On Memorial Day I went into work at the TV station, even though they told me I could take the day off if I wanted to. I figured that if I went in on a holiday I would probably see some pretty interesting stories being told. I was right. I went out with a photographer and reporter to a Memorial Day service at the Dallas National Cemetery. It was probably one of the most emotional stories I have covered in quite a while. After the service that honored fallen US solders we talked to a woman who had lost her son in Iraq. He had a week left on his second tour of duty before he was to be shipped home for good when he was killed in battle. She was obviously upset, but was at the service to pay tribute to her son and others who have been killed in the war. She was very nice and eager to talk to us, but as the reporter I was with pointed out later, she seemed like she had so much to say she couldn’t stay focused long enough to tell her story. I immediately felt guilty about having a brother who has recently arrived home safely from the battlefields of Afghanistan. It made me wonder if I would be able to go on camera and tell his story if he did not return home. It also made me realize that we are not covering the news for ourselves, it is the people who create the news and it is our job to tell their stories. I am mearly a vessel that carries that news from the people to the people. And although, some people may shun the media, we are here to serve a purpose and if we weren’t here how would people know about what really was happening. It was a very sombering event, and I feel like it is just the beginning of what my career is going to reveal to me. I took some pictures at the service, and I think they captured the mood nicely.
