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Pulitzer Journalist Philip Caputo, 84, Dies; Vietnam Memoir Icon

5/8/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Philip Caputo died of cancer at his Norwalk, Connecticut home on Thursday, age 84, his son Marc announced.
His 1977 memoir *A Rumor of War*, about his Marine platoon in Vietnam, sold two million copies and is a classic.
Critics John Gregory Dunne and Theodore Solotaroff called the memoir heartbreaking, terrifying and enraging, saying it forces readers to feel the war’s psychological and moral devastation.

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Story summary

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Philip Caputo died of cancer at his Norwalk, Connecticut home on Thursday, age 84, his son Marc announced.
His 1977 memoir *A Rumor of War*, about his Marine platoon in Vietnam, sold two million copies and is a classic.
Critics John Gregory Dunne and Theodore Solotaroff called the memoir heartbreaking, terrifying and enraging, saying it forces readers to feel the war’s psychological and moral devastation.