Rather, he was an Army journalist, an attractive assignment that has brought its own scrutiny.

Hunter was the first Army journalist to die in combat since the beginning of the War in Afghanistan.

Mr. Gore went to Vietnam, but only briefly, and as an Army journalist.

Mr. Gore went to Vietnam as an Army journalist.

For Army journalists in the unit, not visiting a battlefield until the battle was over was standard operating procedure.

And when it came to Vietnam, our campaign always presented him as just what he was: an Army journalist, nothing more.

A family friend recalled that Mr. Gore surveyed the options and hoped to serve as an Army journalist.

Two months after the election, Gore was sent to Vietnam, where, thanks to his writing talents, he landed a job as an Army journalist.

Ralph Hall, another Army journalist, remembers long discussions with Gore about the war.

Gore went on many such trips, where he and other Army journalists caught a whiff of combat without participating in it.