Posted on 04/16/2003 3:12:34 PM PDT by Timesink
Melanie Bloom, center, hold hands with her children, as she follows behind the casket of her husband and their father David Bloom, a NBC reporter, after funeral services in New York, Wednesday April 16, 2003. Bloom, 39, the weekend anchor of NBC's ``Today'' and a former White House correspondent, died of an apparent blood clot April 6 while embedded with a military unit in Iraq. (AP Photos/Bebeto Matthews)
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NBC News correspondent David Bloom, who died while covering the war in Iraq, was eulogized at his funeral Wednesday as a modern-day Ernie Pyle who had a spiritual awakening before his death.
Bloom, 39, the weekend anchor of "Today" and a former White House correspondent, died of an apparent blood clot April 6 while embedded with a military unit in Iraq.
Equipped with a special vehicle, called the "Bloom-mobile," that allowed NBC to transmit remarkably clear pictures of him riding atop a tank in the Iraqi desert, Bloom was one of the most visible TV correspondents covering the war.
"David was the Ernie Pyle of his generation," NBC anchor Tom Brokaw said, comparing his colleague to the legendary newspaperman who covered World War II.
Brokaw praised Bloom's "boyish enthusiasm," storytelling ability and thirst for covering big stories.
"David had a lot of great ideas - none better than the `Bloom-mobile,' which transported him and transformed war reporting," the veteran NBC anchorman said.
Bloom's funeral was at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral, less than a block from his NBC News office. New York's archbishop, Cardinal Edward Egan, recalled Bloom attending Sunday Mass there after his "Today" show duties.
Parts of the funeral were shown on MSNBC, CNN and Fox News Channel. New York Gov. George Pataki, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, ABC anchorman Peter Jennings, CBS newsman Ed Bradley and much of NBC's on-air staff were among the mourners.
Bloom is survived by his wife, Melanie, and three daughters.
Also eulogized by two brothers and his best friend, Bloom was described as a man who had battled personal problems in recent years and was at peace with the prospect of dying in Iraq.
Hours before he died, he wrote an e-mail to Melanie saying the experience of covering the war had transformed him, leading him to realize that nothing mattered more than his relationship with her and their daughters, said his older brother, John Bloom.
He quoted Bloom's last message to his wife: "Here I am, supposedly at the peak of professional success, and I can frankly care less."
DAVID BLOOM'S LAST E-MAIL [Rod Dreher]
NBC reporter David Bloom, who died last week in Iraq, sent a final e-mail to his wife on the eve of his death. It was eerily prescient, almost an epitaph. David was a born-again Christian; a friend of mine who was in a men's prayer and Bible-study group with him says David was passionately devoted to his family and his God. That friend told me David's last e-mail was read aloud in a deeply moving Friday meeting with his prayer partners, at which a number of David's NBC colleagues were present. It was no surprise to those who knew David best, it seems, when he said in that communique (this taken from the MSNBC.com story): “[W]hen the moment comes in my life when you are talking about my last days, I am determined that you and others will say ‘he was devoted to his wife and children, he was admired, he gave every ounce of his being for those whom he cared most about… not himself, but God and his family.’" That's a man.
Posted at 10:37 PM
Anybody got the scoop on that cancellation? Did the family just not want to see Hitlary there?
"Here I am, supposedly at the peak of professional success, but I could, frankly, care less. It's nothing compared to my relationship with you and the girls and Jesus."
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