When Richard Eagan was nominated as Ambassador to Ireland, the Globe attacked him because he had been born too late to fight in Korea.

‘Search & Destroy’ Team Attacks Amb. Richard Eagan

July 30, 2001

Many newspapers have a “Spotlight Team” but the Boston Globe’s unit
is called the “Search & Destroy” team. The newest person they’re trying to destroy is Hopkinton’s Richard Eagan, who has been appointed Ambassador to Ireland.

In a breathless, front page story, the “Team” reported that Eagan had been born too early to be in the Korean War.

It revealed that Eagan graduated from high school in June 1953 and joined the Marines when he was 17-years-old. But the war ended only three weeks later.

“[E]agan’s military records show that he entered the Marine Reserves three weeks before the truce in 1953 [and] never served overseas,” the “Team” said in its exclusive report.

They were concerned because the website at Eagan’s company, EMC Corp., credits him with “serving in the US Marine Corps during the Korean conflict.”

The “Team” certainly was on the job. It informed us that it hadn’t secured this information from the Pentagon until “just hours” after Eagan met with Sen. Kennedy. The Senator apparently did not have this crucial information in time for the meeting.

The reason that the Globe’s “Destroy Team” was so concerned was because it said the truth “contradicted various media portrayals of him.”

It then lists two examples. It said that Inc. magazine wrote in 1994, “Eagan graduated from Boston Technical High School in 1954, enlisted in the Marines and caught the end of the Korean War. (A helicopter crew chief, he once helped pull a pilot from the water.)” But the Team had to back off when it appeared to be true that this happened during an action in the Pacific which is still classified. He was stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Santa Ana, California, at the time.

The other expose was that the “Irish Voice” reported the following in March 2001. “He joined the Marines after high school and served in the Korean War before going to Northeastern University and graduating as an engineer in 1961.” The Team doesn’t report how Eagan is responsible for mistakes at the “Irish Voice.” The Voice should have said “during the Korean War” rather than “in the Korean War.”

The Globe story revealed that Eagan went AWOL for three months at age 18 and was court martialed as a result and received one month in confinement. The Team also said that he was punished severely by being reduced in rank. “His rank was reduced from private first class to private, the lowest rank in the service.” But his previous rank was the next-to-the-lowest “rank in the service.” Not a big drop for an eighteen-year-old.

His spokesman says that his going AWOL was “unavoidable” but declined to give the personal reasons.

Eagan later received an honorable discharge and served in the reserves for five years after ending active duty.

He was confirmed by the Senate on August 3 in an easy vote.

Globe Lacks Talent, but This Makes It Too Easy

The majority of his reporters at the Globe lack talent, Metro Editor Peter Canellos wrote in a memo to senior management two years ago.

The editor advised: “The major obstacle, as with many priorities in Metro, is the lack of talent on the staff. Most of the Metro staff, perhaps three-quarters, is not capable of writing a marquee Sunday piece. Most of the editors aren’t capable of editing them...”

That’s not fair. How can it be any fun for us at MassNews to report the foolishness at the Globe when any of you can see that foolishness so easily for yourself?