of newsreels before feature films.

"He had to be always right on the spot being the cameraman. He couldn't be informed by briefings," his wife said. "The one who takes the pictures has to always be right on the spot, slogging through the rice paddies in Vietnam."

But Mr. Hecox did lighter work, too. Working for NBC, he traveled to Monaco with movie star Grace Kelly to capture her wedding to Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956.

Mr. Hecox was born in Greenville, Mich., in 1914. He started his career as a cameraman for the Army in World War II, covering the Allied advance north from Rome.

He later hopscotched around the globe, filming from locations as diverse as Greece and Taiwan. He also filmed from Vietnam's Dien Bien Phu before the battle, which led to the French withdrawal from the country.

From 1963 to 1965, he worked for AP's radio department in New York. After moving to Florida in the late 1970s, he became a proofreader for the St. Petersburg Times.

Mr. Hecox had two brothers who predeceased him. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Judith Utter of Arizona.

[Last modified August 7, 2007, 23:19:13]