Sept. 18 would have been Dan Eldon’s birthday. But instead, we celebrate his life lost 21 years ago.
Some of you may be remember his story. It was a story of a young adventurer, half American, half British, who grew up in Africa engrained in the culture and hope of a continent, who gave his life to make sure the world knew the truth about what was happening in a world so far away from most of our consciousnesses. He covered the famine in Ethiopia and the war in Somalia, and he brought the world the images that sparked action.
Dan, who at age 22 had lived the life of someone much his senior and had the front pages of countless newspapers and magazines around the world, was killed in Mogadishu, Somalia, July 12, 1993. Today, he would have been 44-years-old.
I think back to that day, when an attack was made by U.N. forces on what was thought to be the headquarters of a Somali warlord, General Mohamed Aideed. In actuality, it was a meeting house where elders, women and children had gathered.
Dozens were killed and an angry mob, in great distress over to the action, turned on four journalists who happened to be covering the bombing. They were Hos Maina, Anthony Macharia, Hansi Krauss and Dan Eldon. All those who knew Dan always said that if he could have just talked to his assailants, he would have survived. But alas, he was stoned to death on the streets of Mogadishu—a shining light blown out too early.
A few years after his death, his little sister, Amy, produced an Emmy-nominated documentary called “Dying to Tell the Story.” It was a look at why journalists put themselves in harm’s way to tell the story.
Since 1993, more than 1,000 journalists have been killed because of their work. In the past month alone, five journalists have been killed doing their work. Two of the most talked about incidents were the beheading deaths of Steven Sotloff and James Foley, both in Syria.
To some, the work of journalists is glamorous—traveling the world, going to exotic places. But in reality, it is those without a face who are embedded in the farthest corners of the world, where freedom of speech and freedom of expression don’t exist. It is where death can come quickly because of a raid, murder or war zone incident. Journalists put their lives on the line every day to tell the stories that inform enlighten and enrage us. So on this day, the 44th anniversary of Dan Eldon’s birth and more than 21 years since his death, let us remember these great men and women who have died so that we can know the truth.
Dan Eldon was an adventurer, a traveler, a friend and, most of all, a seeker of truth and life. He brought to us images of war, but in those images were compassion, love and hope. May we always remember Dan as a light that burned so brightly but was extinguished too soon. As Dan would have said, “You choose your dance. You choose the music for your dance. You dance proudly, you dance loudly, you dance with incredible spirit and creativity and life and joy. And especially, you go out and dance with love.” And that is just what he did.