http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/us/12herndon.html?ref=todayspaper
I find that this obituary’s focus the deceased’s military service detracts from conveying a sense of personality. Indeed, besides Mr. Herndon’s role as a navigator-bombardier there’s little to no reference of any other event related to his 82 years of life. The article further compartmentalizes the man’s life by emphasizing a single event within his career, known as the “Doolittle Raid.” While this was no doubt an influential and life-changing event within his life, there’s no sense of context- the reader gets no sense of what led him to engage in the event, or how it affected him in later life. There’s mention that he received the Medal of Honor, but nothing that connects him to the incident as a whole or distinguishes him from his fellow airmen. In essence, the reader feels completely disconnected from the deceased- the same obituary very well might have been written for any of the other 4 airmen who engaged in the “Doolittle Raid.” This is less an obituary than a cold, impersonal history lesson.
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