Alan Pogue was born in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1946. He was raised a Catholic and was an altar boy for 13 years. In Vietnam in 1968 he was both a chaplain’s assistant and a combat medic. He found that his entire education had not prepared him for understanding his war experience so he studied philosophy and history upon returning home in order to reconstruct his world- view. He took up photography in Vietnam believing that photographs would be better than words for communicating his experience. Since 1969 he has lent his photographic talent to a wide range of social justice groups.