Tenn. "Leaf-Chronicle" Handling 2 Iraq-Soldier Tragedies in Its Backyard

Editor&Publisher: Tenn. 'Leaf-Chronicle' Handling Two Iraq-Soldier Tragedies in Its Backyard
By Joe Strupp
Published: June 20, 2006

NEW YORK -- Since the Iraq War began more than three years ago, The Leaf-Chronicle of Clarksville, Tenn., has seen it all. As the closest daily paper to the Fort Campbell Army Post, where tens of thousands of soldiers in Iraq from the 101st Airborne Division are stationed, the Leaf-Chronicle has reported on deaths, deployments, and disputes from Washington, D.C. to Baghdad.

But even this war-hardened daily is being overwhelmed by this week's double-shot of bad news as three soldiers face murder charges for alleged misconduct in Iraq, and two others who had been missing for days appear to have been murdered.

All five GIs were based at Fort Campbell.

"We are just trying to get a handle on all of it here," said Chantal Escoto, the Leaf-Chronicle's military writer, who has been juggling both stories for several days. "It is almost surreal. These are two very different stories, different than what we have had to cover."

Escoto, who has been on the paper's Fort Campbell beat for six years, also embedded with soldiers from the post in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. She said worse events have befallen the military base, such as the 2003 helicopter crash in which 17 local servicemen were killed. But this one-two punch of very different tragedies is unusual....

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(Executive Editor Richard Stevens) admitted that the Fort Campbell community has been so hard hit with Iraq-related tragedies that covering these two events too heavily may overwhelm them further. "It is getting pretty weary here dealing with a lot of sad stories, a lot of sensitive stories," he said. "A kidnapping story can present a long, protracted search. Both of these have the potential for being very sensitive stories. Our community and newspaper staff is getting pretty weary of the drumbeat of trouble."

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