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A veteran foreign correspondent for NBC News, Tom Aspell died Monday after a two-year battle with lung cancer. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Tom Aspell, a veteran foreign correspondent for NBC News, died Monday after a two-year battle with lung cancer. He was 62 years old.
After beginning his career as a scriptwriter and cameraman with Visnews in 1970, Aspell joined NBC News in 1985 as a producer based in Cyprus.
He later became a foreign correspondent, and in this role covered events ranging from the fall of Saigon and the toppling of Saddam Hussein, to the Bosnian War, Beirut and Baghdad — all the while displaying what NBC's Brian Williams described as “an intense brand of cool under fire.”
"From Southeast Asia to the Middle East… to the Balkans … to Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and dozens of other 'hot spots,' Aspell made his mark on behalf of NBC News for 28 years," said NBC News President Steve Capus.
"To a person, all of his colleagues will tell you Tom was great company in the field who loved sharing stories at the end of a day spent documenting history."
A native of New Zealand, Aspell's last posting for NBC News was in Cyprus, where he loved spending time on his sailboat.
Aspell leaves behind a wife and two sons.
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Simply a great reporter. A dying breed, unfortunately.
Amen.
They can change this website (Newsvine) all they want but until they can eliminate re-regs like this wilsonarden jerk, it's really not improved at all, is it?
Re: Tom Aspell- RIP to a great reporter/correspondent. I have watched him for years. Always a good, controlled and informative report. Even his accent seemed re-assuring. Good bye Tom, we'll miss you...
I agree, loved his reporting style. The good field reporters are a dying breed, or worse, rewarded with a desk job somewhere and forget what reporting is all about.
Godspeed Tom.
I applaud Tom Aspell's family for citing the cause of death as lung cancer. Too often it's covered up due to the stigma associated with smoking. But anyone can get lung cancer, and no one deserves it.
My heart goes out to Tom's family and friends -- clearly another exceptional person who fought a two year battle.
"...and no one deserves it." I disrespectfully disagree. People who smoke deserve to die of lung cancer, and the sooner they do so the sooner they'll stop offending others with second-hand smoke. The difference between you smoking in my presence and me farting in your face, is nobody ever got lung cancer from smelling a fart.
Spoken like a true texan az_h_l_
It has been an honor to have such a wonderful reporter, who did his best and finest work, to help others understand what was happening outside of our own country.A refreshing perspective among the clamoring voices shouting for attention, but hard to learn which is best to listen to. His is a dying breed. May he be at peace, his family be comforted and surrounded by all those who loved and cared for him, and all the wonderful memories he leaves behind, be a source of sweet happiness and strength in the coming days.
My condolences to all who had the privilege of working with him over the years. I know no one can fill his shoes and he leaves a huge hole in the fabric of so many peoples lives.
Bigger_in_Texas-(the sooner they do so the sooner they'll stop offending others with second-hand smoke)
Exactly how did you know that second hand smoke was bad for you in the first place, pray tell? Oh , that's right, it took research and years of studies from the medical establishment. You can sure bet you didn't get that from the tobacco industry and huge corporations, now did you?
Just as surely as the sun comes up every morning, those companies sold their products to naive folks for generations, selling them a lie. Even getting doctors to promote them as a healthy product in their advertisements.
Sticking them into soldiers mess kits and doing everything in their power to push what they KNEW and helped to create, a highly addictive product. Most people who started smoking, did so as teenagers, then after getting hooked, later couldn't break a vicious physical and psychological habit.
Don't forget, it was only in the last decade or so, that the connection to second hand smoke was finally proved, AND a plaintiff won a case against a tobacco company. That plaintiff happened to be the government, for medical costs paid out to cover smokers for diseases caused by smoking.Not for those actually killed by smoking, actually.Tobacco companies kept saying it was smokers fault, they chose to smoke.No one forced them to start or keep smoking.Though memos show them creating ever more toxic, addicting products to keep smokers chained to their habits, while blaming them for staying addicted. How ironic. Just like you.
I hope you realize, applying the same logic you used on smokers, you are responsible for anything you get from eating food. All those additives, even the cancer causing ones. Can't sue, it's your responsibility to know what you eat, take the risks. Like human hair,duct feathers used for texture (bagels,rolls,breads), silly putty (deep fried foods), a paint product (salad dressing, white frosting), bug juice (red dye, like strawberry shakes, candy), sand( Wendy's Chili ),fertilizer (Subway rolls) petroleum by products...why I could go on, but it's your job to know, not mine to teach or warn you. But perhaps you won't expect any pity or sympathy because you chose to eat those foods.
Very well said and very true! We are all responsible for what we choose to put in our bodies; however, as you stated, the big tobacco companies lied for decades about the dangers of smoking. My father smoked the majority of his life and lived until 78, but the toll it took on his body was massive. No cancer, just heart disease and arthritis. Caused by smoking? Don't know, but it sure didn't help!
RIP Mr. Aspell!
Tom was a great reporter and great story teller. God bless him and his family in this new stage of their journey.
And Bigger_in_Texas, just remember that when you point your finger, three more are staring back at you.
"Tom Aspell, a veteran foreign correspondent for NBC News, died Monday after a two-year battle with lung cancer. He was 62 years old."
1. Shocked about death at a young age.
2. Sorry that he had to battle cancer for two years.
May God give his wife and children courage and stamina to recover from the shocks of the death of a very bold news correspondent.
Nothing personal against the guy .. but ANYONE who smokes, much less an educated person ... well it is what it is .. i hope all those Cigs were worth dying 20 years early
Actually 15% of lung cancer deaths happen to nonsmokers.Causes range from: Asbestos, Radon gas- often found in home basements around the country) paint,Diesel engine exhaust,soot, air pollution, combustion (incomplete) Silica dust (crystalline),Coal burning inside homes, Aluminum and rubber production, mining, iron and steel founding. Check the link for more.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_cancer#Other_causes
There are also smokers who will never get it. The stigma that those who get lung cancer must have been smoking is still very strong in our society.Hence the reluctance of many to mention they have it until after death.Because some believe it is so rare. In addition, no one is guaranteed to live another day.Only the moment they get from one to the next.
Life is precious and can be taken from one in an instant.What matters is how one lives that moment.Expecting to live 20 years down the road, is foolish indeed. Because it leads to procrastination, failing to do our best and putting off, all to often, the things which are the most important in life. Cheating ourselves, and all too often our loved ones, out of the best and most important things that matter in life.
This man truly lived a full life, how ever short it may appear to you, and touched countless lives, inspired them, helped open so many peoples eyes and hearts You measure this man by his death and make assumptions, judgments so easily. What legacy will you be leaving for the world to note, should you die today?For we will all be judged by those who don't have all the facts, and no one will be there to stand up for us.
It isn't the years in our life that count, but the life in our years.-Abraham Lincoln
A true professional-my prayers to his family and my thanks for sharing him with us all these years!
I am sorry to hear about the passing of your colleague and friend. Thank you for sharing his story, as many of us have missed seeing Tom lately sharing the stories of the many overseas conflicts. Thank you also for telling us about Tom's life, his home, his family, his hobbies. We see the faces and hear the voices of your correspondents every night and they become a part of our families in a way, but too often we know nothing about them. My thoughts go out to his loved ones and his professional family at this time.
Godspeed Tom...you will be missed and deepest condolences to his family for their loss...
A life lived valiantly and unselfishly in service to other undauntingly. Peace
I knew, just by looking at him, that he was a drug addict. His drug of choice just happens to be legal. If you're stupid enough to smoke, you're very likely to die young, like Mr. Aspell did. Few smokers make it past their early 60s. And the family members left behind are the true victims. My heart goes out to his family, who who lost him about 15 years earlier than they should have.
My grandfather smoked all his life (BEFORE we knew what it did) and died at 94. The cost accountant at my company died of lung cancer at 32. Never smoked a day in his life, nor did anyone in his family. It... just....doesn't...matter.
A good friend of mine was also diagnosed with lung cancer this past summer, luckily it was detected early (xray was taken because she had Pneumonia). She is not a smoker.
RIP. He will be missed.
RIP ....
Everytime I hear a person dies of Lung Cancer I want to know if they were a smoker or not ?
RIP, Mr. Aspell. I always looked forward to his reporting.
rip, and hopefully i'll learn and quick smoking already.....
This is said seriously. Try putting a plastic baggie over your mouth. Take a deep breath in. Remove baggie and exhale. How did it feel?
That is what COPD feels like every day of the rest of your life - if you continue to smoke. (My doctor did that example and it got me to quit smoking. I enjoy the feel of the air hitting the bottom of my lungs.) Two years now, cold turkey (after that experiment didn't need any help).
Brian, you described Tom Aspell as "an intense brand of cool." Cool, I like that. Have a nice day. Phyllis
It does not mention in the article that Tom Aspell was a smoker. Lung cancer can be caused by other things. Are assumptions being made about this that aren't correct? Regardless though of the cause of Tom's cancer, he was an excellent reporter who died too young.
Enjoyed every broadcast he did, and it seems the community here feels the same. RIP
At rockin ... i was just asking .... as lung cancer is fairly rare in people who do not smoke or are not exposed to some other outside issue that causes it
Andy Kaufmann died of lung cancer and he was not a smoker.
Andy Kaufmann died of lung cancer and he was not a smoker.
Yes i know .. but as i stated it is rare to die from it without smoking or another outside agent being the cause
You mean like genetics? Same risk as any other person who has a genetic disposition in their family for cancer. When a direct family member has gotten the disease, it doubles the risk. If more than one family member gets the disease, the risks increase exponentially. Just look at breast cancer, same thing. Cancers, like so many other diseases are known to run in families.
While smoking can increase risks even more, it isn't required to get the disease. For such families, it means taking greater precautions. So it isn't so rare at all. As a family increases,spreading out and develops over time, the potential for more to get cancer can increase, making it more common, depending on who one marries.This is really critical in smaller communities, where people don't travel far looking for their spouses, and have common ancestors in the past.
In fact, that is why so many genetically inherited diseases like cancer have helped scientists find markers to help predict who will get the disease and who won't. It is those who don't have the marker, and get the disease from environmental causes that make it unpredictable
Condolences to Mr. Aspell's family and friends. He was a great reporter, always clear and concise, never injecting his opinion...truly a world class journalist from beginning to end. He is missed already.
Condolences to family and all who were friends of Mr Aspell. For sure, he will be missed. Passing away to lung cancer is sad, but at least he lived his life the way he wanted -- what made him happy and, that's the way we should all live our lives because life is short --- SO BE HAPPY. I get so tired of people trying to tell us how to live our life, we all make choices be they good or bad and, as Jesus said, we reap what we sow BUT it is our life to live, so be sure to accept Jesus as your savior for when the end comes and you WILL live in peace and joy in heaven and all suffering is over.
He was a wonderful reporter and I will miss him. My condolences to his family.
First off, I'd like to express my condolences to Mr. Aspell's family, friends, and co-workers. My father passed away from lung cancer 28 years ago. He smoked for over 30 years. I can understand the grief they're feeling at this time of loss.
Regarding the biographical information in this article, I'm a bit confused with the chronology offered by the writer. According to the article:
"Aspell joined NBC News in 1985 as a producer based in Cyprus.
He later became a foreign correspondent, and in this role covered events ranging from the fall of Saigon and the toppling of Saddam Hussein, to the Bosnian War, Beirut and Baghdad...."
I'm pretty sure that Saigon fell in 1975, pre-dating Mr. Aspell's joining NBC News by 10 years. If the intent here is to say that he covered the fall of Saigon while with Visnews, then say that. The literal interpretation of what is written here, however, is to say that he covered the fall of Saigon after joining NBC in 1985. Since we've entered an era where fact and truth are no longer relevant, where Justin Bieber's latest infantile outburst is breaking news, it's not surprising that statements like this would be made without any challenge and it makes NBC News appear to be ignorant of historical fact.
Condolences to his family and friends.
Cancer is a terrible disease, that takes way too many people. Everyone will know someone who will die from this plague. 1 in 3 will get some form of it. Doing things that raise your odds, really is a death wish.
have watch nbc new for 30 plus year sorry to hear he was on of my favorites him and david bloom rip guys