• David Halberstam (1934-2007)

1. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who earned his stripes covering the civil rights movement in Nashville is dead. David Halberstam was killed Monday in Menlo Park, California. He was on his way to an interview when the car in which he was riding was broadsided by another vehicle. Halberstam worked for The Tennessean in the 1950s, but his coverage of the Vietnam War is credited with helping to change the American perspective about that conflict. In November of last year, Halberstam spoke at MTSU about the role of the journalist in revealing the facts about an ill-advised military conflict.

halberstam1 :18 OC: "of the reporter";

Halberstam's books included The Making of a Quagmire, The Best and the Brightest, The Children, and The Fifties. He was 73 years old.

2. Journalist David Halberstam made one of his final speeches at MTSU in November of last year. Halberstam, who covered the civil rights movement for The Tennessean in the '50s and the Vietnam War for The New York Times in the '60s, was killed in a car crash Monday. He was 73 years old. In November, he explained to MTSU students what would make someone want to be a war correspondent.

halberstam2 :15 OC: "reporters do that";

Halberstam, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his Vietnam coverage, said the reporters covering the war in Iraq are the bravest of all because they really have no safety zone and they encounter an enemy with much greater firepower.

3. One of David Halberstam's final appearances on a college campus was at MTSU in November 2006. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former Tennessean reporter was killed in a car crash Monday at the age of 73. At MTSU, Halberstam, whose coverage of the Vietnam War helped to change the nation's view of it, hailed the correspondents covering the war in Iraq for their courage.

halberstam3 :20 OC: "of the adversary";

Halberstam told the students that the role of a reporter in telling the truth about a miscalculated, mishandled war is a noble one because the government has lost its way, an observation he made about both Vietnam and Iraq.

4. Journalists all over the world are mourning the passing of David Halberstam, who was killed Monday in a car crash in California at the age of 73. Halberstam cut his teeth covering the civil rights movement for The Tennessean in the '50s and frequently returned to Middle Tennessee to renew friendships and lecture at area colleges. In November 2006, he explained to students at MTSU how difficult it was to tell the truth about the Vietnam War in his work for The New York Times in the '60s.

halberstam4 :18 OC: "you're too political";

Halberstam won a Pulitzer Prize for his Vietnam coverage, but he told the MTSU students that he believes the correspondents covering the war in Iraq are the bravest of all. He said the war Iraq , like Vietnam, is the product of a flawed policy.

5. The late David Halberstam never forgot his days covering the civil rights movement for The Tennessean in the '50s or the friendships he made. One of his many bestsellers was a book about Nashville's civil rights activists titled The Children. Halberstam, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Vietnam War, was killed in a car crash Monday in California. At a November 2006 conference at MTSU, Halberstam reflected on what makes a journalist tick.

halberstam5 :18 OC: "make it harder";

Between serious books about government and society such as The Best and the Brightest and The Powers That Be, Halberstam would write lyrical prose about sports in such books as Summer of '49 and The Teammates. Halberstam was 73 years old.