--- title: Vietnam War: LIFE Magazine Covers From the Era-Defining Conflict description: A look back at more than two dozen Vietnam War-related LIFE magazine covers, from the early 1960s through the early 1970s. canonical: https://time.com/3876851/vietnam-war-life-magazine-covers-1961-1972/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-05-02T19:31:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:52.937Z og:title: Vietnam War: LIFE Magazine Covers From the Era-Defining Conflict og:description: A look back at more than two dozen Vietnam War-related LIFE magazine covers, from the early 1960s through the early 1970s. og:url: https://time.com/3876851/vietnam-war-life-magazine-covers-1961-1972/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ca01e97a0f09b0b/6988447d0b72e387776e2af4/50704932.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: LIFE, June 12, 1964 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Vietnam War: LIFE Magazine Covers From the Era-Defining Conflict twitter:description: A look back at more than two dozen Vietnam War-related LIFE magazine covers, from the early 1960s through the early 1970s. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ca01e97a0f09b0b/6988447d0b72e387776e2af4/50704932.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # LIFE Covers: The War in Vietnam by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove May 2, 2013 7:31 PM UTC  LIFE, June 12, 1964 LIFE, June 12, 1964Larry Burrows—LIFE Magazine by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove May 2, 2013 7:31 PM UTC LIFE magazine’s coverage of the war in Vietnam was unique among American publications not only because the scope and quality of the photojournalism featured in its pages outpaced that of pretty much every other outlet, but because the evolution of the magazine’s attitude toward the war — from early, tentative support to a tough-minded (albeit reluctant) skepticism — was played out in such a dramatic, public way as the years passed and the body count mounted. [**\[See all of LIFE.com’s Vietnam War galleries.\]**](http://life.time.com/vietnam-war/) Here, on the 50th anniversary of the military coup that deposed (and led to the assassination of) South Vietnamese President Diem, LIFE.com takes a look back LIFE’s war-related covers from the 1960s into the early ’70s — magazine covers that help put into context the national dialog that grew to a sustained and sometimes frightening roar during those divisive years. **NOTE: This gallery is best viewed in “full screen” mode; see button at lower right of the gallery frame, above.**  NOTE: This gallery is best viewed in “full screen” mode; see button at right. Above: LIFE, October 27, 1961. Ralph Morse—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, October 11, 1963 John Loengard—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, November 15, 1963 James Pickerell—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, June 12, 1964 Larry Burrows—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, November 27, 1964 Larry Burrows—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, April 16, 1965 Larry Burrows—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, July 2, 1965 Bill Eppridge—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, August 6, 1965 Bill Ray—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, October 22, 1965 Charles Moore—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, November 26, 1965 Paul Schutzer—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, January 14, 1966 Romano Cagnoni—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, February 11, 1966 Henri Huet—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, February 25, 1966 Larry Burrows—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, October 28, 1966 Larry Burrows—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, November 4, 1966 George Silk—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, January 13, 1967 Larry Burrows—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, March 10, 1967 Co Rentmeester—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, April 7, 1967 Lee Lockwood—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, August 25, 1967 Co Rentmeester—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, October 20, 1967 DEFA—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, February 16, 1968 Catherine Leroy—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, November 8, 1968 Larry Burrows—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, June 27, 1969 LIFE magazine  LIFE, May 22, 1970 Frank Fischbeck (top), Co Rentmeester (bottom)—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, May 12, 1972 Kichiro Morita—LIFE Magazine  LIFE, November 10, 1972 Joris Iven—LIFE Magazine ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3876851/vietnam-war-life-magazine-covers-1961-1972/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3876851/vietnam-war-life-magazine-covers-1961-1972/"},"headline":"LIFE Covers: The War in Vietnam","datePublished":"2013-05-02T19:31:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:52.937Z","description":"On the 50th anniversary of the military coup that deposed South Vietnamese President Diem, we look back at LIFE magazine's Vietnam War-related covers from the '60s and early '70s.","url":"https://time.com/3876851/vietnam-war-life-magazine-covers-1961-1972/","keywords":["Military","Vietnam","History","war","southeast asia","Vietnam War","Bill Ray","Paul Schutzer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ca01e97a0f09b0b/6988447d0b72e387776e2af4/50704932.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ca01e97a0f09b0b/6988447d0b72e387776e2af4/50704932.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"LIFE, June 12, 1964","caption":"LIFE, June 12, 1964","creditText":"Larry Burrows—LIFE Magazine","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3876851/vietnam-war-life-magazine-covers-1961-1972/","name":"LIFE Covers: The War in Vietnam"}}]}] ```