Pulitzer winner salutes those who honor their fallen brothers

By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 7, 2008 at 9:30 p.m.

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Photo by Preston Gannaway / The Rocky

Former Rocky reporter Jim Sheeler signs copies of his new book, Final Salute - A Story of Unfinished Lives, before a reading featuring several of those named in the book, at the Denver Newspaper Agency building auditorium Wednesday evening.

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Jim Sheeler carries a simple white glove, one given to him by a Marine assigned to the unit that contacts the families of fellow Marines killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The glove has a special significance to Sheeler, a former Rocky Mountain News reporter turned journalism instructor who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning story Final Salute.

Most people think a Marine's most important weapons are his arms and armor, Sheeler told an audience of more than 150 that gathered at the Denver Newspaper Agency building auditorium to hear a reading from the new book that resulted from his work.

"For me, I believe the most important weapon is something that's a lot more fragile," he explained. "It starts with this simple white glove."

He recalled how, when consoling the family of a fallen Marine, the notification officer he followed would take off his glove to hold a parent's or relative's hand.

"To me, that's the meaning, not just of this story, but all of them," Sheeler told the audience. It's not the glove or the uniform, but the people who wear them that matter most, he said.

The often emotional readings by several of the people featured in the book made that same direct, personal connection, starting with Lt. Col. Steve Beck, the officer who allowed Sheeler and former Rocky photographer Todd Heisler to witness and be part of the life of the unit that contacts the families and honors the fallen Marines.

Through the wringer

Beck said he decided to trust the pair. But before doing so, he made sure they experienced the same raw emotions his Marines did while doing their job.

"I put them through the wringer," he said.

"It's awkward for me to be here. It was awkward for me to be in the book," Beck told the crowd. He said Sheeler and Heisler saw a story that few journalists or private citizens see, but one he felt was important and needed to be told.

"I figured if someone was going to get hung for it, it may as well be me."

Instead, Beck said, he is now asked to talk to other officers assigned to the job of contacting the families of Marines killed in the line of duty.

And the book, Final Salute - A Story of Unfinished Lives, is being considered by the Marine Corps Association for inclusion on the reading list for Marine commandants, Beck said.

Sheeler now is a scholar in residence at the University of Colorado's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Heisler, who also won a Pulitzer Prize for his photography for the story, now works at The New York Times.

Rick Anderson said he also was skeptical when Beck e- mailed him to ask permission to bring along two journalists after Anderson's son, Christopher, was killed in Iraq. But Anderson said Sheeler's care with the facts and integrity won him over.

"A lot of reporters I met after that had good hearts, but they didn't take the time to get the details right," Anderson said. "I'm glad this guy is going to be teaching journalism, because this is the kind of guy we're going to need."

ensslinj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5291

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