I am that chaplain; member of FR since 2000.
It would have been kind of Patrick Brennan to at least drop me or my commander a line before posting an article on The Corner is a manner that is demeaning of my service to this great nation.
Unless Mr. Brennan or someone else at The Corner (which I frequent almost daily) has read my Bronze Star citation in full, or has talked to my commander, or others with whom I have served, or even myself, it seems journalistic malpractice at the very best to just post-away.
And here is what I posted at NRO:
“This is an end of tour award. Standard fair for the rank, position, and responsibility I held during this tour—Training Chaplain for all the of the chaplains in Afghanistan and Garrison Chaplain at New Kabul Compound in Kabul. Events of serious consequence occurred while in theater; the article highlights those. The way the original article is written implies the BSM was given for writing a PPT presentation. This does not represent the facts nor the bullet points in the BSM write-up.”
This just highlights to me the dangers of our new media where a journo feels free to run with a blog post or posters feel free to demean someone’s character without making an ounce of effort to get the facts.
The guy who wrote the original story was an old fashioned journalist who came to my office at the request of my commander. He came with a pen and paper and took notes—just like the good old days.
Thanks!
Chap T
Most bullet points associated with the Bronze Star are associated with enemy fire than powerpoint outlines, so it is newsworthy. Then again, I was fortunate to not have the uniform embellished at the end of tour.
Did you find most Muslims receptive when witnessing the Gospel to them? What approach did you find most successful when bringing them the Good News?
Unfortunately there are too many in the media and here that indiscriminately shoot from the hip without properly identifying and researching a target.
Thank you for your service.
PING ALL SEE POST 46
Thanks for your service, carpe!
Terrible misrepresentations and outright lies occur just as much if not more in the Old Media, and if they correct themselves it’s usually on page 14. In the New Media, when someone screws up, which obviously happened in reporting your award, the correction goes viral. Don’t know what the bozos who blew it intend to do, but I would much rather read what you have to say directly (and here we are). This stinks that you got trashed, but now we all know the story was wrong - I am not a fan of NRO, but I am devoted to FR. There I will find the truth sooner or later.
Bless you and thank you so much for your service to our soldiers.