It is one of the tasks I dread each day.
One of the first things I do when I arrive at the office each day is go as fast as our aging computer system will carry me through a series of about 20 Web sites. I will grudgingly admit it is something good about the Internet. It’s something that has proven invaluable in the news-gathering process.
But what it often leads to is something we’d rather not have to deal with.
Most of the sites are news sites. Sometimes I indulge myself with a couple of sports sites.
But every morning I dread going to one particular site.
It is the official media Web site of the United States Department of Defense.
Each morning I check it. I clink on the link for Press. Then on News Releases.
Then I hold my breath as I click on each new story that has been added to the tragic toll. They carry a simple headline: “Department of Defense identifies Army casualty.”
I wince as the short story appears, listing the name, town and circumstances involving the latest death connected to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
I look at the names, but especially zero in on the towns. The reason is obvious. I want to know if any soldiers from our area, Delaware County, have been killed in action.
Yesterday morning I breathed a sigh of relief when the towns – Bronx, N.Y.; Concord, Calif.; Newman, Calif.; Central Point, Ore.; - did not include a Delaware County dateline.
I’m not sure why, as if that fact makes the loss of that service member any less of a tragedy. But it is a tragedy that is happening somewhere else, to some other town, to some other grieving family, covered by some other newspaper.
I checked the Web site yesterday morning, grimaced at the newest entries, and then went about my business, knowing that Delaware County had again escaped unscathed.
But only for a few hours.
About 6:30 last night, after our final Page One meeting of the day, after we had decided what would dominate the front and back pages of today’s print edition, Associate Editor Joe Hart stuck his head in my office and said, “We’ve lost a soldier in Iraq.”
I knew exactly what I had to do. I pointed my computer back to that DOD Web site. Then clicked on the new entry, headlined, “Department of Defense identifies Army casualty.”
The news release is brief, almost cold, as if that somehow will ease the waves of grief that will emanate from it:
“The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“Pfc. Christopher W. Lotter, 20, of Chester Heights, Pa., died Dec. 31, 2008, in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when he was shot by enemy forces in Tikrit. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
“For more information the media may contact U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii, public affairs office at (808) 656-3159 or (808) 656-3157.”
That’s it. It doesn’t tell you much about who Christopher W. Lotter was, only that he was the latest hero to fall on the battlefields of Iraq. Today we will go about the sad job of describing just who Christopher Lotter was.
The news concerning Lotter arrived the same day as the region bid goodbye to Army Maj. John Pryor, a doctor who was the director of the trauma program at the University of Penn Hospital.
This morning I printed out the list of other soldiers with ties to Delaware County who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. There are eight other soldiers who have been killed in action in Iraq.
According to the Military Times Honor the Fallen Web site, as of Dec. 31, 4,831 men and women have been killed supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Today we will go about the sad business of reporting the details of one of the latest to fall, Pfc. Christopher W. Lotter.
He hailed from Chester Heights. He was 20 years old.
Some days I hate this job.
One of the first things I do when I arrive at the office each day is go as fast as our aging computer system will carry me through a series of about 20 Web sites. I will grudgingly admit it is something good about the Internet. It’s something that has proven invaluable in the news-gathering process.
But what it often leads to is something we’d rather not have to deal with.
Most of the sites are news sites. Sometimes I indulge myself with a couple of sports sites.
But every morning I dread going to one particular site.
It is the official media Web site of the United States Department of Defense.
Each morning I check it. I clink on the link for Press. Then on News Releases.
Then I hold my breath as I click on each new story that has been added to the tragic toll. They carry a simple headline: “Department of Defense identifies Army casualty.”
I wince as the short story appears, listing the name, town and circumstances involving the latest death connected to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
I look at the names, but especially zero in on the towns. The reason is obvious. I want to know if any soldiers from our area, Delaware County, have been killed in action.
Yesterday morning I breathed a sigh of relief when the towns – Bronx, N.Y.; Concord, Calif.; Newman, Calif.; Central Point, Ore.; - did not include a Delaware County dateline.
I’m not sure why, as if that fact makes the loss of that service member any less of a tragedy. But it is a tragedy that is happening somewhere else, to some other town, to some other grieving family, covered by some other newspaper.
I checked the Web site yesterday morning, grimaced at the newest entries, and then went about my business, knowing that Delaware County had again escaped unscathed.
But only for a few hours.
About 6:30 last night, after our final Page One meeting of the day, after we had decided what would dominate the front and back pages of today’s print edition, Associate Editor Joe Hart stuck his head in my office and said, “We’ve lost a soldier in Iraq.”
I knew exactly what I had to do. I pointed my computer back to that DOD Web site. Then clicked on the new entry, headlined, “Department of Defense identifies Army casualty.”
The news release is brief, almost cold, as if that somehow will ease the waves of grief that will emanate from it:
“The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“Pfc. Christopher W. Lotter, 20, of Chester Heights, Pa., died Dec. 31, 2008, in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when he was shot by enemy forces in Tikrit. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
“For more information the media may contact U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii, public affairs office at (808) 656-3159 or (808) 656-3157.”
That’s it. It doesn’t tell you much about who Christopher W. Lotter was, only that he was the latest hero to fall on the battlefields of Iraq. Today we will go about the sad job of describing just who Christopher Lotter was.
The news concerning Lotter arrived the same day as the region bid goodbye to Army Maj. John Pryor, a doctor who was the director of the trauma program at the University of Penn Hospital.
This morning I printed out the list of other soldiers with ties to Delaware County who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. There are eight other soldiers who have been killed in action in Iraq.
According to the Military Times Honor the Fallen Web site, as of Dec. 31, 4,831 men and women have been killed supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
Today we will go about the sad business of reporting the details of one of the latest to fall, Pfc. Christopher W. Lotter.
He hailed from Chester Heights. He was 20 years old.
Some days I hate this job.
Comments
r.i.p warren....our brave little soldier.