What
is it with some in the mainstream media? Do they not understand they are Amerians first and reporters second? What about the decency of being fellow human beings ... what about the decency of respecting the wishes of a deceased Marine's family?
USMC Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard, 21,
was mortally wounded by a grenade in Afghanistan on August 14. An embedded Associated Press photographer -- a
woman -- snapped photos of the dying Marine as fellow Marines tried to save his life.
When the family of Lance Cpl. Bernard became aware of the photo, they asked -- twice -- that it not be published. Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked that it not be published and followed up with a phone call ...
all to no avail:
Gates wrote a strongly worded letter to AP President and CEO Tom Curley on Thursday, saying it was a matter of "judgment and common decency" not to use the photo. A Pentagon spokesman said Gates followed up with a phone call "begging" Curley not to use it.
The AP decided to publish it anyway. Why? From the
Washington Examiner:
[AP photographer] Julie Jacobson had been embedded with the unit and had photographed the Marines, including Lance Cpl. Bernard immediately prior to the ambush. She had also kept a journal in which she had described the attack and the care the other Marines had provided.
Describing her decision to publish the image to the St. Petersburg Times Julie Jacobsen stated,”To ignore a moment like that simply ... would have been wrong. I was recording his impending death, just as I had recorded his life moments before walking the point in the bazaar," she said. "Death is a part of life and most certainly a part of war. Isn't that why we're here? To document for now and for history the events of this war?”
I dare say Ms. Jacobsen is not a mother. I almost question whether she is a human being after such a blatant comment. A heart of stone would be needed to ignore the wishes of a young man's parents.
Secretary Gates wrote that "use of the photo of a wounded Bernard would mark an "unconscionable departure" from the restraint that most journalists have shown in covering the military since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks." When the AP still published the photo, he followed up:
"Why your organization would purposely defy the family's wishes knowing full well that it will lead to yet more anguish is beyond me," Gates wrote. "Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their maimed and stricken child on the front page of multiple newspapers is appalling."
I also would dare say the MSM is trying to recreate the Vietnam war by playing on the emotions of the American public ... at the expense of the very families who have made the biggest sacrifice in the ongoing war on terrorism.
The AP's director of photography, Santiago Lyon, put out a statement defending the decision:
AP journalists document world events every day. Afghanistan is no exception. We feel it is our journalistic duty to show the reality of the war there, however unpleasant and brutal that sometimes is.
Against the wishes of the family? It makes no sense.
Did they bother to talk with the parents and learn about the young man they were about to exploit?
Lance Cpl. Bernard's father John was on
Fox and Friends Monday morning where the Marine veteran emphasized that the family did not want that photo of his son published, and then described a gentle young man who went to war.
He also emphasized that the Rules of Engagement -- ROE -- need to be changed. With no time to explain, I would guess he is talking about the fact that political correctness has followed our military into war and, as a result, soldiers and Marines are dying because of it.
Here's an idea: send those who
make the rules into combat zones and see if they still feel the same.
Perhaps the headline of the story should be,
"Change the Rules of Engagement ... military dying because of them."
America is at WAR ... we are not on a cake walk. Our military is putting itself in harm's way and politicians are tying their hands.
August was the deadliest month in the ongoing war on terrorism ... this under Barack Obama and the Democrats' watch.
On
Fox and Friends, a composed yet grieving father talked with affection about his son whom he described as a Christian first who was devoted to family and country, and was kind to a fault. He became a Marine at the age of 18 but continued to "walk the walk," held in high esteem by his fellow Marines who called him "holy man" and considered him their religious leader because of his quiet yet strong faith.
American first ... reporter second. Are the MSM more interested in getting the sensationalism ... "If it bleeds, it leads" ... or following an agenda ... or will they show they care about America and her citizens? The AP appears to have given its answer.
Meanwhile, an American hero's family mourns, that sadness intensified by the actions of the media.
Our prayers and gratitude go out to the Bernard family for their extreme sacrifice in the war on terrorism and the fight to preserve the freedoms we enjoy here in this country. May God bless and watch over them.
Semper Fi.
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