Washington Post snags Pulitzer for veteran hospital exposé

An exposé of third-world conditions at the overburdened US military hospital, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, has won the paper the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for public service.

The series, written by Dana Priest and Anne Hull and photographed by Michel du Cille (his shot of Staff Sergeant Dan Shannon is shown), reported "mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses" at the facility where wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan are treated or await their discharge.

After the story broke in February last year, a "troubled" President Bush visited Walter Reed. "It is not right to have someone volunteer to wear our uniform and not get the best possible care," he told hospital staff. "I apologize for what they went through, and we're going to fix the problem." A number of investigations into conditions at the facility are ongoing.

Photo: Washington Post
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