I mentioned earlier that the average soldier is really pissed at the MSM. Here is another example of it. The Gannet chain carries a lot more of the conservative side than the MSM does.
Sunday, 02/06/05
Spreading good news in spite of the main media
Tennessean
Though John Johnston's grandson has spent much time serving his nation in Kosovo, Afghanistan and the past 12 months in Iraq, he has only one big complaint:
''I wish the press would pick up on good things that are happening (in Iraq).''
It did for a moment last Sunday, but that took millions of Iraqis going to the polls. Capt. Neal Mayo was referring to the good his men and women from the Arkansas National Guard have been doing for some time. They've been rebuilding hospitals and organizing youth soccer teams. His grandfather, from his Brentwood home, has been sending books to his grandson as his unit sets up libraries.
The payoff came Sunday. Such good is as much news as any explosion. A lot of Tennesseans and Americans agree. And they've created what they call an ''underground'' media network. It features extraordinary e-mails from our men and women in uniform. These news consumers have become their own media to avoid mainstream bias.
Last week, CNN's chief news executive Eason Jordan charged at a forum that U.S. troops not only had killed 12 journalists in Iraq but had targeted them. His statement was featured on the forum's Web site. The Washington Times reported that the account also was confirmed by the Wall Street Journal. MSNBC's Chris Matthews asked after the State of the Union address whether the moving hug between a Gold Star mother and an Iraqi human rights activist was set up to push the president's agenda.
Military families no longer have to take this. They're sharing e-mails about the good, including those after Sunday's vote: ''These last two days here have made the entire deployment, and I am so incredibly proud of my company, the Iraqi Security Forces, the Iraqi people and just democracy and freedom being brought to these people for the first time,'' wrote Mayo last week to his mom, Lark Webb of Nashville.
''Just can't wait to tell all the stories of the Iraqi people putting into practice their new-found freedom by voting ... young and old ... people in wheelchairs, on crutches, old men and women that could barely even walk, going to the polls to cast their ballot. ... If anyone ever questioned our mission here before, I think yesterday's vote states with a resounding 'Yes' that God (especially) and our country are doing awesome things here! Can you tell I am excited?''
So are the Iraqi people. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported this story now being distributed by the ''underground'' e-mail network: ''The Iraqi police have investigated a case in the village of al-Mudhariya. … The villagers there say that before the election, insurgents came and warned them that if they voted in last weekend's election, they would pay. Now the people of this mixed village of Sunni and Shia Muslims, they ignored the threat, and they did turn out to vote. We understand that last night the insurgents came back to punish the people of al-Mudhariya, but … the villagers fought back, and they killed five of the insurgents and wounded eight. They then burnt the insurgents' car.''
A Marine wife shared this e-mail: ''Good morning, Sweetie, hope all is well with you. Things have been crazy here, and I had a close call last night, but all is well. I miss you, and am thinking of you. It's amazing, but the polls close down in 30 minutes, and by 2 p.m. local, there was 72% turnout. We take so much for granted. How precious is our right to choose and to vote.
''Up in a town north of Baghdad, the polling station there was closed due to a suicide bomber. When the crowd of thousands asked the polling station workers 'Where can we vote?', they were told 'Baghdad.' The crowd … proceeded to walk the 13 miles down the infamous (most dangerous strip of road in the world) route 'Irish' to vote. I about broke down in front of a bunch of men, but I didn't because I would lose cool points.''
My favorite e-mails are the weekly reports from Lt. Col. Mark A. Smith to the families of his Marine reservists. The 2/24 unit includes Sgt. Maj. Gary Payne of Springfield and Cpl. Satterly of Bowling Green. They work in a dangerous area of Iraq. Smith wrote of election workers his unit hosted:
''We closed our chow hall and turned it into a lounge for them. Something occurred in that lounge that you all must know about. The Iraqis, as is their custom, set about drinking sodas, smoking cigarettes and talking in the loud and demonstrative tones they are accustomed to. Except for one spot. There was one spot in our chow hall where they would not smoke, they would not drink, they would not talk.
''There was one spot where all they would do is stand in silent reverence. That spot ... our memorial table with the pictures of our heroic fallen. This was not something they were told to do, it was something that came natural to them.
''I have asked myself many times why that is, and I have come to this undeniable conclusion: They were bound with those Marines who gave their last full measure of devotion on the battlefields of Iraq — not by religion, race, color, creed, custom, culture, not by anything one can think of save one thing: they were bound with those Marines as free men and women. In this simple truth is the cause of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In this simple truth, we press on.''
And so do their families and supporters, in making sure all the good they do is read, recognized and revered.
Tim Chavez is a columnist for The Tennessean. Contact him at tchavez@tennessean.com or (615) 771-5428.
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