Longtime Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr said goodbye Tuesday to her home of more than two decades.
Starr, 72, has been a CNN fixture since 2001 and reports on US military and politics from its Washington DC bureau and has appeared frequently on the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and New Day.
Throughout her nearly 22-year career, she has shared some of the biggest stories that have taken her to Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and the Horn of Africa.
On Friday, Starr sent a bittersweet letter to her coworkers, telling them it was time for her to “move on.” “With my contract expiring in the coming days, I’ve made the decision to continue,” she said.
‘Let me say this… you never say goodbye to your friends, so I won’t either.’
Much-loved CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr said goodbye Tuesday to the network and her colleagues, for whom she has worked since 2001
Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Gen. Patrick Ryder (right) shakes hands with veteran CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr at the Pentagon Tuesday, on her last day
CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Scuitto and his co-host Erika Hill said goodbye to Starr during Tuesday morning’s segment, which was their last day at CNN.
“I’ve known you for a damn long time, maybe 20 years. I’m really going to miss you,” Scuitto said. “You’re damn good at your job and you happen to be a really good egg.”
Hill intervened. “You miss Barbara, who is so well respected not only here at CNN but also in the broader community of journalists. I know how respected you are at the Pentagon and in your procurement,” she said.
“You are just a really great person and I thank you for all the times I have asked you for advice and help with something. We miss you already and wish you all the best.’
Many loyal viewers expressed their admiration for the veteran journalist on Twitter, with some surprised by her departure.
“Wow, end of an era. I always knew that if Barbara’s name was on it, we’d get good, reliable reports,” one person wrote.
“No, not Barbara Starr either… sincerely hope (but doubt @CNN destroys that much) she goes of her own accord,” said another.
Someone added, “She’s a huge loss to CNN. However, she will have her choice of where to go.
Farewell to the amazing Barbara Starr on her last day this morning @CNN – a great journalist and, most importantly, a good egg. I will miss you my friend! pic.twitter.com/RUzZxm4aAi
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) December 20, 2022
CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Scuitto and his co-host Erika Hill said goodbye to Starr during Tuesday morning’s segment, which was their last day at CNN
Starr was a frequent guest on Wolf Blitzer’s show The Situation Room
Wolf Blitzer tweeted, “Last night I said goodbye to our wonderful and longtime Pentagon correspondent @barbarastarrcnn who is moving on.”
“Barbara has covered so many momentous stories during her truly remarkable career here at CNN, reporting from war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq and editing her sources at the Pentagon,” Blitzer said.
“CNN and our viewers have benefited greatly from her exceptional reporting skills and deep knowledge of the US military.”
“From all of us Barbara, we love you and we appreciate you and we will miss you,” he said.
Starr, who seemed touched, replied, “As you and I both do now, no one does it better than CNN.”
Starr, who sits between the US military, received a 2014 Jefferson-Lincoln Award for journalism from the Panetta Institute for Public Policy
Reporting from the front lines, Starr has traveled the world reporting for CNN
In 2006, Starr traveled to Beirut, Lebanon with US Marines tasked with evacuating Americans during Israel’s war with Hezbollah.
She has also covered the Persian Gulf, Russia, Central America and the China-North Korea border.
Prior to CNN, Starr worked as a producer for ABC News, delivering the station’s news from the Pentagon and providing on- and off-air coverage of military and national security matters. While at the station, she won an Emmy as a location producer on NORAD/Cheyenne Mountain. The story covered the transition to the new millennium at Moscow rollover time, CNN reported.
She has also reported for Nightline, World News This Morning, World News Now and ABC Radio, among others. Her most important stories include wounded troops, the plight of homeless veterans, and her accounts of the dead, which regularly come from Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Earlier in her career, she was bureau chief of Jane’s Defense Weekly, a London-based weekly newsmagazine based in Washington, DC, for nearly a decade, covering all aspects of national security, intelligence, defense and military policy.
In 2014, she received a Jefferson-Lincoln Award for journalism from the Panetta Institute for Public Policy.