Reporter Rachael Riley: Why I wanted to cover the world's largest military installation
Rachael RileyWhen I was in the second grade pronouncing my name "Wachael Wiley," I never conceived of a career beginning with the letter R.
Decades later, here I am — speech impediment conquered, and almost 15 years as a reporter.
I started at papers across my home state of Texas in the mid-2000s, moved to North Carolina in September 2016, and have been at The Fayetteville Observer since July 2018.
I’m frequently asked what brought me to Fayetteville, and my response is “to write about the military.”
Here are a few of the other top questions I’ve been asked during the past five years I’ve lived here.
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Do you have a spouse in the military?
No. I have no immediate connection to the Army, which helps me to remain neutral in my reporting. Indirectly, like a lot of people here, I've had multiple family members who served including my dad, who was in the Navy decades before my existence; a cousin who served in the Marine Corps; another cousin who served in the Air Force; an uncle who served in the Arkansas National Guard; and my maternal grandfather who served in the Army — more about him in a later response.
Why did you want to cover the military?
Bear with me, because this is a long response. At the first two newspapers I worked at, I gravitated toward veteran stories. There were Larry Thomas, a Korean War veteran who I spent four hours with during an interview in Crockett, Texas, and veterans Douglas Morton and Don Jarrell in Henderson, Texas.
Jarrell didn’t serve with Morton when they were in the military, but after meeting Morton years after their military service, Jarrell traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for Morton’s Purple Heart.
The third paper I worked at was four hours away from where I’m from, but was in my mom’s hometown — Killeen, Texas, near then-Fort Hood.
By then, I knew I wanted to cover the military.
Being a city government reporter, I was ready to trade long city council budget meetings for seeing military training in action.
It took time and leaving Texas, but what better place to start than the most populated U.S. military installation in the world, the home of the airborne and Special Forces, known locally as “the center of the universe.”
What’s the hardest part about covering the military?
It’s the same as writing about non-military stories — death. Grief is different for everyone.
On a personal level, my cousin, Ross Riley, was a state trooper and medic who died during a training exercise Nov. 20, 2013, in Letchworth State Park, New York. I learned about his death by reading the headlines. My aunt and uncle, who were waiting to meet with Ross’ wife, were still processing what had happened and hadn’t had time to call my father.
There’s also the grandfather I never knew — Sgt. 1st Class William Rasdon — who was a military police officer killed breaking up a bar fight in Germany three months before my mother was born.
I always tell families I don’t want to add to their grief. I am ready to listen when it’s on their terms.
What have you learned or enjoyed writing about Fort Liberty?
I’m still learning. There are too many stories to list, but seeing paratroopers jump from "a perfectly good aircraft" never gets old. Having the opportunity to sit down in the home of retired Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth “Rock” Merritt, the 18th Airborne Corps’ first-ever senior enlisted leader, stands out as a favorite, as does the 82nd Airborne Division’s Immediate Response Force's New Year’s Day 2020 no notice deployment to the Middle East, or the 3rd Special Forces Group’s memorial workouts.
They’re always mentioned at ceremonies on post, but I will always make time for a Gold Star family, and those who I’ve spoken to or met have stood out. There’s Mary Herrema, the mother of Sgt. 1st Class Richard "Rick" Herrema, who has a special way of interacting with other military families when she visits a Fayetteville military retreat named after her son; Mary Tator, who’s connected with nonprofits and veteran organizations in her home state of New York to honor the memory of her daughter, Spc. Abigail Jenks also shares Abby’s artwork with others; Heather Baker, who's spoken to members of Congress about her son, Pvt. Caleb Smither; Britt Harris, who maintains a close relationship with her mother-in-law, and is often seen paying tribute to her late husband, Spc. Chris Harris, at Fort Liberty ceremonies, while also having adventures of her own; or the Gold Star kids who run to honor their fallen parents each Memorial Day.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.