Remembering Halberstam

Re “Writer Halberstam dies in car crash,” April 24

The sudden and tragic loss of David Halberstam on Monday shook me to the core. I’ve always thought of him as one of our finest journalists, and beyond that, he became one of the most insightful writers of our time. His work showed us history’s impact on the present and how it informs the future. We are indebted to him. His book on the civil rights movement, “The Children,” was as powerful as any book could be. His death is something you don’t get over quickly.

DONALD SOMMERFIELD

Highland, Calif.

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As a Vietnamese, I mourn the passing of the great reporter David Halberstam. He was as true a reporter as the intended meaning of the word. During the tumultuous years of the war in Vietnam, Halberstam reported the truth, all the truth and only the truth -- from the dictatorship of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem to the infamous massacre at My Lai.

In his lifetime, Halberstam was accused by some Vietnamese, as well as some Americans, as being a leftist intellectual. But in the end, he will be deeply missed by many, Vietnamese and Americans, who are grateful for his honest reporting and who respect the truth as much as he did.

CHI HUU DO

Garden Grove