A great front page.
A compelling headline.
A moving photo.
A good caption.
A human story:
The Parker Hilltop apartment complex was decorated with U.S. flags when Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Keil arrived at his new home Wednesday.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Keil, 25. “I’m so glad to be out of the hospital. I’m glad to be finally home.”
Keil spent the past four months rehabilitating at Craig Hospital. He was shot in the neck by a sniper in February in Iraq, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, although he now can breath on his own and has the use of his left arm.
This month, he and his wife, Tracy, 29, learned that Pulte Homes and the nonprofit Homes For Our Troops will build them a new house.
In the meantime, the couple will be living in an apartment at Parker Hilltop.
On Wednesday, members of the Patriotic Guard Riders provided a motorcycle escort for the couple as they traveled to their new home.
“That was just unbelievable,” Keil said.
“It was awesome – veterans taking care of veterans. Most of the riders were Vietnam vets, and they were not treated very well when they came home. They just wanted to make sure that did not happen again.”
The couple will spend Wednesday night at a nearby hotel, because their furniture won’t arrive until today. Family members will help them move in.
But Keil got a chance to check out the new apartment Wednesday and to drop off clothes and medical supplies. He and his wife also went shopping for groceries.
“I like it a lot,” he said.
Great journalism.
Period.
(See the slideshow here)