Richard Wagner, a journalist best known for his three-decade career as a correspondent for CBS News, which included covering the war in Vietnam and numerous other conflicts around the world, has died.
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Wagner died on May 12, 2022 at the age of 85.
Wagner’s death was announced by his wife Donna Lewis-Wagner, who said that he died at his home in Charlottesville, VA.
Wagner’s wife didn’t give any details about his death, including his cause of death.
Starting at CBS News in 1964, Wagner was based for a time in Saigon, as he was among the correspondents who covered the war in Vietnam, at a time when the military had yet to establish the parameters of access to operations.
Wagner also covered the following historic events;
- Troubles in Northern Ireland and the release of Nelson Mandela from prison.
- Events in Baghdad that led to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and then the response of the U.S. and allies, Operation Desert Storm.
- National politics and other events, including the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island and the Challenger explosion.
On a podcast in 2018 with other correspondents who covered the war, Wagner recalled the challenges and fears of reporting from the combat zone.
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Wagner said;
“I recall a situation once where we were pinned down, couldn’t move, and then the barrage lifted almost as quickly as it had begun, and I wanted to swiftly stand up now that it was safe and do a stand up…”
“I found that my hand was shaking so much that I really couldn’t do it. It affected me so much that I couldn’t do what I had to do until I collected myself.”
Wagner was also CBS News’ first health and science correspondent, and won an Ohio State University Radio-Television award for a CBS Radio documentary on DNA.
Wagner left CBS News in 1993.
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