Renowned Nebraska photojournalist Dave Hamer dies at age 93

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – One of the best storytellers Nebraska has ever known has passed away.

Reporter and photojournalist Dave Hamer died Wednesday at the age of 93.

The native Nebraskan worked in the industry for 33 years, working at all three major Omaha network affiliates before retiring from 6 News WOWT in 1991.

Hamer had many “firsts” to his name but the biggest was perhaps that he was the first local TV reporter-photographer to cover the Vietnam War in Vietnam. There he flew on helicopter missions and reported on the conflict before the war had become a major story.

When he came home, he produced a four-part documentary series “Our Men in Vietnam.” He would then go on to create two dozen documentaries and news special projects on various topics. The one he was most proud of was “Crazy Horse, the Last Warrior” about the Sioux leader who defeated Custer.

According to the Nebraska Broadcasters Association, by the time Hamer retired he’d covered stories in 40 of our 50 states and in 10 foreign countries.

His last major assignment was in Saudi Arabia in 1991 covering the Gulf War when Saddam Hussein was driven out of Kuwait.

Hamer’s influence will be felt for generations to come through the students he taught at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and the many whom he lectured at the annual Newsvideo Workshop at the University of Oklahoma for 32 years.

Hamer’s awards are many. He holds photojournalism’s highest award, the Sprague Memorial and was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame and the Omaha Press Club’s Journalists of Excellence Hall of Fame, just to name a few.

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