Stars and Stripes reporter Rose L. Thayer received an email that could lead to a blockbuster story. But after gathering some background, she told her informant — let’s wait a few months.

Does this surprise you? After all, there’s a perception that the press is just out to get a sensational story. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this derogatory comment in my decades of journalism before becoming the Stripes ombudsman. And I can tell you, it’s not true.

The email received last year by Thayer, a Texas-based reporter with Stripes since 2018, charged that sexual assault allegations at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado were ignored and cadet suicide risks improperly handled.

The parents of Cailin Foster, who had graduated from the academy and was commissioned a second lieutenant, were willing to speak openly and on the record to Thayer about what happened to their daughter. Only after Cailin ended her young life and her parents found her chilling last note did they learn of her alleged sexual assault when she was a freshman at the academy.

But when Thayer realized that the Fosters had another daughter who was a senior in the academy, she advised the parents to wait a few months, until after graduation, so as to avoid any possible repercussions.

Such sensitivity is admirable. And, in time, she wrote the story. Gary Foster emailed Thayer on June 2, 2023, the day after graduation. He and Colleen, Cailin’s mother, wanted to talk.

As a result, the story titled “They ‘broke her’: Family files wrongful death claim against Air Force, alleging academy failed to follow sex assault, suicide policies,” was published Nov. 8, 2023. It was significant for its thoroughness and what it exposed.

The power of the journalism was confirmed recently when Thayer earned first place for enterprise reporting from Military Reporters and Editors, a leading nonprofit organization for journalists covering the military, national security and defense. The contest was “highly competitive,” according to MRE, with the largest number of submissions from news organizations in recent years. Among the other winners were CNN, NPR, ProPublica and The Washington Post. Thayer will accept Stripes’ award on Oct. 25.

Awards are not rare for Stripes, nor the reason stories are pursued. Last year Alison Bath, who covers the U.S. Navy in Europe and Africa for Stripes from Naples, Italy, won an MRE award for her reporting on the barriers to employment for U.S. military spouses in Italy.

Stories are pursued to inform the public. Sometimes the exposure will lead to change.

Ironically, Gary Foster was well aware of how sexual assault charges and suicide risks should have been handled at the academy. He had graduated from the academy in 1990 and worked there after a 2003 congressional review in response to an “alarming” number of sexual assaults of cadets led to prevention and safety reforms called the Agenda for Change. He knew the policies in the reforms well.

Now a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, he first tried to work with academy leaders, he told Thayer, sure that someone would listen to him. But, he said, they did not, and that’s why in October 2023, the Fosters filed two claims against the Air Force for failing to follow sexual assault and suicide policies.

Cailin’s note that propelled her parents forward implored: “Do all that you can to make sure I am the last one.”

The Fosters shared their Google Drive cache of documents with Thayer.

I asked her a few days ago about the challenges of reporting her award-winning story. One, she said, was reading the accounts in the documents of what Cailin endured.

“Sometimes I had to step away,” Thayer admitted.

But the greatest challenge was trying to get comments or information from the military. Questions first went to the academy; after more than a month she was referred to the Air Force’s public affairs section. They didn’t want to comment on an open case. Even so, Thayer noted and I agree, they could have provided information about the number of sexual assault allegations at the academy, how they were handled, and how mental health issues were addressed.

I’d like to highlight an important point: Because Stripes is funded partially through the Department of Defense, critics have charged that therefore the DOD controls the news. Not so. Part of my job, mandated by Congress, is to make sure that doesn’t happen. Thayer’s story underscores that Stripes pursues stories, even if considered negative by the military.

Sexual assault and suicide in the military are vital issues, and the public — especially service members and their families — has a right to know. There’s much more to the story than I can recap here; I encourage you to read it.

Joseph Cacchioli, Stripes’ Washington bureau chief and Thayer’s editor, told me Thayer was dogged in pursuing the data, calling the amount of time and work she put into the story “herculean.”

“One aspect of this story that makes Rose’s effort impressive to me is it is almost exclusively a Rose Thayer production,” he said. “The storytelling, structure etc. was all her. That does not happen often, particularly on a story of that depth, magnitude, and sensitivity.”

“This story is all about Rose’s hard work and patience, and her relentless dedication to telling it as well as it could be told.”

When researching, Rose Thayer looked at photos of Cailin Foster, her big smiles — her nickname was Sunshine — seemingly full of confidence of a promising future. Cailin was smart, Thayer told me, and hid her anguish well, even from her parents.

“Do all that you can to make sure I am the last one.” Her father and mother are trying. And they trusted a reporter, Rose Thayer, to understand and seek the truth.

Contact Jacqueline Smith at ombudsman@stripes.com.