Scrutinizing Television’s Coverage of Persian Gulf War

I will defy Rosenberg or any other in the headline-seeking media to cite a single instance where the presence of a glory-seeking journalist is going to further the cause of the U.S. military mission. Only a person unforgivably ignorant of the task of the combatant military would be so thoughtless as to laud the “TV crews (who) . . . have helped personalize the gulf crisis,” as a caption for Rosenberg’s article says.

Who the hell needs the crisis personalized? It is damned personal to the commanders who make life-and-death decisions. It is damned personal to the tank driver, to the machine gunner. Who cares how personal it is to Stanley Six-Pack or Sally Gum-Chew marching in a protest parade--or writing the President to second-guess policy?

If we can’t have an occasional “splendid little war,” from whence will come our storied regiments or our tales of valor about those who had the courage “to win or lose it all”? What manner of being would deny glory and honor to his fellow man? Only that being which deserves not to be called man!

T. BRUCE GRAHAM

Port Hueneme