"Uncle Walter," as he was referred to, was a staple in our household, back in the old days of TV days of Walter Cronkite on CBS, Huntley and Brinkley on NBC, and (I believe) Harry Reasoner (with and with Barbara Walters) on ABC. Sadly, Walter Cronkite was 'forced' to retire by CBS policy at 65, to be replaced by Dan "Rather Biased" (lol). Then CBS removed the 65 year retirement rule, which really tee'd Walter Cronkite off, for obvious reasons. I can still remember him saying "Go Baby Go" when the Apollo 11 rocket lifted off. He loved the space program and was superb in covering it in a way to make it the historic program that it was then.
He came from an era where the "news was the story, not the reporter/anchor" as it is now. The tide turn when he retired and others like John Chancellor on NBC decided it was their job to interpret the news for us and tell us what to think, rather than think ourselves.
When he went to Vietnam to do a prime-time report on the war effort and declared, "I don't believe now that we should be here," ( or words to that effect), LBJ, the current president said, "If I've lost Uncle Walter, I've lost the American people..." That was the effect he had from his anchor desk.
He and his old school kind are sorely missed. I pray that his family handles and mourns their loss well.
