thedrifter
08-09-06, 07:40 AM
Posted on Wed, Aug. 09, 2006
Reporter shares tales of front line
Inlet mom's daughter back from Iraq
By Jan A. Igoe
The Sun News
Kay Johnson isn't sure what compelled her only child to leave her job, sell her car, buy a bulletproof vest and head for war-torn Iraq, when there are so many safer places an ambitious freelance journalist could seek stories. But she is sure that her daughter will go back.
"If not there, some other hot spot," said Johnson of Murrells Inlet. "She's not happy behind a desk."
Just a few weeks ago, Kimberly Johnson, 30, was posting her last report from the front lines, where she spent six months embedded with U.S. military forces struggling to stabilize the region. "It was still kind of cool when I was there. It hadn't hit 130 degrees yet," she said. "But it's a dry heat - kind of like your oven."
"Dispatches from Iraq," her blog for USA Today, became an information oasis for families thirsting for news on how troops were faring between sparse e-mails and hurried phone calls. While her posts brought some measure of peace to families with loved ones overseas, they also embedded her own mother among the ranks of fearful parents, praying for their children's safe return.
"You know how mothers are. Their brains expect the worst," said Kimberly Johnson, who spent last week relaxing at her mom's condo with her miniature schnauzer, Sabin. "After six months with Grandma, he's no longer mini."
Raised in Bennettsville, Kimberly Johnson had her first job lined up in Washington, D.C., two weeks after getting her journalism degree from the University of South Carolina in 1998. Her mother imagined her new grad starting off at some small-town paper near home. Like always, Kimberly Johnson had other ideas.
"She's always been a tomboyish type. She wouldn't even tell me when the school pictures were being taken," her mother said. "All the little girls were in frilly dresses and ruffled socks, and Kim had a backwards baseball cap, sweatshirt and jeans."
During her first trip in 2003 to cover the return of international flights to Iraq, she strapped about $2,000 in cash to her leg and kept $600 in a throwaway wallet to appease aspiring thieves. Three years ago, the biggest threat was being robbed in the cash-only country, Kimberly Johnson said. Today, it's kidnapping.
In 2005, Johnson returned as a freelancer to follow the troops, serve as the Iraq bureau of several publications and launch MOAB: The Mother of All Blogs. When an improvised explosive device struck the next vehicle in the Stryker Battalion she traveled with, Johnson received a combat action badge to commemorate the convoy's brush with danger.
"I enjoy writing about conflict. I believe it shows the vast spectrum of human nature," Kimberly Johnson said. "To me, there's no story that's more compelling than what comes out of a war."
According to Reporters Without Borders, 2005 was the deadliest year for journalists in the past decade. Sixty-eight media professionals were killed, and more than than 1,300 physical assaults were reported.
When Jill Carroll - a reporter with whom Johnson had collaborated - was abducted in January as Johnson was finalizing her Iraq travel plans, it was a bitter reality check.
"That prompted several conversations with my mother. I loaded her up with contacts," said Kimberly Johnson, who now travels with her passport strapped to her leg for emergency identification.
"Kim had used that same interpreter that was killed [during Carroll's abduction]," her mother said. "I wouldn't take her to the airport this last time. I was wondering if this is the last time I'm ever going to see her again."
Despite Kay Johnson's reservations, her daughter depended on her unwavering support. "To be able to do this job meant a lot to me, but I was only able to do it because of my mother," Kimberly Johnson said. "She enabled me to make this choice. She paid my bills and filled in all the gaps."
For other families concerned about loved ones overseas, "Dispatches from Iraq" filled the communication void. "Blogging was the most efficient way to get a message back home. Family and friends in South Carolina lean toward the right. Friends in D.C. leaned to the left - so I kept it apolitical," Kimberly Johnson said.
"USA Today liked it. It was a 'letter home to mama' approach. I just tried to explain what was going on - I think that resonated with readers."
USA Today Deputy World Editor Jim Michaels agrees, calling Johnson "a very, very gutsy journalist embedded with Marines and soldiers in some of the toughest parts of Iraq.
"She did something that few other journalists have done - she focused on the grunt's eye view of the war. We call her our digital Ernie Pyle," he said, referring to the Pulitzer Prize-winner who covered World War II battlefields.
"That's what sets her apart. You see a lot of messages from people's families who wanted to see what their husband, wife, son, daughter was going through. You don't get that in most daily newspapers, but you can get it in a blog."
Ready for some rest and relaxation, Kimberly Johnson has no plans to go overseas again for at least six months. She'll appreciate time away from mortar fire, red tape, press-shy public information officers, Kevlar helmets and vests with ceramic plates - although her experience in some of Iraq's most deadly regions may pave the way to a book deal.
"I think you have to want to be there. Someone like Kimberly wants to be near the big story," Michaels said. "And clearly, Iraq is one of the biggest."
To me, there's no story that's more compelling than what comes out of a war.'
ON THE NET | Read about Kimberly Johnson and her experiences on the front lines in Iraq.
www.kimberlyjohnson.net www.moab-iraq.blogspot.com http://blogs.usatoday.com/iraq
Ellie
Reporter shares tales of front line
Inlet mom's daughter back from Iraq
By Jan A. Igoe
The Sun News
Kay Johnson isn't sure what compelled her only child to leave her job, sell her car, buy a bulletproof vest and head for war-torn Iraq, when there are so many safer places an ambitious freelance journalist could seek stories. But she is sure that her daughter will go back.
"If not there, some other hot spot," said Johnson of Murrells Inlet. "She's not happy behind a desk."
Just a few weeks ago, Kimberly Johnson, 30, was posting her last report from the front lines, where she spent six months embedded with U.S. military forces struggling to stabilize the region. "It was still kind of cool when I was there. It hadn't hit 130 degrees yet," she said. "But it's a dry heat - kind of like your oven."
"Dispatches from Iraq," her blog for USA Today, became an information oasis for families thirsting for news on how troops were faring between sparse e-mails and hurried phone calls. While her posts brought some measure of peace to families with loved ones overseas, they also embedded her own mother among the ranks of fearful parents, praying for their children's safe return.
"You know how mothers are. Their brains expect the worst," said Kimberly Johnson, who spent last week relaxing at her mom's condo with her miniature schnauzer, Sabin. "After six months with Grandma, he's no longer mini."
Raised in Bennettsville, Kimberly Johnson had her first job lined up in Washington, D.C., two weeks after getting her journalism degree from the University of South Carolina in 1998. Her mother imagined her new grad starting off at some small-town paper near home. Like always, Kimberly Johnson had other ideas.
"She's always been a tomboyish type. She wouldn't even tell me when the school pictures were being taken," her mother said. "All the little girls were in frilly dresses and ruffled socks, and Kim had a backwards baseball cap, sweatshirt and jeans."
During her first trip in 2003 to cover the return of international flights to Iraq, she strapped about $2,000 in cash to her leg and kept $600 in a throwaway wallet to appease aspiring thieves. Three years ago, the biggest threat was being robbed in the cash-only country, Kimberly Johnson said. Today, it's kidnapping.
In 2005, Johnson returned as a freelancer to follow the troops, serve as the Iraq bureau of several publications and launch MOAB: The Mother of All Blogs. When an improvised explosive device struck the next vehicle in the Stryker Battalion she traveled with, Johnson received a combat action badge to commemorate the convoy's brush with danger.
"I enjoy writing about conflict. I believe it shows the vast spectrum of human nature," Kimberly Johnson said. "To me, there's no story that's more compelling than what comes out of a war."
According to Reporters Without Borders, 2005 was the deadliest year for journalists in the past decade. Sixty-eight media professionals were killed, and more than than 1,300 physical assaults were reported.
When Jill Carroll - a reporter with whom Johnson had collaborated - was abducted in January as Johnson was finalizing her Iraq travel plans, it was a bitter reality check.
"That prompted several conversations with my mother. I loaded her up with contacts," said Kimberly Johnson, who now travels with her passport strapped to her leg for emergency identification.
"Kim had used that same interpreter that was killed [during Carroll's abduction]," her mother said. "I wouldn't take her to the airport this last time. I was wondering if this is the last time I'm ever going to see her again."
Despite Kay Johnson's reservations, her daughter depended on her unwavering support. "To be able to do this job meant a lot to me, but I was only able to do it because of my mother," Kimberly Johnson said. "She enabled me to make this choice. She paid my bills and filled in all the gaps."
For other families concerned about loved ones overseas, "Dispatches from Iraq" filled the communication void. "Blogging was the most efficient way to get a message back home. Family and friends in South Carolina lean toward the right. Friends in D.C. leaned to the left - so I kept it apolitical," Kimberly Johnson said.
"USA Today liked it. It was a 'letter home to mama' approach. I just tried to explain what was going on - I think that resonated with readers."
USA Today Deputy World Editor Jim Michaels agrees, calling Johnson "a very, very gutsy journalist embedded with Marines and soldiers in some of the toughest parts of Iraq.
"She did something that few other journalists have done - she focused on the grunt's eye view of the war. We call her our digital Ernie Pyle," he said, referring to the Pulitzer Prize-winner who covered World War II battlefields.
"That's what sets her apart. You see a lot of messages from people's families who wanted to see what their husband, wife, son, daughter was going through. You don't get that in most daily newspapers, but you can get it in a blog."
Ready for some rest and relaxation, Kimberly Johnson has no plans to go overseas again for at least six months. She'll appreciate time away from mortar fire, red tape, press-shy public information officers, Kevlar helmets and vests with ceramic plates - although her experience in some of Iraq's most deadly regions may pave the way to a book deal.
"I think you have to want to be there. Someone like Kimberly wants to be near the big story," Michaels said. "And clearly, Iraq is one of the biggest."
To me, there's no story that's more compelling than what comes out of a war.'
ON THE NET | Read about Kimberly Johnson and her experiences on the front lines in Iraq.
www.kimberlyjohnson.net www.moab-iraq.blogspot.com http://blogs.usatoday.com/iraq
Ellie