9 Haunting and Rare Pictures of the Vietnam War

Terry Fincher (1931 - 2008) was one of the premier daily press photographers of the 20th century. But because so much of his career was spent shooting on deadline for newspapers in London — the Daily Express, in particular — he remains far less well-known than many of his globetrotting peers, whose pictures routinely appeared in glossy weekly or monthly magazines in the 1950s, '60s, and '70s.

In one of Fincher's best-known photos from Vietnam, U.S. troops rest in a tent, a human skull displayed before them, October 1968.

American Marines with their pet dog in Hue, Vietnam, 1968.

Refugees cross the Perfume River to safety during the Battle of Hue, Vietnam, February 1968.

One indication of how valued Fincher was as a photographer at the height of his career was a singular honor offered him by his editors in London. "There was a time when Terry was so massive that they gave him his own page in the paper, called the Fincher File," Aylott told FOTO, with a laugh. "That was unheard of, for one photographer to get that sort of spotlight. But that's how highly regarded he was. Just a very, very special journalist."

United States Marines at the Forward Command Post in Hue, Vietnam, February 1968.

American soldiers, one wounded and carried by a comrade, descend Hill Timothy in Vietnam, April 1968.

Terry Fincher (left) with his friend and fellow Englishman, Larry Burrows, on Hill Timothy, Vietnam, April 1968. Burrows died on February 10, 1971, along with fellow journalists Kent Potter, Keisaburo Shimamoto, and Henri Huet, when their helicopter was shot down over Laos. Potter was 23 years old. Shimamoto was 34. Huet was 43. Larry Burrows, the oldest, was just 44.

Rarely seen: Civilians on the streets of Hue, Vietnam, February 1968.

Rarely seen: A wounded American in Hue, Vietnam, 1968.

Rarely seen: American troops and supply helicopters on Hill Timothy, Vietnam, April 1968.

This gallery comes from FOTO. Check out more amazing photos there in The Hardest Working Photographer in Vietnam.