| Cork Graham | |
|---|---|
 El Salvador: circa 1986 | |
| Born | Frederick Kurt Graham November 29, 1964 Trinidad and Tobago |
| Occupation | Author, Screenwriter, Journalist |
| Nationality | American |
| Notable work(s) | The Bamboo Chest |
Influences | |
Cork Graham (born November 29, 1964) is an award-winning American journalist, film producer, director, screenwriter, best-selling author, and actor. Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. A war correspondent is a Journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. A film producer is a person who creates the conditions for making movies. A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. Screenwriters or scenarists are Scriptwriters who write the Screenplays from which Films and Television programs are made An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works
Contents |
Early life
Born Frederick Kurt Graham in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, he goes by the name Cork Graham since he was adopted by an Oglala Lakota family on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Port of Spain is the Capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third largest municipality after Chaguanas The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ˈtrɪnɪdæd ən təˈbeɪgoʊ is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American The Oglala Lakota or Oglala Sioux, (ogəˈlala meaning "to scatter one's own" in Siouan, live in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ( Oglala Oyanke in Lakota, also called Pine Ridge Agency) is an Out of respect to his extended family, he goes by the first name of the family’s son who died as a result of spinal meningitis. Meningitis is Inflammation of the protective membranes covering the Brain and Spinal cord, known collectively as the Meninges.
Cork Graham is an 8th generation descendant[1] of David Graham[2], who was born in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Ireland in 1731, arrived in Charleston, South Carolina aboard the Pennsylvania Farmer[3] on December 19, 1772, was granted 400 acres (1. David Graham may refer to David Graham (photographer, American photographer David Graham (author, pen name of British writer Robert Ballymoney ( is a small Town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. County Antrim ( Contae Aontroma or simply Aontroim in Irish) is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, and one of nine counties Charleston is a city in Charleston county in the US state of South Carolina. 6 km²) of land near a branch of Rocky Creek in Chester County, South Carolina in January of 1773; and then, fought for the Continental Army at the Battle of King's Mountain[4]. Chester County is a County located in the US state of South Carolina. The American Continental Army was an Army formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America Cork Graham has Scots-Irish, German, Swiss, Spanish and Quechua heritage. The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as Quechua ( Runa Simi) is a Native American language of South America. His last name origin is Clan Graham. History Origins of the Clan The early history of the Grahams of Scotland remains complex
The son of an American businessman and Ecuadorian mother, Cork Graham lived his early years in Southeast Asia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Ecuador topics. From 1968 to 1977 he lived in Saigon, South Vietnam and the Republic of Singapore, attending the Phoenix Study Group and Singapore American School. "RVN" redirects here RVN is also the former callsign of a TV station in Wagga Wagga New South Wales Australia Singapore As a result of cultural immersion he was by age six fluently speaking English, French, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Returning to the United States in 1977, Graham graduated from Carlmont High School in Belmont, CA in 1982. Carlmont High School is an American public high school located in Belmont, California, United States serving grades 9-12 as part of the Sequoia Union Belmont is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. Entering UC Berkeley as a midshipman 4/C with a Naval Aviator option at Naval Air Station Pensacola, he studied electrical engineering (He would receive a BA in English and journalism from SFSU in 1997). The University of California Berkeley (also referred to as Cal, Berkeley and UC Berkeley) is a major research university located in Berkeley For the fish called midshipman see Midshipman fish. The rank of midshipman is one of the oldest ranks still in existence A United States Naval Aviator is a pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard. Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola, "The Cradle of Naval Aviation" is a United States Navy base located in Warrington, Florida San Francisco State University (informally referred to as San Francisco State, SF State, State and SFSU) is a public University
Professional Life
Vietnam
His studies suffered due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that had been plaguing him since living in and observing the war in South Vietnam, starting with the Tet Offensive (Second Phase May Offensive)[5] of 1968, he dropped out during his freshman year at Berkeley; and on a dare, bought camera equipment and a plane ticket to Bangkok, Thailand in order to become a combat photojournalist[6] like his heroes: Robert Capa, Tim Page, Dana Stone, Larry Burrows and especially Sean Flynn. Post traumatic stress disorder It is a severe and ongoing emotional reaction to Post traumatic stress disorder It is a severe and ongoing emotional reaction to The Tet Offensive was a military campaign conducted between 30 January and 23 September 1968, by forces of the Vietcong, or National Front for During the early morning hours of 4 May communist units initiated PHASE II of the Tet Offensive of 1968 (also known as the May Offensive, "Little Tet" Bangkok, known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (krūŋtʰêːp máhǎːnákʰɔn) or Krung Thep ( for short is the Capital, largest Photojournalism is a particular form of Journalism (the collecting editing and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast that creates images in order to tell Robert Capa ( Budapest, October 22 1913 &ndash May 25 1954) was a 20th century combat Photographer who covered five different Tim Page (born May 25 1944 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent) is an award-winning English photographer who made his name during the Vietnam Dana Stone (born 1939 in North Pomfret, Vermont; believed killed 1971 Bei Met, Cambodia) was a U Larry Burrows (born May 29, 1926 in London - died February 10, 1971 in Laos) was an English Photographer Sean Leslie Flynn (born May 31, 1941, disappeared while in Cambodia on April 6 1970 (declared legally dead in 1984 believed killed by Khmer Rouge
He freely admits the idolism had a morbid propensity. Not having any standard training in combat journalism, much less photography, Graham’s venture seemed more like a lark than an actual career decision. [7]
Surprisingly, Graham got assignments from Reuters and the Associated Press, through the luck of gaining the mentoring of such journalistic luminaries as the father of Thai actor, Ananda Everingham, John Everingham, an Australian photojournalist, who garnered fame by sneaking his wife out of Laos in the late 1970s, by swimming her out under the Mekong River using scuba (the story was turned into a movie by Michael Landon, called Love is Forever[8]). This article is primarily about Reuters prior to its 2008 merger with Thomson The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio Ananda Everingham ( Thai: th อนันดา เอเวอริ่งแฮม born 31 May 1982 in Thailand) is a Thai film actor and model John Everingham is an Australian journalist residing in Thailand Laos (ˈlɑːoʊs or /ˈlaʊs/ officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a Landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma The Mekong is one of the world’s major Rivers It is the 11th-longest river in the world and 7th longest in Asia Michael Landon ( October 31 1936 - July 1 1991) was an American Actor, writer director, and producer Graham photographed the anti-communist resistance of the Hmong people fighting the Pathet Lao and the fighting between Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese in what was then called Kampuchea, an adventure that almost led to his being killed. The terms Hmong (m̥ɔ̃ŋ and Mong ( both refer to an Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southern China. The Pathet Lao ( Lao ປະເທດລາວ, "Land of Laos" was a communist, Nationalist Political movement and Democratic Kampuchea (កម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ (Kampuchéa Démocratique Vietnamese: Kampuchea Dân chủ) was a
News at the time was Col. Bo Gritz's forays into Laos after American POWs left from the Vietnam War. James Gordon "Bo" Gritz (born May 18, 1939 in Enid Oklahoma) was a United States Army Special Forces officer during the Graham's first assignment was an attempt to enter Laos with Hmong fighters to search for supposed MIAs and lost reporters Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, who had been seen travelling under NVA guard through the area years before. The terms Hmong (m̥ɔ̃ŋ and Mong ( both refer to an Asian ethnic group in the mountainous regions of southern China. Missing in action is a status assigned to a member of the armed services who is reported missing following combat The Hmong were ambushed on the Lao side by Pathet Lao. Rumor is they were Hmong drug-runners of an opposing faction and not Pathet Lao. Graham lost his first set of camera equipment in the event. He swam the full width of the river near Vientienne, with a lifeguard hold on a wounded Hmong teenager. The 14-year-old died from his wounds at Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand. [9]
“I credit my natural ability to having looked at all my father’s Time (magazine) and National Geographic since my earliest memories,” he says. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Overview The NGS's historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural historical and natural [10]
Fresh from California, Graham earned international notoriety as the teenaged photojournalist invited on a treasure hunting expedition to a forbidden island in Vietnamese waters in the Thai Gulf, called interestingly enough, Iles Des Pirates (Pirates Islands in French), twelve miles (19 km) west of Ha Tien. Hà Tiên or Ha Tien is a town ( thị xã) in Kien Giang Province, Tay Nam Bo of Vietnam
| Release from Vietnam Prison | |
|---|---|
 SF Chronicle, May 19, 1984 |
Graham and the leader of the expedition, Richard Knight[11], a British comedy actor-turned treasure hunter, were captured by island militia. Treasure hunting is the search for real Treasure which has been a notable human activity for Millennia. Knight was following a theory he developed after disagreeing with the thesis put across in a book about the Oak Island Money Pit Mystery by Rupert Fourneaux, called The Money Pit Mystery. TalkOak Island. If you believe this article can be improved either make the necessary changes yourself or state your [12] They were imprisoned at the Kien Giang Province political prison on false charges of spying for the Central Intelligence Agency. Kiên Giang ( Hán tự: 堅[[wikt 江|江]] is a southern province of Vietnam known for Fishing and Rice farming Knight had the incredible, though heavily researched, theory that Captain Kidd had always been a pirate, long before his more famous trial, and buried treasure there while marauding Dutch ships from Indonesia[13]. William " Captain " Kidd ( c 1645 &ndash May 23, 1701) was a Scottish sailor remembered for his Treasure (from Greek θησαυρος Thesaurus, meaning "a treasure of the chest" is a Cognate) is a concentration of riches often one
Negotiations for Graham’s freedom were especially aggravated by the fact that in 1983 the US and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) didn’t have normalized relations and so no American Embassy in Saigon, where the two were eventually moved. Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially All negotiations for Graham’s freedom were handled through the British Embassy in Hanoi—the SRV didn’t admit for the first three months of their imprisonment and heavy-handed interrogations of the two men.
Investigators from the Defense Intelligence Agency’s POW/MIA Division[14], now called the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA), confirmed the two’s capture by interviewing Thai fisherman who had been held at the same prison in Rach Gia, Kien Giang Province. The POW/MIA flag is an American flag designed as a symbol of the citizens concern about the United States military personnel taken as prisoners of war and Missing The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC is a joint Task force within the United States Department of Defense (DOD whose mission is to account for all United States Rạch Giá is the capital city of Kien Giang Province, Vietnam. This led to an uproar in the press community, who reminded the Vietnamese government that Graham was a journalist and should have been released immediately.
Once the SRV had to admit to holding Graham and Knight, they were put through a mock trial and given a ransom of $10,000 for Graham and 6,000 Pounds for Knight[15]. Since it was classified as a ransom by the US government, the Reagan administration shied away from permitting any loans to the Graham family. The United States Presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan Administration, was a Republican administration headed by A “Free Freddie Fund” was created and 11 months after his capture Graham was released. During his first interviews about what he would do when he returned to California, he answered, "Surf!"[16]
One of the frontpage headlines that week: "Make Way Indiana Jones, Here Comes Freddie Graham Jr. "[17]
Good Morning America had a very pregnant Joan Lunden interview Graham the week he was released in May, 1984. Good Morning America ( GMA) is a morning news show that is broadcast on the ABC television network debuting on November Joan Lunden (born September 19, 1950) is an American broadcaster most recently the host of the CBS reality series Wickedly Perfect, and was
Central America
Soon after his return Graham continued in combat journalism as a stringer for the Associated Press in Central America. His arrival was two weeks after the infamous Zona Rosa attacks of 1985. The Zona Rosa attack was a terrorist attack that took place in the Zona Rosa nightclub area of San Salvador, El Salvador at approximately 2130 on During his coverage of the war in El Salvador, he became the second American to complete the naval special forces course created by the CIA and US Navy SEALs in La Union, El Salvador. near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all La Unión is a Municipality in the La Unión department of El Salvador. He covered the Salvadoran Civil War from 1985 until 1989. The Salvadoran Civil War (1980–1992 was between the Right-wing Military government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation The school was initial commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Albert Schaufelberger after command moved from the CIA to the US Navy and MILGROUP--Lt. Albert Schaufelberger (died May 25, 1983) was a United States naval commander who was Assassinated in El Salvador. Cmdr. Albert Schaufelberger was assassinated by the FMLN in 1983. .
During the June 19, 1986, FMLN overrun of the Salvadoran Army's 3rd Brigade base at San Miguel, El Salvador, Graham was wounded by bullet fragments and RPG shrapnel. The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (in Spanish: Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) is a Left-wing political San Miguel is the third most important and populous City in El Salvador. A bullet is a solid Projectile propelled by a Firearm or Air gun and is normally made from metal (usually Lead) RPG or rocket-propelled grenade, is a loose term describing hand-held shoulder-launched Anti-tank weapons capable of firing an unguided Shrapnel is the term originally applied to an anti-personnel artillery shell which carried a large number of individual bullets to the target and then ejected them forwards relying [18]
During hiatus from covering Central America in 1985 and 1987, Graham took fashion and glamour assignments from Vogue (French[19]/German[20] Editions). Fashion photography is a genre of Photography devoted to displaying Clothing and other Fashion items Glamour photography is the photographing of a model with the emphasis on the subject Vogue is a Fashion and lifestyle Magazine published in eighteen countries by Condé Nast Publications.
The worst years of the war in Central America were 1979 to 1982, 1986-88, and 1990.
Post-war
Returning to school in 1994, he graduated from California State University San Francisco (SFSU) with a BA in English and journalism, while also writing for the largest family-owned newspaper in the United States, The Times of San Mateo County. San Francisco State University (informally referred to as San Francisco State, SF State, State and SFSU) is a public University Every week he entertained and informed readers through his outdoors column, gaining him the Garry Nivers Award for Sportswriting. He continues to freelance for outdoor adventure magazines, along with producing hunting and fishing video productions. [21]
Graham has also written for Playboy, the New York Times, the WSJ, Field and Stream, Sports Afield, Outdoor Life, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Playboy is an American Men's magazine, founded in Chicago Illinois, by Hugh Hefner and his associates which has grown into Playboy Field & Stream ( F&S for short is a magazine featuring Hunting, Fishing, and other outdoor activities in the United States Sports Afield was founded in 1887 as a hunting and fishing Magazine by Claude King and is the oldest outdoor publication in North America Outdoor Life is an outdoors magazine about Hunting, Fishing, Survival and Camping. The San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H
From 1992 to 1997, Cork Graham was a counselor for Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. [22] and the Native American Health Center, Inc. [23]. His specialty was assisting clients confront and deal with PTSD. Post traumatic stress disorder It is a severe and ongoing emotional reaction to
He is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity. This article is about the student fraternity in the United States ATO was founded by three teenaged, anti-war veterans of the American Civil War at VMI, one who became the founder of Glendale, CA. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South The Virginia Military Institute ( VMI) located in Lexington Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior Glendale ( is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States.
During the Technology Gold Rush of the 1990s he worked in the Silicon Valley ending as director of technical publications for the Quack.com division of America Online, Inc. For the valley nicknamed "Silicone Valley" see San Fernando Valley. Quackcom was founded in 1998 by Steven Woods, Jeromy Carriere and Alex Quilici as a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (AOL). He also worked as a technical recruiter and sales copywriter. A recruiter is someone engaging in Recruitment, which is the solicitation of individuals to fill jobs or positions within any group such as a Corporation Copywriting is the use of words to promote a Person, Business, Opinion, or Idea.
In 2004, his memoir, The Bamboo Chest: An Adventure in Healing the Trauma of War about his childhood in Vietnam and healing PTSD while incarcerated in Vietnam in 1983 – 1984 became a Topseller on Amazon.com, holding at #2 for three weeks. Amazoncom Inc ( is an American electronic commerce ( E-commerce) company in Seattle Washington.
1990 -- Wrote the first draft of The Bamboo Chest, during a year living and working near Homer, AK. Homer is a City located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the US state of Alaska. Smarting from a new case of PTSD received in Central America, he sought out the solitude and Native Healing Community in the area to replicate the healing experience he had in solitary in Vietnam. Employed as a longline fisherman (F/V Pioneer), flyfishing guide, and USFS photographer. Enjoyed rustic living as a subsistence hunter and fisherman. [24]
He was an instructor at the ROK Army MIL INTEL School in Seoul in 2007. The Republic of Korea Army ( ROK Army, ROKA, Korean: 대한민국 육군 Hanja: 大韓民國 陸軍 is by far the largest of the military branches Military intelligence (abbreviated MI int Commonwealth, or intel While there, he gained a business and government level of fluency in Korean[25]. This article is mainly about the spoken Korean language See Hangul for details on the native Korean writing system The ROK Army Department of Languages[26], modeled after the DLI, was designed to teach French, English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese to non-commissioned and commissioned officers from all branches of the Korean military and presidential security. The Defense Language Institute ( DLI) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD educational and research institution which provides linguistic and cultural There is also a Korean language course developed for foreign officers who are either preparing to take job-specific courses taught at Korean military academies, or who are being groomed for military attache positions at their nations' embassies in Korea. [27]
Owner of Flying Dragons Aviation, LLC, an aircraft brokerage, Cork Graham specializes in the sales of helicopters and corporate jets.
Film and television
In 2008, working on a script with Joe Galloway, co-author of We Were Soldiers Once… And Young and played by Barry Pepper in the Mel Gibson production We Were Soldiers. Joseph Lee "Joe" Galloway (born November 13, 1941) is an American newspaper correspondent and columnist We Were Soldiers Once… And Young is a 1992 book by Lt Gen Harold G Barry Robert Pepper (born April 4, 1970) is a Golden Globe - Screen Actors Guild - and Emmy -nominated Canadian -born Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson, AO (born January 3 1956 We Were Soldiers is a 2002 American War film that dramatized the Battle of Ia Drang in November 1965, the first major engagement
Cork Graham was a regular actor on the MBC mystery show Surprise during the 2007 season. Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation ( MBC) is one of four major national South Korean television and radio networks
On a break from covering the war, Graham wrote, produced and directed a film about a combat photographer in Central America, based on his personal experiences; Fotografo (Photographer) (1987).
Bibliography
- The Bamboo Chest: An Adventure in Healing the Trauma of War (2004)
- The Sacred Art of Hunting (2000)
- Pacific Big Three (1997)
- DAVID GRAHAM OF CHESTER COUNTY, S.C., AND HIS DESCENDANTS 1772-1989
Filmography
- Fotografo (1987) - writer, director, co-producer, actor
Television/Radio
- Surprise (2007) - actor
- KFOG Morning Show (2006) - guest
- Good Morning America (1984) - guest
- NBC News (1984) - commentator
References
- ^ Frederick Kurt Graham 8th Generation from David Graham
- ^ David GRIMBS GRAHAM
- ^ Pennsylvania Farmer Passenger List -- David Grimbs (incorrect spelling)
- ^ The Battle of King's Mountain October 7, 1780 at King's Mountain, near Blacksburg, South Carolina
- ^ Charles Eggleston
- ^ [1]International Combat Camera Assoc. KFOG is an FM Radio station in San Francisco California, broadcasting simultaneously on 104 Good Morning America ( GMA) is a morning news show that is broadcast on the ABC television network debuting on November NBC News is the news division of American Television network NBC, a part of NBC Universal, which is majority-owned by General Electric Charles Richard Eggleston (November 1945 &ndash May 6, 1968) was a photographer with United Press International who was killed in combat in Vietnam
- ^ The San Francisco Chronicle; May 19, 1984
- ^ Love Is Forever at IMDB [2]
- ^ The Bamboo Chest; Ch. 5, Chasing Dragons
- ^ Graham, Frederick "Cork". The Bamboo Chest: An Adventure in Healing the Trauma of War; DPP, Inc. (2004)
- ^ Treasure! by Richard Knight
- ^ Graham, Frederick "Cork". The Bamboo Chest: An Adventure in Healing the Trauma of War; DPP, Inc. (2004)
- ^ The Bamboo Chest: An Adventure in Healing the Trauma of War
- ^ Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command
- ^ National Treasure Review
- ^ United Press International
- ^ San Jose Mercury News
- ^ Spencer, David E. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC is a joint Task force within the United States Department of Defense (DOD whose mission is to account for all United States From Vietnam to El Salvador: The Saga of the FMLN Sappers and Other Guerrilla Special Forces in Latin America; Praeger Publishers (1996)
- ^ Vogue French Edition
- ^ Vogue German Edition
- ^ San Francisco Chronicle Going hog wild: Feral pigs good initiation to big game
- ^ Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc.
- ^ Native American Health Center, Inc.
- ^ The Bamboo Chest: Epilogue
- ^ Course on learning languages fast
- ^ [3]Eo Hak Jeo (Dept. of Languages) Entrance
- ^ [4] Cork Graham with foreign students: Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Mongolia, Indonesia
![[3]](http://www.corkgraham.com/uploaded_images/hanjeonghakkyo_2-749642.jpg){kind=link}
![[4]](http://www.corkgraham.com/uploaded_images/hangukclass-700200.jpg){kind=link}
External links
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