April 3: From the Front Lines

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is April 3rd, and our story is From the Front Lines. Everyone knew Michael Kelly was a born troublemaker. The only question was what sort of trouble he would grow up to make, the good kind or the bad. After catching the teenage Kelly drinking beer in the high school parking lot, one of Kelly's teachers, a Jesuit priest, told him, you can either be a fantastic con artist or shape up and do something serious.

Kelly weighed his options and chose the better part. He straightened up, studied hard, and went to the University of New Hampshire, where, following in his father's footsteps, he studied journalism. Kelly's troublemaking spirit lent itself well to reporting, and after graduating from college in 1979, he found work with ABC News, the Cincinnati Post, and the Baltimore Sun.

Then, the first Gulf War broke out. In 1991, Kelly headed to Kuwait as a correspondent for the New Republic. Rather than wait with the approved pool of reporters for official government updates, Kelly hitched a ride on an Egyptian tank and went to the front lines to investigate, sealing his reputation as one of the best war correspondents of his generation.

After the war, Kelly turned to editing, first heading up the New Republic, then the National Journal, and finally the Atlantic. In the pages of those magazines, Kelly stood out as a populist Catholic pro-lifer, routinely taking positions that squared with his faith, but put him at odds with his peers.

Kelly headed back to the Middle East when the Second Gulf War began, this time as an embedded reporter with the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq. On the night of April 3, 2003, as his division attempted to secure Baghdad International Airport, the Humvee in which Kelly rode came under enemy fire. An evasive maneuver went wrong, and both Kelly and his driver died. A troublemaker of the best sort to the very end, Michael Kelly was the first American journalist killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Michael Kelly could have followed the safer, conventional path in journalism, but he chose to confront danger in order to reveal truth. His example challenges us to ask, are we willing to stand for truth in our own lives, even when it's uncomfortable or risky?

Integrity, like bravery, is often a quiet choice, made repeatedly in small decisions until it defines a life. Identify one area where you've been avoiding a difficult truth. Take a step today, through conversation, prayer, or action, to confront it with courage and honesty.

Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Join us tomorrow, April 4th, for another story of faith and courage in America.