Tenn. 'Leaf-Chronicle' Handling Two Iraq-Soldier Tragedies in Its Backyard

By: Joe Strupp Since the Iraq War began more than three years ago, The Leaf-Chronicle of Clarksville, Tenn., has seen it all. As the closest daily paper to the Fort Campbell Army Post, where tens of thousands of soldiers in Iraq from the 101st Airborne Division are stationed, the Leaf-Chronicle has reported on deaths, deployments, and disputes from Washington, D.C. to Baghdad.

But even this war-hardened daily is being overwhelmed by this week's double-shot of bad news as three soldiers face murder charges for alleged misconduct in Iraq, and two others who had been missing for days appear to have been murdered.

All five GIs were based at Fort Campbell.

"We are just trying to get a handle on all of it here," said Chantal Escoto, the Leaf-Chronicle's military writer, who has been juggling both stories for several days. "It is almost surreal. These are two very different stories, different than what we have had to cover."

Escoto, who has been on the paper's Fort Campbell beat for six years, also embedded with soldiers from the post in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. She said worse events have befallen the military base, such as the 2003 helicopter crash in which 17 local servicemen were killed. But this one-two punch of very different tragedies is unusual.

"It is usually a story about a soldier killed, but it is not as shocking as this," she said, noting the rare nature of both a serviceman kidnapping and a soldier accused of murder. "It is different in trying to get the information out about what happened. This is the first time they have had a soldier kidnapped from here."

The events began Friday when word of the kidnappings of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker were reported. After their identities were revealed on Sunday, Escoto jumped on the local angle and wrote the first of several stories, which led the Monday paper. On Monday, the other shoe dropped as Pentagon officials announced the arrests of Staff Sgt. Raymond Girouard, Cpl. William Hunsaker and Pfc. Corey R. Clagett on charges that they shot three Iraqi detainees. That story was the banner headline Tuesday.

The Leaf-Chronicle has depended mostly on Escoto's coverage, along with one extra reporter as needed, according to Executive Editor Richard Stevens. The paper also has a military blog that it launched last fall, as well as some online audio and video components. Among those related to these stories has been the posting of audio from a phone message one of the missing and murdered soldiers left for his parents.

"It is a daily assessment of what we are going to go for," Stevens said about how editors are choosing to play the stories. "Chantal bears the brunt of the reporting. There are dramatic developments, but they are all on the Fort Campbell beat."

Stevens said the paper had not deployed many other reporters from its reporting staff to the stories, noting demands in other areas. "You have to gauge where the payoff is," he said. "We haven't geared up a big swarm on these soldiers. We will supplement as necessary."

The editor also admitted that the Fort Campbell community has been so hard hit with Iraq-related tragedies that covering these two events too heavily may overwhelm them further. "It is getting pretty weary here dealing with a lot of sad stories, a lot of sensitive stories," he said. "A kidnapping story can present a long, protracted search. Both of these have the potential for being very sensitive stories. Our community and newspaper staff is getting pretty weary of the drumbeat of trouble."