Duffie Clemons wasn’t the only one to notice the flurry of incorrect references to 21-gun salutes in The San Diego Union-Tribune in connection with Memorial Day events. It’s a common mistake, said Clemons, president of the San Diego Chapter of the Pearl Harbor Association.
There was an incorrect reference to a 21-gun salute on May 26. The next day, a story about a burial program to give homeless veterans proper recognition, said: “Puffs of smoke drifted from a 21-gun salute fired by a Marine color guard. The sound cracked the air.”
It’s a nice word picture, but Clemons, retired Marine colonel Bill Herrin, and others told me it couldn’t have been a 21-gun salute. That honor is usually reserved for the president and other heads of state.
“A 21-gun salute is fired by guns (not rifles), usually howitzers,” Clemons wrote in an e-mail. “For example, Army cannoneers gave President George W. Bush a 21-gun salute at his inauguration.” In a 21-gun salute, shots are fired in succession.
“On the other hand, the traditional funeral ceremony includes a firing party — usually seven riflemen — who fire three volleys, thus the erroneous reference to a `21-gun salute.’
“Military historians have traced this custom to the 17th century. Beyond that, the Romans honored their dead warriors by casting earth three times upon the grave, calling the name of the dead and saying `vale’ (farewell) three times,” Clemons said.
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As David Ogul tells it, the reader wanted to know about the Union-Tribune’s policy in describing crime suspects. Ogul, assistant metro editor who supervises crime and safety coverage, carefully explained.
The conversation went something like this: Ogul: “We use suspect descriptions only if they are specific. In other words, it’s not enough to say that the suspect is in his in 30s, 5 feet 8 inches and weighs 180 pounds. We need to have something that will distinguish the suspect from all other 30 year-old, 180-pound men.”
Reader: “OK, then take a look at two stories in today’s paper.” He pointed Ogul to side-by-side articles that appeared in the City edition June 8 about two robberies. One said: “The bandit, described as white, in his 20s, about 5 feet 3 inches tall, 170 pounds with short black hair, was dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans. . . . ” The second story said: “Witnesses said the robber was 40 to 50 years old.”
“I called the police dispatcher and was told there was a complete description of the 40- to 50-year-old black man,” the reader said.
Ogul was surprised, not by the missing description but by the one that identified the robber as a white man. There was nothing in it that would tell people how this man was different from any other 20-year-old man of his height and weight. Although he edits many stories that are written about crime and safety matters, some are worked by other editors when he is busy or has the day off. Had Ogul edited the stories, he would have deleted the descriptions because they were too vague.
“Suspect descriptions should be avoided unless they are specific enough to inform the reader in identifying a fugitive,” Ogul said. “Stating that `police are looking for a black man in his mid-20s who stands 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches and weighs 180 to 200 pounds and has short cropped hair’ is not specific. That describes many African-Americans in San Diego County. If, however, the description includes distinguishing characteristics, such as a four-inch scar on the person’s forehead or a tattoo on his left forearm, then the entire description should be included.
“By allowing the less stringent, more vague description to run in the paper, we contribute to prejudice and ignorance. Saying a white man in his 20s robbed a liquor store tells folks that white men in their 20s can’t be trusted and casts suspicion on all white men in their 20s,” Ogul said.
Whatever the policy, the paper should apply it consistently.
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Of all the material sent to me by Ed Moore, I must have relied on a single sheet of paper with outdated information. Moore, who correctly insisted for years that Franklin D. Roosevelt made his acceptance speech for his fourth term as president while at what is now MCRD, is a retired aster sergeant, not a gunnery sergeant, as I said last week. Also, the Ferdinand Magellan was not literally a train. It was a train car used by FDR.
