Merced-area graduate wins award for investigative journalism

An investigative journalist who grew up in Merced recently won a prestigious journalism award for her reports on secret, race-based mustard gas testing during World War II.

Caitlin Dickerson, a Washington, D.C.-based reporter for National Public Radio, was awarded a 2015 George Foster Peabody Award in April. A member of NPR’s investigations unit, she filed a series of reports on the Pentagon’s practice of exposing more than 60,000 African American and Japanese American troops to mustard gas to look for racial differences in reactions.

Her series also showed the Department of Veterans Affairs didn’t do enough to find and help the affected former soldiers. The 26-year-old is a 2007 graduate of Golden Valley High School.

“I think that having grown up in Merced helped me at work a lot, and even set me apart from my peers,” she told the Sun-Star. “Merced is so diverse and I had friends from all different types of backgrounds. I think that helps me navigate journalism, where you’re constantly having to meet different kinds of people.”

Dickerson came to Merced as a 7-year-old, but the Peabody winner almost didn’t become a journalist. She majored in international studies at California State University, Long Beach. But, she started with NPR as an intern and has progressed up to holding a full-time job, where she’s been for nearly five years.

“I was really thinking law school until, like, the very last second,” she said.

Her reporting dug into the practice of subjecting soldiers to mustard gas tests, which first came to light in 2008. Dickerson and her team were the first to find that the tests were done based on race.

The team also amassed the first public database of American veterans who were exposed to mustard gas through the testing. The database includes more than 3,900 people and information about the last known location of more than 1,700 of them, many of whom the Veterans Administration failed to contact.

Nancy Dickerson, who still lives in Merced, described her daughter as energetic, humble and caring.

“She’s done extremely well,” she said of Caitlin. “I’m extremely proud and happy for her hard work and dedication.”

Golden Valley High School Principal Kevin Swartwood said his daughter, Shanna, and Dickerson were friends going back to youth soccer. He remembered her as always being inquisitive and asking questions.

He credited Dickerson’s mother with instilling a “strong work ethic” in the journalist. He said the award is “a big deal,” but he wasn’t shocked that Dickerson would go on to do important work.

“Of course you’re a little bit in awe … but not with Caitlin,” he said. “She was always that type of person that was going to dig into something, go after something. I knew she would do big things.”

Dickerson’s instincts led her to helping some of the country’s oldest veterans, according to Michael Oreskes, NPR senior vice president of news and editorial.

“Holding government institutions to account is one of our most important roles, even if it takes a long time,” Oreskes said in a news release. “The Army conducted these tests more than 70 years ago. But it took Caitlin Dickerson’s curiosity and reporting to reveal that the chemical weapons testing was based on race.”

Family members of many of the veterans have heard the story and been able to get care for their loved ones, many of whom still suffer from lasting damage caused by the mustard gas exposure.

Noting the age of the veterans, Dickerson said many of the interviews were difficult. The men also had been told during their time of service that they could not talk about the tests.

“A good instinct to have is (to) question what you’re told and feel empowered to be able to dig deeper,” she said. “You know, find out for yourself what the real story is.”

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Merced-area graduate wins award for investigative journalism."