Nine Men Down

As America continues to fight the war against terrorism and the US military is engaged in hotspots around the world for the foreseeable future, journalists will be among the casualties. Wartime journalists are driven by a personal sense of adventure, the thrill of an exclusive story and by a professional sense of mission. In addition, they face enormous pressure from bosses thousands of miles away to beat the competition, to be the first to capture a story. There are those who die doing it.

In 1970, scores of foreign journalists were sent to Cambodia to cover the fighting as the Vietnam War spilled over the border. In the span of several weeks 25 of them went missing or were confirmed killed. Nine of them disappeared and were executed in one day. Nine Men Down is a television special about the most tragic day in the history of modern journalism.

Nine Men Down is also the story of one of the journalists who survived—CBS cameraman Kurt Volkert. Volkert felt he should have been with the downed journalists that ill-fated day, but by a twist of fate he escaped his friends' tragic destiny. Volkert made it his life's mission to return to Cambodia to bring his dead friends home.

Nine Men Down revisits the war that shaped an entire generation. It tells the untold story of war journalists and pays tribute to those who died bringing us the news.

The program received a CINE Golden Eagle Award and a Gold Omni Media Award for Fall 2004. It was also selected for Hors Concours Screening at the 2005 Banff World Television Festival.

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