War report.

Thanks to his two tours in Iraq as an embedded reporter, Antelope Valley Press Editor Dennis Anderson, 51, was named Man of the Year by Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher.

Anderson first went to Iraq in the spring of 2003 when the war was supposed to be winding down. His vivid depictions of the conflict "gave us the flip side of all the glamorous TV reporting from elite army units leading the charge," Mitchell said.

Anderson signed on for the tour after he learned that a local U.S. Army National Guard unit was going to Iraq. "They were friends and neighbors, people we reported about," he said. "I wanted to cover a global story from a local perspective."

What he delivered, said Mitchell, was "the real scut work" of the National Guard. He was also one of the first to write "about how the insurgency was building up because they were getting shot at wherever they were driving," Mitchell said

Mitchell pointed to Anderson's coverage of the war's impact on the Antelope Valley's families--a subject close to his heart. Anderson's 19-year-old son Garrett is a Marine serving in Iraq and was injured on Jan. 11 in a truck accident eight miles from Fallujah.

"He's got some stitches on his chin and looks like Jay Leno, but he's back on active duty," Anderson said.