CINCINNATI — Craig McKee is leaning on a pole outside the VA Medical Center. He’s waiting for an interview about a new van transporting veterans to medical appointments. As he’s standing there, a stranger approaches.
“Welcome home,” McKee said.
“You’re leaving," the Vietnam veteran said. "And I’m disappointed."
McKee shakes the man's hand, hearing his concern about how many veterans are incarcerated. In July, the former WCPO 9 News anchor starts a new job in Phoenix, closer to his grandchildren. McKee is quick to say he will continue this work there.
Because this isn't the first veteran who's approached him. Soon, he points in my direction.
“They’re going to continue this mission,” McKee said.
I’ll be taking over Homefront, a weekly series devoted to coverage of veterans. That’s why I spent a recent morning with McKee. I wanted to see how he does it, and I wanted to learn everything I can before he’s gone.
'I'm proud' | Hear plans for Homefront in the video below:
The impact of this series is easy to see. Especially as McKee puts a microphone on an Army veteran in a wheelchair outside the medical center. The vet says he wouldn't have made it to his doctor's appointment without the van that just picked him up. And it's a service county officials say wouldn’t have happened without McKee's reporting.
“It’s a 180,” said James Massey, transportation manager for Hamilton County’s Veterans Service Commission. “A complete turnaround.”
For McKee, that answer makes him proud. Maybe even more than his own military service.
“My service was meh, compared to those who gave all to our country," McKee said.
He never dreamed about joining the military. His dad was drafted into the Army, but never talked about it much.
“There wasn’t a lot of motivation in the family to go to college, to really do anything,” McKee said. “So everything I’ve achieved in life, it’s because I made a decision.”
A decision, he said, just happened while driving past a recruitment center.
“My turn signal went on and I took the exit,” McKee said. “Next thing you know, I was off.”
He worked as law enforcement and then a journalist for the Air Force, carrying all his military gear and camera equipment with him wherever he went.
“The civilian sector doesn’t understand us,” McKee said. “There’s a thread that connects all of us.”
It's a thread he's dedicated much of his career to exploring. But he’s used to asking the questions, not answering them. And it’s clear he’s more comfortable shining a spotlight on the stories of other veterans he’s told during a decade here.
At his desk, he has an entire calendar with hundreds of stories. He shows it to me.
“Some of the veterans I’ve spoken with, they’ve never really opened up at all,” McKee said. “Sharing their story with me, even if it’s just a small slice, in some cases that was the first time they shared with anyone.”
On the way back to the office, McKee drives. He jokes that he should have cleaned out his truck. I ask how he’s feeling, because this is his last shoot for Homefront before he moves more than 1,800 miles away.
First, he laughs. Then, he pauses and looks out the window.
“Don’t make me cry on camera, Keith."
He pauses again, for a long time. Without looking at me, he answers quickly.
“I’m proud.”
How to contact us:
We are going to continue this important work. If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, please email homefront@wcpo.com
