A Forrest Gump Moment During Iran Contra in 1986

As a reporter, you never know how things are going to turn out when covering an event or story.

From time to time, you get a front row seat to history, or a small piece of it. That's what happened in 1986 when President Reagan tapped then Senator John Tower of Texas to be among those investigating the Iran Contra Affair through the Tower Commission.

This was the story of the day, at the time. And once he was named, journalists needed to gather reaction from Tower himself. That day, Tower was in Dallas and I was sent out with an AP photographer.  He gave a brief statement and I filed for radio and print. The way it worked out, that photographer got this shot of Tower, and I just happened to be in it.  The photo was on the front page of The New York Times, one of the Dallas papers and, I suspect, a number of others.  I'm the guy in the trench coat to the right. (click photo at the left to enlarge New York Times photo).

Tower himself would die in a plane crash in 1991.


As if to bring this full-circle, I hosted another then-member of the Tower Commission, former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft for a National Press Club Luncheon in 2011.  By that time, Iran Contra didn't come up, but we had a full discussion of issues involving Pakistan, Afghanistan and terrorism.  (Photo below courtesy of Noel St. John)


Here's a link to the video of the NPC Luncheon.


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