Listen to a podcast with John Cramer and Sam Dean describing their work on the Jordan's War series.
Download a two-part report on "Jordan's War" by Joe Zupan of public radio station WVTF. (.mp3 format)
About the series
In March 2005, Roanoke Times reporter John Cramer and photographer Sam Dean began following Jordan Sherwood, a young Marine from Roanoke who was wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
To put a human face on the war, Cramer and Dean followed Sherwood and his family for the past year during his convalescent leave, rehabilitation and return to Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The series is based on interviews, documents, journals and observations involving Sherwood, his family, friends, medical staff, other Marines, military specialists and others. Cramer and Dean visited Sherwood at his home, medical treatment centers, military bases and other locations in Virginia, Maryland and California.
In writing this series, Cramer reconstructed some scenes -- such as the roadside bomb explosion -- based on the memories of those involved. Quotation marks were used only when Cramer or Dean heard or read (as in a letter) the words.
All thoughts attributed to people in this series came from those people. There are no composite scenes or characters in this series. No names have been changed.
- John Cramer
- John Cramer, 44, has been a journalist for more than 20 years. He has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Azerbaijan and elsewhere. He joined The Roanoke Times in 1998.
- E-mail John
- Sam Dean
- Sam Dean, 30, a photojournalist for nearly a decade, has covered stories as varied as the Elian Gonzalez saga and conflict in Afghanistan. He joined The Roanoke Times in 2000.
- E-mail Sam
Credits
- Multimedia producer
- Seth M. Gitner
- Web developer
- Patrick Beeson
- Web designers
- Patrick Beeson
- Rob Lunsford
- Print designer
- Andrew Svec
- Graphics
- Rob Lunsford
- Chris OBrion
- Editors
- Carole Tarrant
- Leslie Taylor
- Photo editor
- Kelly Hahn Johnson
- Copy editors
- Jerry Stone
- Nancy Caldwell