Stephen H. Warner, '68

As a student at Gettysburg, Stephen Warner was known for his intense interest in civil rights and social justice. Described by a professor as "radically intellectual," Warner wrote features for the Gettysburgian and helped found several campus organizations, including the Ad Hoc Committee Against the Vietnam War.

He had just finished his first year at Yale Law School when he was drafted and assigned to the Army public relations headquarters in Vietnam. He wrote about soldiers for distribution to their hometown newspapers, and also wrote for military newspapers, including Stars and Stripes. He always had a camera in hand.

In 1971, one week before his 25th birthday, Warner was killed in an ambush near the Laotian border.

Warner's Legacy to Gettysburg College

Warner bequeathed his photographs and writings to Gettysburg College. They comprise 4000 photographs and several boxes of journals, notebooks and letters. He also left funds to purchase books on Southeast Asia, peace studies and conflict resolution, in order to create an atmosphere of, as he put it, "intellectual excitement, doubt and challenge at the College."

In 1993, at what would have been his 25th reunion, the College presented an exhibit "Stephen H. Warner, 1946-1971: Words and Pictures from the Vietnam War." The exhibit was awarded a six-month run at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History.

Stephen H. Warner Photo

This photo of Stephen Warner is part of the Musselman Library exhibit, "Stephen H. Warner, 1946-1971: Words and Pictures from the Vietnam War." 

Want to know more?

View the full Stephen H. Warner Southeast Asia Photo Collection website

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Curated by Musselman Library