Jimenez family
has Tribune reporter thrown off military
base
Family of hero
soldier killed in Iraq says Eagle~Tribune
Reporter had to be thrown out of wake and
funeral as well
Tom Duggan
Slain soldier, Army Pfc. Alex Jimenez was
captured by Al Qaeda and had been missing
for 15 months before his remains were
finally found in Iraq.
As hard as it was for
the Jimenez family, said Jim
Wareing spokesman for the Jimenez and
Duran Family someone tipped off the
Eagle Tribune that Alex had been found
before the family was notified.
And when we arrived to deliver the
devastating news to Andy (Alexs
father who lives in Lawrence), the
Tribune was already in the house,
snapping pictures as the family was told,
breaking down in tears. It was total
exploitation of this family who had been
through so much. We were horrified by the
picture they ran on the front page the
next day. It was such an invasion of
privacy, he said in a somber tone.
The mother of Alex Jimenez, Maria Del
Rosario Duran, told the Valley Patriot in
an exclusive interview that she was very
hurt by the disrespect she and her family
endured at the hands of the Eagle
Tribune.
First, what happened to Andy
(Alexs father) was not right. They
came to the house and took [a] picture
during private time for the family. I
wasnt there, so you should talk to
him, she said, but I know he
was very sad about that and it should not
have happened.
We were crying together and trying
to grieve, said Andy, Jr.,
Alexs brother. I dont
know why they were there, just to get a
picture of us crying and embarrass us in
their newspaper? It was such disrespect
[sic] he said.
But, Wareing, who runs New England Caring
for our Military, a volunteer
organization to help soldiers and their
families, said that the invasion of
privacy the Jimenez family endured at the
hands of the Eagle Tribune was just
beginning.
Wareing and Lawrences
Veterans services director
Francisco Urena were partners in planning
the massive funeral for the military
hero. Urena was in charge of the military
aspect of the services and Wareing was in
charge of the funeral services,
scheduling, and media relations.
The Jimenez family made their wishes well
known to the Eagle Tribune, Wareing
said, when they got wind that the
newspaper was going to publish the
location of where Alexs body was
being flown in to before the funeral.
I got wind that, not only was
the Tribune going to publish that he was
being flown into Hanscom, but that they
were planning to have a reporter in the
procession from Lawrence to the base. So
I called Sheryl Rock (Eagle Tribune
Editor) and told her that we were
purposefully not releasing the location
where his body was being flown in to
because both Maria and Andy (Alexs
mom and dad) wanted the family to have
some privacy. They were clearly told the
media was not welcome and that we
didnt want the location published
to avoid any problems.
But Wareing said he was screamed at by
the Tribunes editor who told him to
mind his own business and stop telling
her how to do her job. The next day
it was in the Tribune that Alex was being
flown into Hanscom and I cant tell
you how upset the rest of the family was.
So, when the procession began I made sure
to check and make sure there were no
reporters cars following or trying
to sneak into the parade of cars going to
Hanscom, he explained. I even
had a conversation with Yadira (the Eagle
Tribune reporter). I personally told her
not to come to the base; that this was a
private event.
It was a very sad Friday morning. I
had to take this family to pick up their
dead son who had served his country in
Iraq. I was aggravated that I had to take
so many precautions to make sure their
privacy was protected from the local
newspaper who thought nothing of invading
their home and snapping pictures of them
while they were being notified, but it
was my job and I was just glad that they
didnt have to deal with any more
intrusions.
Wareing said the procession included two
limos with the family inside as well as
Lawrence Police motorcycle cops and two
police auxiliary police cars that were
joined by other departments and state
police as they made their way from
Lawrence to Hanscom.
When we arrived at Hanscom Air
Force Base, they waived us in and we
proceeded to the hanger area where
I explained the procedure of what
was going to happen next and, within a
few minutes, I saw Yadira Betances from
the Eagle Tribune right there on the
base. I was fuming. All I could think
about is that Alexs family is
having one of the worst days of their
lives and at the time they need privacy
the most, on a military base no less,
they are being stalked by this woman who
keeps telling us she is a friend of the
family but keeps acting like a
vulture.
The Tribune was clear on the
instruction. Clear instructions were
given to everyone in the motorcade as
well. Maria and Andy did not want any
press at the base. We didnt even
want the press to publish where the body
was being flown into. But there she was.
She snuck on the base against the wishes
of the family.
Wareing says that only Alexs mother
had the legal right to remove the Trib
reporter from the military base
since she was the legal next of
kin.
She said she didnt want her
(Betances) there, Wareing
continued, tears welling up in his eyes
and his voice shaking. She had to
take time from grieving with her family
to order the MPs to throw a Trib
reporter off the base. I cant even
tell you the pain this woman caused. My
heart was breaking for them as it was,
but to have to deal with this on top of
what was happening was just
unspeakable.
Alexs mother said that she
didnt see Betances on the base, but
that her son noticed her getting out of a
police car and was so upset. They
(military personnel) asked if we wanted
her to be there and we all said no.
Father, brothers, everyone in the family
agreed before that there would be no
reporters and we all wanted her to leave.
She is not a friend when she disrespects
the body like that; when she disrespects
our wishes like that, she said
through her son Andy who interpreted.
Wareing said that he was puzzled as to
how a reporter from the Eagle Tribune
could have snuck onto a secure military
base to either snap pictures or take
notes, so he began to ask those in the
motorcade. One of the auxiliary
police officers finally admitted that
Chief Romero had ordered him to take her
in his police cruiser before the
motorcade began. I didnt think I
had to search all the police cars before
we left, but apparently Chief Romero is
in bed with them and I suspect, though I
cant prove it yet, that Romero was
the one who tipped them off about
Alexs body being found before the
family even knew. That does explain why
Trib reporters were in the Jimenez house
before the notification was made.
Thrown out of Wake and Funeral
But Wareing said the harassment of the
Jimenez family didnt end there.
On the day of the wake, Yadira came
into the church and immediately confronts
me for throwing her off the base. She was
swearing and yelling at me right in the
middle of the church saying she is a
friend of the family and she
deserves to be there. She was
crying and she was all upset, so I
explained to her again that it was Maria
who had her thrown off the base and, if
she was really a friend of the family,
she would be there for them, not as a
reporter.
Thats when, Wareing says, the
reporter threatened to
destroy him.
She yelled, You are finished!
You are through! You are ruined.
Youre done. I work for the Eagle
Tribune!
I told her she obviously had no
respect for the Jimenez family, and you
are no friend of Alex. You are just one
of the slime reporter that people hate.
You cant pretend youre a
friend to someone and then start acting
like a reporter. If you are a reporter
more than you are a friend, we dont
want you here.
Wareing said she was then thrown out of
the wake, but started crying and begging
to talk to Alexs father so she
could get back in. This woman had
no shame at all, she was going to do
whatever it took to get a story and worm
her way back in, but I think Andy felt
bad at that point and just didnt
want any more incidents so the family
said that if she wanted to stay as a
friend and promised not to do any
reporting she could come back in.
Within half an hour Betances
was seen by family members trying to
interview one of Alexs former
colleagues and then disappeared with the
colleague outside the church.
So we went outside to see her with
a pen and notepad outside the church,
interviewing the woman she only had
access to because she was let back in the
church to grieve with the family.
Alexs brother Andy had his cell
phone with him that has a camera built
in, so he took a picture of her so we
could show the rest of the family that
this woman was playing everyone to get
her story.
I lost so much respect for
the Tribune, and I know it goes back to
the editors. This was not some rogue
reporter doing something she wasnt
supposed to do. She was doing what her
editors wanted her to do: sneak around,
violate the privacy of Alexs
friends and family, and get the story by
any means possible
no matter who
they hurt.
More dishonor at heros funeral
Wareing says it would have been bad
enough if their problems with the Tribune
had ended there. But, on the day of the
funeral for the hero soldier, Pfc. Alex
Jimenez, Betances showed up again.
The day of the funeral, she was in
church before I was. She must have gotten
there really early. I walked in and was
talking to father Jorge about the funeral
and there was Yadira Betances
interviewing people inside the church.
Inside the church! he repeated
incredulously. It was a public
event at that point so, as disgusted as I
was, I had no plans on asking her to
leave. We just wanted to get though this
day without anymore problems, he
recalled.
So, I tried to get her attention,
just to ask her not to interview anyone
inside the church, but she walked away
when she saw me coming. You know, she had
the nerve to go and sit in the front row
like she was a family member just to try
and get information? I tried to be
cordial to her, but she became disruptive
and had to be thrown out of the church by
the military public affairs officers in
the church.
Wareing said he originally planned on
letting the incident go once the funeral
was over and he had no intention on going
public with his story, but he had second
thoughts when he realized more
heroes from the Merrimack Valley are in
harms way right now as we speak and, God
forbid, one of those men and women lose
their lives.
I dont want this to happen to the
next Alex Jimenez. If the Eagle
Tribune gets away with this and they are
not exposed, I am horrified to think of
how they will treat the next military
family in their time of grief.
Wareing is best known for his activism in
supporting military families and sending
care packages to the troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan. He has spent thousands of
dollars out of his own pocket to pay for
postage and items needed by our military
personnel overseas. Wareing said that he
is contemplating leaving the organization
he started four years ago, called New
England Caring for Our Miltary, because
of the threats he received by the
tribune.
What I plan to do is turn over New
England Caring for Our Military (NECFOM)
to someone else, because of the personal
threats I received from the Tribune. I
know how they operate and how they treat
people they dont like. They dig up
anything they can, true or not, to
humiliate you in the community, and I
just dont think Im ready for
that. I am a human being and I have
faults like everyone else and as long as
I am affiliated with NECFOM, I know that
every time we do something in public it
gives them a chance to throw rocks at
me.
Wareing says the final insult came when
he saw the picture on the front page of
the Eagle Tribune the day after the
funeral showing the casket inside the
church. We told them they could
take pictures in the church but not
during the mass. Do you think they could
have at least respected the familys
wishes after everything they had been
through? No way. I got calls from
military people in Washington the next
day before I even had a chance to see the
paper.
They were very upset because they thought
I had arranged for the paper to take
pictures during the mass. I just
cant tell you how traumatic this
whole situation was even without the
Tribunes harassment of the family.
It was even more tragic that while Andy
and Maria were preparing to bury their
son they had to keep being interrupted
with this foolishness, so the Trib can
try to win another Pulitzer by exploiting
the family of a dead soldier.
Tom Duggan is the president of Valley
Patriot, Inc., a former Lawrence School
Committeeman, and hosts the Paying
Attention! Radio Program on WCAP, 980AM,
every Saturday afternoon from noon-2pm.
You can email your comments to Tdugjr@aol.com .
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