The Bloom Will Never Fade

© 2003 Boaz Rauchwerger

His favorite nickname was “Dad.” Millions of people knew him by other names. The way his three daughters referred to him was special. Just “Dad.”

People who achieve great successes in all aspects of their lives usually have one critical attribute in common – they go the extra mile. Whether in their family relationships or in their professional pursuits, they’re constantly doing more than is expected of them.

NBC News correspondent David Bloom was such a person. Embedded with the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division outside Baghdad during the war in Iraq, he died of an apparent pulmonary embolism. David was a 39-year-old husband and father of three.

Anyone watching closely the coverage of the war in Iraq is bound to have noticed a difference in the way David covered the war. Using unique equipment that he helped to configure, he broadcast live reports as the American armored column he was traveling with fought its way north through the Iraqi desert. Many believe Bloom’s type of report was a first in broadcast history.

A native of Edina, Minnesota, he attended Pitzer College in Claremont, California. In 1989 Bloom became a reporter for the NBC-owned television station in Miami, Florida, where he covered many major news stories such as Hurricane Andrew, the Somali famine and the coup that led to a U.S. intervention in Haiti.

In 1993 he joined NBC News as a correspondent based in Chicago. After a stint in Los Angeles for the network, he was named White House correspondent in 1997. In March of 2000 he was named co-anchor of the weekend editions of “Today.”

In recent years, Bloom covered many top international stories for NBC, most recently reporting from Israel on violence in the Middle East and in the U.S. on home front security and the recovery after 9-ll.

In his last assignment, he traveled with the 2nd Battalion, 315 Mechanized Unit of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division in its caravan toward Baghdad.

In a clear indication of his habit of going the extra mile, Bloom and his crew covered the Iraqi war as no other. He coordinated special modifications on an M-88 recovery vehicle that allowed him and his crew to file live reports during the divisions campaign from Kuwait to Baghdad.

Bloom’s foresight and ingenuity in helping to modify the armored vehicle that he rode in on the desert led to it’s being named the “Bloommobile.” Bloom and his cameraman mounted a gyrostabilized camera – the kind that’s mounted on helicopters – to produce jiggle-free video. Video of him reporting even when the M-88 was bumping along at 50 mph or more were amazing.

In an additional step of ingenuity, Bloom arranged for the sharper-than-videophone signal to be sent via microwave to a converted Ford F-450 crew-cab truck which was anywhere from two to 10 miles farther back in the column. The signal was then transmitted from an antenna on the truck, in real-time, from its own gyrostabilized platform, to an overhead satellite. From the satellite, the signal was relayed to NBC.

The length to which David Bloom went to prepare for covering the war in Iraq was amazing. The truck, which was converted by the Maritime Telecommunications Network, had custom-designed Goodyear tires. They were made soft and mushy so they would just ooze through the sand and aid in the smoothness of the video signals.

Technology journals immediately picked up on the significance of Bloom’s unique, live, on-the-move reports. Adding to the technology was David’s unique spirit. Howard Kurtz, the media critic for the Washington Post, noted Bloom’s coverage for its “boyish enthusiasm.”

NBC executives, in watching Bloom’s meticulous preparations for the war, marveled as he demonstrated a tireless devotion to this story. Fellow-reporters relate that this was David’s standard operating procedure. On assignment in China, a number of years ago, he stayed up many nights searching for dissidents to interview for his story.

David Bloom received many awards during his nearly twenty-year career with NBC News. These included a Peabody Award and RTNDA’s Edward R. Murrow Award.

David Bloom, as he blazed across the desert in Iraq, also blazed across the minds of millions of people as he displayed the value of going the extra mile – of doing more than is expected.

For doing so, for being called “Dad” by his three young daughters, for showing such a passion for life, the bloom will never fade on the memory of this incredible man.

A Daily Affirmation of Extra Effort

I go the extra mile in all my efforts. I do more than is expected of me because I am a champion.