Anne Morrissy Merick
Anne Louise Morrissy Merick (October 28, 1933 – May 2, 2017) was a pioneering American journalist, best known for persuading the Pentagon to reverse an order, known as the "Westmoreland Edict", which effectively prevented female reporters from accompanying troops to the front lines in the Vietnam War.[1][2][3][4]
Anne Morrissy Merick | |
|---|---|
 Merick in 1954 | |
| Born | Anne Louise Morrissy October 28, 1933 |
| Died | May 2, 2017 (aged 83) |
| Education | Cornell University |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Spouse(s) | Wendell S. Merick
(m. 1969; died 1988)Don S. Janicek
(m. 2002; died 2016) |
| Children | 1 |
The edict had been issued by William Westmoreland. Westmoreland was the General appointed to take control of the US troops in Vietnam in 1964. The edict forbade women to be with troops overnight.[5]
Merick, then working in Saigon for ABC, she and Ann Bryan Mariano[3] organized women journalists to meet with the Ministry of Defense, who subsequently reversed the order.[1]
As a student sports journalist in the 1950s at Cornell University, she received national attention for her struggle to succeed despite sexism. She was the first woman sports editor at Cornell, and the first woman journalist credentialed for the press box at prestigious universities such as Cornell and Yale.[1][2]
References
- Sam Roberts, "Anne Morrissy Merick, a Pioneer from Yale to Vietnam, Dies at 83", The New York Times, May 9, 2017.
- Samantha Schmidt, "Anne Morrissy Merick, a Trailblazing Vietnam War Journalist, Dies at 83", The Washington Post, May 9, 2017.
- Associated Press, "Anne Morrissy Merick Obituary", published at Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2017.
- Rachel Vorona Cote, "Esteemed Vietnam War Journalist, Anne Merick, Dies at Age 83", Jezebel, May 8, 2017.
- Sebba, Anne (2017-05-15). "Anne Morrissy Merick obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-05-21.
Further reading
- Morrisy Merick et al., War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam (2002)
- Joyce Hoffmann, On Their Own: Women Journalists and the American Experience in Vietnam (2008)