Joseph L. Galloway

• Name — Joseph L. Galloway • Birth Name — Joseph Lee Galloway • Born — 13 November 1941 • Birthplace — Bryan, Texas, U.S. • Died — 18 August 2021 • Place of death — Concord, North Carolina, U.S. • Occupation — Journalist, Author, Social Speaker • Awards — * National Magazine Award (1991), • New Media Award of the National VFW for coverage of the Persian Gulf War (1992), • Order of Saint Maurice (2000), • Bronze Star Medal (1998) for his actions during the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965

Galloway was born in Bryan, Texas, on November 13, 1941. His father, Joseph, fought in the U.S. Army during World War II; his mother was Marian Dewvall. His family relocated to Refugio, Texas, after his father was employed by Humble Oil upon his return from military service. Galloway initially enrolled in community college in 1959, but dropped out after six weeks to join the Army. His mother convinced him to go into journalism, and he subsequently majored in the subject at Victoria College.

Galloway started his career at The Victoria Advocate in Victoria, Texas, afterwards working for United Press International (UPI) in the Kansas City and Topeka bureaus. Later, he served overseas as bureau chief or regional manager in Tokyo, Vietnam, Jakarta, New Delhi, Singapore, Moscow, and Los Angeles. He worked as a reporter for UPI during the early part of Vietnam War in 1965. Thirty-three years later, he was decorated with the Bronze Star for helping to rescue a badly wounded soldier while under enemy fire on November 15, 1965, during the Battle of Ia Drang at Landing Zone X-Ray in Vietnam. Galloway retired as a weekly columnist for McClatchy Newspapers in January 2010, writing, "I have loved being a reporter; loved it when we got it right; understood it when we got it wrong...In the end, it all comes down to the people, both those you cover and those you work for, with or alongside during 50 years."

In We Were Soldiers, a 2002 film based on his 1992 book, Galloway is portrayed by actor Barry Pepper. Actor Edward Burns portrayed him in the miniseries Vietnam in HD, and Tommy Lee Jones played him in the 2017 film Shock and Awe.

Galloway narrated A Flag Between Two Families, a documentary film, based on the events of May 9, 1968, in Vietnam by the members of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry.

Galloway married his first wife, Theresa Magdalene Null, in September 1966 and they remained married until her death on January 26, 1996, from cancer. Together they had two sons, Joshua and Lee. In 1998, Galloway married Karen Metsker, daughter of Captain Thomas Metsker who was Hal Moore's Intelligence Officer and was killed in action in 1965 at the Battle of Ia Drang in the Vietnam War. After they divorced in 2003, he married Gracie Liem Lim Suan Tzu, a friend for more than 45 years, on May 13, 2012, in Las Vegas. In attendance at the ceremony was former U.S. Senator Max Cleland and 7th Cavalry veterans John Henry Irsfeld and Dennis Deal. The Galloways resided in Concord, North Carolina. Galloway died on the morning of August 18, 2021, at a hospital in Concord, North Carolina. He was 79, and suffered from a heart attack prior to his death.

In January 2025, President Joe Biden named Galloway as a recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal.