Uncle's War Letters Reach Across Generation

Perhaps my favorite story this semester was a feature on a Rutgers student who is co-authoring a book with his history professor. The book, tentatively titled "Everyman in Vietnam," chronicles the story of Jimmy Gilch--the student's uncle who was killed in the war--and the concurrent cultural and political history. For author Joe Gilch, the book is a summation of a lifelong obsession with his uncle, a man he knew only through pictures, family stories and  the 80 letters he wrote home to New Jersey while in Vietnam.

I began my reporting by traveling to the student's house in Glendora, just 20 minutes from the Cherry Hill newsroom. When I arrived at Gilch's home, a modest but dignified single story house, he and his mother greeted me at the door.  I sat right down in their cheerfully decorated kitchen, which had been tidied for company, and began the interview. It was very fluid and conversational; it didn't hurt that Gilch and I have similar interests and are at the same place in life.

I couldn't make it up to New Brunswick to speak with Michael Adas, the professor who is writing the historical context of the book, so I interviewed him over the phone. The interview went well, and provided another layer to the story: the transformation of Gilch,  the student, throughout the writing process.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story. I had to do some heavy lifting to weave in multiple components (the historical context, the writing process, the student's personal story), but it turned out to be a nice news feature.