Letterman Beats Rather

Last night David Letterman had Chief Warrant Officers David Williams and Ronald Young, Jr. on the show. These two funny and brave gentlemen were held captive by the Iraqis for 3 weeks and were brilliant with Dave. And Dave was wonderful with them. It was such an enjoyable, informative interview with great details, true emotions about a hellish experience and some fine laughs, too.

To start things off, Dave asks what the rank of Chief Warrant Officer means, what does that signify. One of them answers, "It means we're a couple of nobodies." I laughed at their modesty. Dave has the officers set the scene and provide the basic background information of their orders for that day, March 24th. We learn their goal target, how many other choppers were involved (18), and the maneuverability and vulnerability of flying a helicopter. Was this their first combat experience? Ronald answers, "Yes, sir, and it wasn't a very good one." They described the feeling of being shot down by enemy fire. Bullets were flying everywhere. Dave asks what is it like to be shot at? Ronald says, "It's not a very good feeling. Once you realize what's going on, you almost have to remind yourself to breathe. It was the most intensely fearful moment in my life." Once the helicopter crashed down, what did you do? Answer: "Run like hell." (Via The Wahoo Gazette)

Tonight I watched Dan Rather of CBS News interview the same two Apache pilots on "60 Minutes II" and it was so flat with old Dan's lifeless questions and the usual "serious news" editing. Young and Williams were still brilliant to listen to but it just seem like another bit of canned news after Letterman's lively chat with them.

What a treat to watch Dave scoop Dan and to get a fresh look at some amazing people outside "real journalism." Like my old pal Ken Layne says, some of the best sources for news are Letterman and Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show." Sad, and funny, but true.