Reporting the death of a soldier
Jonathan Jones wrote a story last week about Army Cpl. Bobby Callahan, who was killed in Iraq. The story, published on the front page Friday, was respectful, speaking more about his life than his death.
The headline read, "Wild teen found a home in Army, dies at 22 in Iraq." The first four paragraphs read:
Bobby Callahan wasn't always the best kid.
He dropped out of Southwest High School in the 10th grade to be home-schooled. He found himself arguing with his parents quite a bit. And he drank.
Then at 18, Callahan decided it was time for a change: He thought the Army might be his savior.
Callahan enlisted and found a home.
Some readers didn't like it.
One wrote:
I would like to say how disappointed I was when I read the story of our young soldier we lost in Iraq last week. This young man died a Hero and everyone seemed to recognize that except for the writer of this article.
He opened his story with saying what a troubled teen Bobby Callahan was. Well, weren't we all! Bobby, who I watched grow from a baby to an incredible young man, who served our country proudly, didn't deserve for his name to be impugned in any form. He was a teen, just like all other teens. To make it seem as if he went into the Army just to straighten himself out or that he was encouraged to go was demeaning to his name.
Bobby choose to go into the Army because he loved his God and country. The writer and the News & Record owe this young man's family an apology. Those of us, who knew him, will hold him in our
hearts forever as a wonderful person and a Hero.
Some similar comments are here at the North High Point blog.
I think we're all sensitive to the friend's pain.
Jonathan wrote his story carefully, and with the family's cooperation and participation. Here's what he said about it:
As for Bobby Callahan's family -- I spoke with them several times on Thursday and again on Friday. Before the story ever went to print -- and before the headline was ever written -- I talked with them about my plans to lead the story with Bobby's wild teen years.
Throughout my conversations with his family they all kept coming back to how much he changed while he was in the Army. I wanted to make that the central theme of the story because it seemed so important to them, but in order to do so I had to deal with what I expected to be a sensitive topic -- who he was before the Army. I was surprised that his family was not only receptive to me starting with that part of his life, but endorsed it.
I spoke with them about it beforehand for two reasons: first, because I wanted to gauge whether they were comfortable with it; second, because I did not want them to pick up the paper on Friday and be surprised with what I had written.
Jonathan told me that he does this rarely, but that on this story it seemed to be appropriate. He reviewed the beginning of the story nearly word for word with them to make sure they were comfortable with it.
I understand the concern some readers had with labeling him "wild" in the headline. We didn't anticipate it would cause that kind of reaction. But far from disrespecting Cpl. Callahan, I hope that the coverage celebrated his memory.
Comments (7)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
I thought it was a good article. I especially liked the emphasis on his early life and how the military was a positive influence on it and helped him mature and grow into a responsible "cog" in the wheel of our country's defense.
I'm a military vet and I've worked with the military in Iraq and trained units of the 10th Mountain Division here in the U.S. I've seen many "screwups" rise to excellence when given responsibility in a military unit.
I applaud Bobby Callahan's accomplishments and mourn his passing. The article did him justice.
Posted on September 27, 2006 11:44 AM
Well whether Mr. Jones thinks he did a good job or not really doesn’t matter. I was with his mother and sister and stepfather when they read the article. They were offended and so was I. I don’t think through the grief they truly understood how he was going to make such a point that Bobby had some times in his life he wasn’t proud of. I’m sure if we all take a step back to when we were teenagers we made a few wrong decisions too. I just know the shock and pain on his mothers face and the anger felt by his stepfather about the article. On another note maybe Mr. Jones needs to go back through his own notes he also left Bobby's own Dad out of the article as a survivor after he even asked Bobby's mother what and how to spell the fathers name. I'm not sure who was paying attention the least, the family due to grief or the writer due to wanting a powerful headline. Amy Huffman
Posted on September 28, 2006 4:31 PM
Ms. Huffman, please tell Bobby Callahan's family that there are many here who mourn with them and appreciate the sacrifice their son made in our name. The article is not as important as who he was and what he did.
Thank you.
Posted on September 28, 2006 4:51 PM
Ms. Huffman,
I'm sorry to hear that was the reaction of his mother and step-father when they read the article. I certainly did not intend to cause them any additional grief and that's why I went over what I was writing with them before filing it.
I do want to clarify a couple of things you wrote that are either incorrect or imply something that is incorrect.
Bobby's father, David Callahan, was not left out of the article. He was the first member of the family to appear in the story.
As was noted over at the NHP blog, I did not write the headline. The headline I suggested was "Fallen soldier found himself in the Army." Not a great headline, but that's what I wrote.
Jonathan Jones
Posted on September 28, 2006 6:02 PM
Was this the casket that I witnessed arriving at GSO around 6pm last night? I was flying home to ATL and was touched by what I saw. Regardless of this young man's "earlier years" he shaped up, joined the Army and paid the ultimate sacrifice. I was humbled as I witnessed family and friends watch as the casket rolled down the conveyor from the plane - draped in the Star's and Stripes - and also noticed a respectful hush at the gate area as we watched the painful homecoming. To the Callahan family, my condolences and prayers go with you.
Posted on September 29, 2006 7:26 AM
Yes Ms. Ashman. That was the casket you saw last night.
Posted on September 29, 2006 9:32 AM
I am the North Carolina coordinator for the Home of the Brave quilt project making memorial quilts for our fallen heroes in Iraq. This is a nationwide project with each state having its own coordinator. We have given out 73 quilts thus far in NC. We would like to present Bobby's mother with a memorial quilt and would ask that if possible you could furnish me with her address so that we can send the quilt when ready (there is no cost involved). If because of privacy issues you prefer not to give this information, would it be possible that you could deliver the quilt? Any information would be helpful. Carol Smith
Posted on October 7, 2006 10:55 PM