Atop South Mountain in the southern US state of Maryland, the site of a fierce Civil War battle in 1862, stands the War Correspondents Memorial. It was built in 1896 ?as a permanent memorial to newspaper correspondents, artists, and photographers of the Civil War.? The names of 157 men from the North and South, ?who documented the Civil War, are inscribed on tablets on the east façade.? The arch is 50 feet tall and 40 feet wide.
The man behind the memorial was George Alfred Townsend, who was one of the youngest correspondents during the conflict. He later became a famous columnist known as ?Gath.? In the 1880?s, Townsend passed through South Mountain?s Crampton?s Gap. Drawn by its beauty and history, he purchased land there; built a home and later the arch. The land is now known as Gathland State Park.
While the memorial was originally erected to honor Townsend?s colleagues in the Civil War, it is now seen by many as honoring those journalists whose lives were lost during battle no matter what the year.
Journalists were among those who died in the war in Iraq. And, as fellow journalists at VOA, we want to pay our respects to those who died in the line of duty.
Here is the list according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Combat related deaths:
Terry Lloyd, ITV News, Date unknown, Iman Anas
Paul Moran, free-lancer, March 22, 2003, Gerdigo
Kaveh Golestan, free-lancer, April 2, 2003, Kifri
Michael Kelly, Atlantic Monthly, Washington Post, April 3, 2003, outside of Baghdad
Christian Liebig, Focus, April 7, 2003, outside Baghdad
Julio Anguita Parrado, El Mundo, April 7, 2003, outside Baghdad
Tareq Ayyoub, Al-Jazeera, April 8, 2003, Baghdad
José Couso, Telecinco, April 8, 2003, Baghdad
Taras Protsyuk, Reuters, April 8, 2003, Baghdad
Non-combat related deaths:
Veronica Cabrera, America TV, April 15, about 24 miles from Baghdad
Mario Podestá, free-lance, April 14, about 24 miles from Baghdad
David Bloom, NBC News, April 6, 2003, outside Baghdad
Gaby Rado, Channel 4 News, Date unknown, Suleimaniya
Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed, translator for BBC, April 6, 2003, northern Iraq