Editorial
Front Page - Friday, January 15, 2010
Local radio host redeploys from 4th goodwill mission to IraqBy Stephanie Coward
Stephanie Coward
Soldiers deploy to war zones because it’s their job. Members of the media go for basically the same reason; after all, they all need to collect their paychecks. Rarely does one choose to go to Iraq, without getting paid and in fact paying for the trip himself. James Howard, radio host at Sunny 92.3, is a rarity. Howard chose to visit Iraq – not once, but four times – with plans of returning, and also “hopefully” visiting Afghanistan, in the future.
He goes wherever the local troops are and it just happened that they have all been in Iraq. “I haven’t had the opportunity to hook up with a local unit in Afghanistan, but I totally see it in the future,” he said.
Howard spent Christmas 2009 in Iraq with the soldiers of the 252nd Military Police Company of Cleveland, Tenn. The unit has soldiers from Cleveland, Chattanooga and other parts of Tennessee, according to Howard. “It brings the war closer to home,” he said.
“We can all do something to support our troops, to support our country, whether we think we should be over there or not,” Howard said.
Born and raised in Chattanooga, Howard has taken on the mission of bringing a piece of home to local men and women deployed to Iraq. He first visited the country in 2004, but not before clearing the trip with his wife and the State Department.
After sending well wishes over the radio waves to the deploying marines of Mike Battery, Howard drove home with a nagging sensation that there was more he could do. “As a guy that just talks for a living, what can I do to support my country in wartime? It just dawned on me, I was like, ‘I wonder what the chances are of being embedded with these guys?’” Howard said. His next thought was, “I wonder what my wife’s gonna say?” Christy told him that she thought it was a great idea and he had 100 percent support from her.
Next was the State Department. He received his approval from both the department and the military six months later.
“I visited the men in Mike Battery, our local guys from Chattanooga, Marines, it was just after the siege of Fallujah,” Howard said. He visited during the 2004 Christmas season, and spent almost three weeks there.
Howard paid for the trip himself and went to Iraq as a freelance reporter since insurance reasons prevented him from traveling as a WDEF correspondent. It all worked out and Howard disseminated reports to more than one station, which increased the exposure of the local soldiers. “I don’t charge any station for reports. I know that kinds of sounds crazy,” Howard said. “I’m doing it for the troops … I’m not doing it for a TV or radio station and I am not doing it for myself.”
Howard said that the trips are two-fold. “Number one is to bring a little piece of Chattanooga to the warfront,” Howard said. “The second is when I get back, I love telling the community what these guys are doing for our country and for the country of Iraq.”
In ’04 Howard both heard and saw battle. During his trip in 2005 he didn’t see any battle, but said that the trip was intense because he knew it was just around the corner, almost like the calm before a storm sense of anxiety, only on a much larger scale. “In ’05, I took so many convoys and helicopter flights, hundreds of miles of convoys and helicopter flights. That was probably the most stressful trip,” Howard said. “I’ve talked to troops and they totally relate to that. It’s like when you don’t hear it (gunfire), you’re like, ‘oh my gosh,’ ya know?”
He said he still felt guilty feeling that way because he was only there for a short time and would soon be home, while the deployed soldiers had months to go.
It was also in ’05 that a military public affairs officer told Howard that he and one other were the only two embedded journalists in the entire country, besides the larger bureaus. “It was almost too hard to believe,” Howard said.
Prior to leaving for his trip in 2007, Howard had no idea the visit would birth another goodwill gesture on his part – the writing of a children’s book. In ’07, he spent a week with the 300 plus soldiers of the 181st Army National Guard unit at Camp Bucca; as usual, he did TV and radio reports with the soldiers. He had time in Kuwait before his commercial flight would return him stateside, which gave him plenty of time to write in his journal, which he keeps during trips to Iraq.
Howard realized that the majority of the soldiers had young children at home. “It seemed like every soldier had a 2 and an 8 year old; it was crazy. That hit home to me because I had, at the time, a 6 year old,” Howard said. “So I was thinking, ‘How can I convey the message … of what their daddy is doing in Iraq. What their mommy is doing in Iraq – on a child’s level?” At that moment, “What’s Iraq like Daddy?” was born.
He began writing down questions he thought his daughter would ask and then determining the correct response for the target age group. The book answers questions from a child’s perspective.
Students at the East Brainerd Elementary School – where Howard’s daughter Gracie attends – illustrated the entire book. “After a bunch of critiques and changing some words around and stuff like that, I started talking to several people that illustrate books and it just hit me one day, ‘This is a kids book. Kids are gonna be seeing this and why not let kids illustrate it?’ So it’s a book illustrated by kids and it’s for kids,” Howard said.
Prior to deploying on his goodwill trips, Howard ensures that his family is taken care of. He goes the extra mile for Gracie, setting up scavenger hunts and recording videos of him reading stories and having friends bring her gifts. Soon, he will need to do the same for his now 18-month-old daughter, Lucy. All of these things have had a positive effect on how Gracie handles the departure. “On this trip, it was funny because I told her about it and she goes, ‘OK, wow, I’m gonna miss ya Daddy. Are you gonna do the video scavenger hunt?’” Howard said.
He has met many of the soldiers’ families before leaving and said that it is so great to be able to return and meet up with the family again and tell them how he spent time with their loved one. The community has been amazing to Howard as well. Many have signed banners and sent over other items for those deployed. He received a gift this fall that still rouses deep emotion. “I spoke at a veteran’s banquet in November, and they surprised me with an airline ticket to go over there the fourth time. That always gets to me,” he said.
During his trip last month, Howard utilized more technology than before. Along with carrying his satellite phone and digital camera, he also brought a Flip video recorder. The videos were uploaded to both his YouTube channel and the Sunny 92.3 Web site. Howard reported back to two other radio stations along with his own during the visit.
“After the war is over in Iraq and Afghanistan, I really want to sit down and say ‘I’ve done my part,’” Howard said.
Howard’s videos can be viewed on the Sunny 92.3 Web site at www.sunny923.com and on his YouTube channel, at www.youtube .com/jameshoward923.
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