For more work, visit my photojournalism and video pages. 
 

Camp Pendleton Patch

Stories on Patch are often featured on the Huffington Post and make their way to other sites as well.

Recovery for Bomb Survivor Includes Family, Helping Others

Wuterich Squad Mate Maintains He Was in Charge of Haditha Convoy

Teen Rescues Girl Hours After Becoming Lifeguard

For Young War Widow, Moving on Means Moving out

Column about Trying Veganism out for a Month

Watertown Daily Times:

Series: The 10th Mountain Division: A Decade of War

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, the 10th Mountain Division was called to fight. On Sept. 23, 2001, reacting to the terrorist attacks earlier that month, Charlie Company of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment was ordered to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., to guard sensitive materials.

What followed was ten years of deployments that have not only shape the lives of the soldiers involved, but it also changed New York’s North Country.

Earlier this month, the Watertown Daily Times ran a series of stories showing exactly what has changed for the region and the unit this past decade.

In reporting the series, I was able to talk to old soldiers, young soldiers, soldiers who joined after 9/11 and a soldier who barely remembers the terrorist attacks. I talked to amputees, soldiers dealing with the psychological wounds of war and their local medical providers, whose skills have evolved at a greater pace than their counterparts in civilian communities.

Here are the stories:

9/11 changed Fort Drum and the north country forever

10th Mountain has been on front line of war against terrorism (timeline)

Young soldiers grew up watching America at war

Prosthetics helping soldiers return to active lifestyle

IEDs remain the biggest threat to deployed soldiers

PTSD cases grow as combat continues for Fort Drum soldiers

Casualties of war: Fort Drum widows

After a ‘full nest,’ Fort Drum will almost empty in 2013

Some gave all: Names of the fallen 10th Mountain Division soldiers

Deployments add stress to lives of Army families

Editing: 

There’s a lot that I do as an editor, but one of my favorite things is to find bloggers succeed in writing what they’re passionate about. 

I workshopped with Mickell Raddon, a fitness expert, to publish a story she would be proud of. Her resulting post about the benefits of a social workoutwas a hit and was shared more than 80 times on Facebook. 

Keeping audiences engages is a daily task and a great tool is the poll. A poll on Tea Party Marine Gary Stein got more than 5,000 votes. 

Crowdsourcing:

Crowdsourcing is involving online readers in the reporting process. If you haven’t done it, it’s as nerve-wracking a process as planning a party (What if nobody shows up?) And, just like parties, people show up, have fun and, if it’s good, don’t even notice the tense planning.

Above is a montage of reader veterans we did for Veterans Day. Dozens throughout the country participated. 

I’ve also done it for an overnight fire on Camp Pendleton (where media isn’t allowed unescorted). I was able to get more photos than other news sources. 

In 2010, I was part of the New York Times team that asked readers to submit photos taken in a five-minute window. More than 10,000 users submitted to “A Moment in Time.”

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