The Heartbreaking Death Of CBS News Correspondent Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner, who worked as a CBS News correspondent for decades, has died at the age of 85. Donna Lewis-Wagner, his wife, confirmed that he died at his Charlottesville, Virginia home and no cause of death has publicly been divulged, per Deadline. He is survived by his wife and their daughter, Kerry Wagner.
Wagner first became nationally known for his correspondence work during the Vietnam War. He was based in Saigon for his first big foreign assignment, and he helped bring firsthand news of the war directly to Americans, which is something that hadn't ever happened before, according to People. Other notable events that Wagner helped report on include the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 and South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990, via CBS News.
Before he was a correspondent for CBS, Wagner grew up Boston. He later attended Georgetown University and got his degree from their School of Medicine, per Deadline.
Richard Wagner was known for his work as a war correspondent
Richard Wagner started work at CBS News in 1964, and in his three decades working there, he was able to report from over 50 countries, per AdWeek. Much of his work took him to conflict zones, including Vietnam and Northern Ireland. In 1984, he won the Sigma Delta Chi award for radio reporting after being on the ground in El Salvador after John Hoagland — the Newsweek photographer he was with — was shot and killed.
Wagner also received the Overseas Press Club Ben Grauer Award in 1987 for his radio reporting on Saddam Hussein before the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, which led to the U.S. response — Operation Desert Storm, per People. Another notable international event that Wagner helped report on was the South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990, via CBS News. And while in the U.S., he covered major events as well, including the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident.
Wagner was a trusted face on the news for years, and he'll surely be missed.