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Saturday, April 19, 2008

A Real Voice From Iraq Prepares for the Journey of a Lifetime; Mike Boettcher Launches No Ignoring
Posted by Melina | 10:27 PM

I don't have many heroes left in my life. It seems like alot of the specific people who I embraced when I was younger have turned out to be disappointing in one way or another, and others have twisted what it even means to be a hero into this odd form of narcissism that is going around these days. Most of the real heroes of our time would hardly call themselves that. They are those who rely on their gut feeling about things, with empathy, and ethics, and a sense of mission that rises above career and riches and even security. These people aren't following themselves with one eye in the mirror sizing up how their actions look on them; they just go and do what needs to be done.

Mike Boettcher has been, for the longest time for me a sane voice in the rubble. He has reported steadily from war zones at home and abroad, covering just about every major disaster and conflict on the ground, regardless of the danger, and as a voice of reason who works shoulder to shoulder with the troops in order to get the real story out. This is not the breathless wonder of Mick Ware, (though, I am fond of him too, in his spectacularly, magnificently, gigantic way of reporting a roller coaster ride,) but rather its this person who is woven into the fabric of our beings, like the trusted anchor who we lost sight of in the age of information, and the real journalists who uncovered stories by actually digging, regardless of what it would do to their access.

This guy, with his blond mop of hair, scraggy beard, and world weary eyes, delivers real news from places outside the green zone, where the M$M no longer treads. I was thankful that he was there just about every day of this occupation in Iraq, and worried about him as well because it was clear that he was on the move all the time, in the dark, past the line, beyond the curfew. He is well beloved among the troops, with full access to places where most reporters dare not go.
Mike Boettcher is but one of the many heroes in this war, but he is one who really stands out in that he is setting off on his own to deliver to us the truth of what is being done in our name and what its like for our young men and women out there who are so brave in serving their country in such a difficult time. I'm sure that he considers the soldiers the real heroes in this, and himself merely the messenger, but, to me, Mike is a real true hero.

As our window to the Iraq war has closed as tightly as the window onto the skeleton of Afghanistan War had, Mike realized that there is a huge gap in the reporting that is being made possible by our media. So, he has gone off on his own and created a mission for himself, his crew, and his 21 year old son, to do a 15 month tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, reporting on their own dime, independently, and from the soldier's point of view. There will be a website that will provide real time, on the ground, information and stories that you will not find anywhere else. This is really dangerous work, but this is something that Mike feels he has to do, and as, in fact, done all along, as much as his corporate bosses would let him; tell the soldier's real stories in a non-partisan way, and remind us what a real hero looks like once again.
I will be following this project as closely as possible, and looking forward to the launch of the website(which is not up yet.)

Al Tompkins had a chance to catch up with Mike at the NAB convention, and asked Mike about his plans and his upcoming deployment in this clip:



Godspeed Mike, and thanks for being our eyes and ears on the ground out there.

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2 Comments:
Blogger Jayhawk said...
Not to denigrate the person who is the subject of your post, but if you wnat to get to know a hero for today, research Senator William Proxmire of Wisconsin.
4/20/08, 10:42 AM  
Blogger Melina said...
isn't there enough room in this world for all the heroes we can get?
4/20/08, 10:17 PM  
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