Catherine Watson
Special to the Star Tribune

“Accident victims” families are worse — they’re not prepared. Military families are calmer. They’re half-expecting it.”

The speaker was a veteran journalist, giving advice to me and a few other young reporters nearly 40 years ago, as we worked on a gruesome task, in another ugly war. Today, every time I read a headline about American deaths in Iraq, I remember those words. I’ve been remembering them a lot lately.