Special breed of journalist risks lives to cover strife

War correspondents are different animals, especially the ones who stay with it and are compelled by their nature to never miss an opportunity to tempt the devil on his own ground.

Each war in which Americans have played a role, from the Civil War to Iraq and Afghanistan, has had its press heroes.

These men and women risk life and limb to keep the rest of us informed — to make sure that we understand to the fullest degree the cost of every aspect of mortal combat. Some, like the soldiers they so diligently cover, return to a more normal life and even greater fame. Others do not.

But again, like those actually engaged in such life and death struggles, they never forget the experience.

There is a new book about five such men who left a lasting impression with their reporting from the battlefields of World War II, a conflict that we have come to regard as the only good war, though it claimed more than 60 million lives.

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