Dear David Halberstam: I Was Wrong

A good friend asked me to do a piece on the late journalist and author, David Halberstam. I was reluctant for two reasons. First, I had been wandering through a literary desert, having emptied my canteen of it's creative juices many days ago. Second, I had no real passion for the subject matter.

Nevertheless, succumbing to my friend's persuasive powers, I agreed to at least trudge through the motions, hoping something coherent might miraculously emerge.

I set out on the research trail.

As bits and pieces of Halberstam's life and work began to form a picture, an amazing thing happened. The changing image began to stir my interest. I discovered many new facets of the man David Halberstam.

And...I discovered some things about myself.

In light of what I was learning, I couldn't bring myself to write just another puff piece about a great American, filled with book titles, dates, and facts. No, I wanted this to be personal, so I wrote...

An Open Letter to the Memory of David Halberstam

Dear David Halberstam,

My research on you and your work has been refreshing. I use that term deliberately for reasons you will soon understand. But let me cut to the chase.

I really didn't care much for you.

Oh, your writing skill was never in question. As a Portland Trail Blazer fan, your book The Breaks of the Game was required reading for me. I knew you had won the Pulitzer Prize as a young man for your coverage of the Vietnam War. And as a sports enthusiast, I was well aware of your classic books on various sports topics.

It was my perception of your political leanings and views toward our military which prejudiced my opinion of you.

I was a soldier in that war and I and my battle-mates held a general contempt for war correspondents of that era.

You see, way down deep, if you pull back the layers of a multitude of motives, a soldier fights for truth. He wants to know that what he is willing to die for will stand, after all is said and done. And truth, even if it is ugly, will always stand on its own. It has no agenda—it needs no defense.

We saw basically two types of reporting. One camp held to unrealistic optimism. They always put a positive, sugar-coated spin on the story, reporting how glorious and honorable our efforts were on the battle lines.

Glory and honor are far removed from the truth when men fight and die to plant a flag on a hill, only to be ordered to give it back the following day.

The other camp seemed to have a dubious agenda. They would twist the truth in a negative way, stopping just short of worshipping those who would kill my friends. This undermined the will and morale of our heroic warriors. These I lumped in with the traitorous Jane Fonda and her ilk.

Oh, for a reporter who would cut through the bias and politics to report the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!

Then I came upon a quote of yours, given in an interview:

"...we sent our young men, these wonderful young men...young men who fought brilliantly, beautifully, with great courage—they were doing it with great courage and personal loyalty..."

I was humbled and broken.

Further digging revealed that you spent most of your time with the men on the front, refusing to report from a bureau office in Saigon. You talked with the soldiers on the ground and in the air.

"...I have an instinct to...listen to the voices of those who are not powerful."

In hindsight, I do see that you reported the truth, painful as it was.

One week ago, I really didn't care much for you, sir.  But I was wrong.

Let's move forward.

The modern news media is so full of innuendo, bias, and misinformation, it is unrecognizable from the original tenets of a free press.

Again, with limited information, I threw you in with all the sorry excuses for "journalists" who give us our daily ration of (objectivity be damned) tainted, unfiltered hogwash.

Then, in my research, example after example of your determination to adhere to your core values caused me to pause...

"...in any profession, you start out with character...which translates to being an honorable person, an ethical person..."

Mr. Halberstam, I'm guessing you were an eastern liberal, politically speaking. Though I'm generally conservative in my views, knowing the conviction that ran deep in your blood, I could now sit down and hear your perspective. And I gather from my perusals that you welcomed, even relished a good debate—the sign of an open mind.

Last week, I really didn't care for you, sir. But I was wrong.

One more subject—somewhat more pleasant:

I share with you your love of sports. I'm thankful we have a record of your incredible talent devoted to that entity. Because of my shallow opinions of you personally, I read only the one book The Breaks of the Game. My loss and my shame.

Hopefully, I am learning my lesson about prejudging without proper information.

I now look forward to indulging in more of your classic work.

You sir, were a true patriot. And I sir, was wrong about you.

Perhaps this letter can, in some small way, correct that error. I'm hoping it will, at least, bring a little more healing.

Sincerely,

Rojo Grande

Quotes excerpted from an interview at the Academy of Achievement, 1994.
Photo: AP