Jefferson City paper focuses on returning soldiers

Missouri papers have, on the whole, done a poor job of covering state soldiers' roles in the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
An exception has been the Jefferson City News Tribune, primarily due to the consistently excellent reporting of Michelle Brooks.
Michelle, a Lockwood native who got her start in journalism in the early 1990s as a high school student writing school news for The Carthage Press, has two features on Jefferson City area soldiers returning from Afghanistan in today's edition and has been covering the homefront and Missouri soldiers ever since Sept. 11.

"Home from Afghanistan" features this passage:

As part of the training effort, the Missouri citizen-soldiers in January escorted 19 members of the ANA to Fort Riley, Kan., where the foreign soldiers observed how an American military installation is run and practiced what they had learned so far.

The 17-member unit would show the developing Afghan army how they would do a mission or procedure, Hiland said. Sometimes they would take the advice and sometimes they would do things their own way, he said.


Part of the goal was to help the army win the “hearts and minds” of the public, to let them know the government is helping to pull away from the Taliban, Hiland said.

“We had to remember it's their army,” he said.

Other American units will continue preparing and training the Afghan army.

“We brought the (Afghan) army to a certain readiness level,”

Worley said. “I think we developed a good foundation for the next team to come in.”

In the other article, "Warm welcome ends long time away from home," Michelle explores the reunion of soldiers and their loved ones after a 12-month separation:

Sgt. Maj. Steve Hiland stepped off the bus and into the eager arms of his wife, Lt. Col. Vicki Hiland.

The Hilands have been separated most of the last three years. Lt. Col. Hiland returned from 16 months in Iraq only five months before Sgt. Maj. Hiland deployed for this mission to Afghanistan.

“But when you both wear the uniform, that's what you've gotta do,” Lt. Col. Hiland said. “I'm glad to have him home safely (now).”

So the Russellville couple is looking forward to simply spending time with each other in the next few weeks.

It is refreshing to see a newspaper that has not forgotten that we do have people who are stepping forward to serve their country. We owe a big thank you to Michelle Brooks and the Jefferson City News Tribune.