The war correspondent passed away on Tuesday (14Jul15), aged 84.

Her son, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, broke the news on his Facebook.com page on Tuesday, writing, "Marlene Sanders, my mother, died today. A pioneering television journalist - the first network newswoman to report from Vietnam, among many other firsts - she informed and inspired a generation. Above all, though, she was a great Mom."

Sanders rose through the ranks at ABC News in the 1960s and became the first woman to anchor a primetime news segment in 1964, when she filled in for a sick Ron Cochran.

She was known for her field reporting during the Vietnam War and went on to become the first female vice president of a news division, at ABC, in 1976, according to the Associated Press.

Sanders, who won three Emmy Awards for her broadcasting, later moved to rival network CBS in 1978.