R.I.P., "Tito"
AP was in such a rush to get that "1,500" figure into print. They sent out a "news alert" last night around midnight, when they had confirmed their 1,500th U.S. casualty in Iraq. A "news alert." Like they would if the president was shot or a big earthquake hit somewhere.
I guess AP wants to be sure all those protesters get their signs and banners updated. You know, "Bush lied, 1,500 died." The important stuff. The number is the important thing, isn't it?
That leaves it to the little guys, the hometown papers, and the mil-bloggers, to tell the really important stuff: who these people were, why they went, what they left behind. To live in print the lives that the gods decided they would not be given the chance to fdinish here on earth.
One of the 1,500 was U.S. Army Sgt. Julio E. "Tito" Negron, who died with another soldier Monday, in a Humvee crash in Bayji.
The stories list his hometown as Pompano Beach, Fla., which is correct, but his father and his family lived here in Lancaster, Pa., and he visited them here as recently as December.
We're running a story on him tomorrow, though my company's policy forbids me to link to it.
A Florida newspaper's account of his death contained this quote:
Salvador, Tito's father, called my newspaper to place his son's obituary, so other relatives and friends in the area could learn about it. The newspaper recently switched to paid obituaries. It would have cost him $75. Salvador didn't have it.
No obituary here for "Tito" tomorrow. We'll probably sell plenty of newspapers in reporting on the IRaq casualties, however, including the one with a local connection.
I guess AP wants to be sure all those protesters get their signs and banners updated. You know, "Bush lied, 1,500 died." The important stuff. The number is the important thing, isn't it?
That leaves it to the little guys, the hometown papers, and the mil-bloggers, to tell the really important stuff: who these people were, why they went, what they left behind. To live in print the lives that the gods decided they would not be given the chance to fdinish here on earth.
One of the 1,500 was U.S. Army Sgt. Julio E. "Tito" Negron, who died with another soldier Monday, in a Humvee crash in Bayji.
The stories list his hometown as Pompano Beach, Fla., which is correct, but his father and his family lived here in Lancaster, Pa., and he visited them here as recently as December.
We're running a story on him tomorrow, though my company's policy forbids me to link to it.
[Julio's uncle] Salvador said Julio's death has been very hard on the boy's father. At age 69, Jose Negron is in poor health and resides at Colonial Hall on Ryder Avenue.
"Jose really misses him," Salvador said. "He's been saying, 'Why not me? I'm old. Why my son?'"
... Julio, who lived in Pompano Beach, Fla. with his mother, joined the army in 1998. Enlisting in the military, Salvador said, was a Negron family tradition, dating back to his own father who served in Korea. In fact, Julio's three brothers, Jose A., Edward and Salvador, are all army sergeants.
"Everybody has to defend this country," he said. "That's how we are. We have to give something back to this country."
A Florida newspaper's account of his death contained this quote:
"His biggest joy was to be a soldier, wearing the U.S. Army uniform next to his brothers," said another brother, Jose Negron, 42. "He loved to show his mother his uniform."
Salvador, Tito's father, called my newspaper to place his son's obituary, so other relatives and friends in the area could learn about it. The newspaper recently switched to paid obituaries. It would have cost him $75. Salvador didn't have it.
No obituary here for "Tito" tomorrow. We'll probably sell plenty of newspapers in reporting on the IRaq casualties, however, including the one with a local connection.
