NPR war reporter Tom Bowman to speak at St. Mike’s

February 17, 2017

Saint Michael’s alumnus and NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman ’77 will be presenting on campus on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. in the McCarthy Arts Center at Saint Michael’s College.

His talk, titled “Reporting on war and conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq,” will highlight Bowman’s many trips to the war-torn region and being embedded with U.S. troops. Bowman was nearly killed last year when his convoy was ambushed, killing his colleague, NPR photographer David Gilkey, and their Afghani translator.

Bowman will speak alongside a veteran (or possibly more) of both wars who will describe his/ their life/lives in Vermont since returning. This event is free and open to the public.

His bio from NPR website:

In his current role, Bowman has traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan often for month-long visits and embedded with U.S. Marines and soldiers.

Before coming to NPR in April 2006, Bowman spent nine years as a Pentagon reporter at The Baltimore Sun. Altogether he was at The Sun for nearly two decades, covering the Maryland Statehouse, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the National Security Agency (NSA). His coverage of racial and gender discrimination at NSA led to a Pentagon investigation in 1994.

Initially Bowman imagined his career path would take him into academia as a history, government, or journalism professor. During college Bowman worked as a stringer at The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass. He also worked for the Daily Transcript in Dedham, Mass., and then as a reporter at States News Service, writing for the Miami Herald and the Anniston (Ala.) Star.

Bowman is a co-winner of a 2006 National Headliners’ Award for stories on the lack of advanced tourniquets for U.S. troops in Iraq. In 2010, he received an Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of a Taliban roadside bomb attack on an Army unit.

Bowman earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Saint Michael’s College … and a master’s degree in American Studies from Boston College.

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