Aldinger, who covered the Pentagon for Reuters, dies at 84

Charles Aldinger, who spent 25 years covering the Pentagon for Reuters, died June 27 at the age of 84.

An obituary states, “He turned his love of storytelling into a 50-year career in journalism. His early days as a cub reporter for the Charleston News and Courier introduced him to seasoned colleagues who taught him essentials of reporting and writing.

“From there, he moved to United Press International (UPI) as a wire service reporter. He was on the UPI desk in 1963, when news of shots being fired in Dallas came across the teletype. He reported on race riots in the south, earthquakes in South America as well as  assignments including the Hill and State Department in Washington, D.C. One night while on the desk, he answered the phone to find Idi Amin on the other end.

“The last 25 years of his career were spent covering the Pentagon for Reuters News Agency, where he became  dean of the Pentagon press corps. He traveled the world with seven defense secretaries spanning from Casper Weinberger to Donald Rumsfeld. He was at the Pentagon on 9/11 reporting from the plane crash site describing the chaos and horror of that day.”

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