It is a shame. The media remains parked outside the home of the family of the most recent beheading victim Jack Hensley. This, despite numerous pleas from the family spokesperson for them to "just leave". The family needs time to mourn and make the type of decisions and arrangments that need to be made during times of personal loss. Yet, they are prisoners int heir own homes.

Just heard the family spokesperson on the local radio. "There will be no news story here today." followed later with a plea for the media to leave. "When we have a comment, we will let the media know. Until then, please just go away".

Today would have been his 49th birthday.

Fucking sad. What happened to respect????

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Jack Hensley's love for his family drove the Marietta man to trade the safety of home for a better income in a dangerous land, family and friends said Tuesday.

In Powder Springs, Terri Daniell remembered Hensley talking about helping his daughter with her homework and the small conversations they had at the Austell post office, where Hensley worked just before he left for Iraq in February.

Hensley never complained about the long hours or hard work at his part-time job, Daniell said.

"There's nothing bad you can say about Jack," Daniell said Tuesday, still hoping that reports of his death might be a mistake. "I don't want to use past tense."

Speaking from his home in Charlotte, Ty Hensley, 36, pieced together a verbal picture of his older brother's life, which he said centered around his wife, Pati, and daughter, Sara.

Jack Hensley was a 1973 graduate of Ponca City High School in Ponca City, Okla., his brother said.

Their mother, Julia Hensley, worked for the Kay County Health Department in Oklahoma for many years. She now lives with her son's family in Marietta.

Jack Hensley, whose 49th birthday is today, graduated from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte with a mathematics degree in 1977. "He majored in math and worked for Duke Power in Charlotte," his brother said.

Hensley and Pati met in Colombia in South America where they both worked in the computer business when he was in his late 20s.

He also worked in Saudi Arabia for about a year and a half, his brother said.

Jack and Pati married and moved to metro Atlanta in 1984, and both worked for Getronics in Atlanta, company spokesman Thomas Burke said Tuesday.

Hensley worked on big projects there from 1984 until October 2001, first for Wang Computers and then for Getronics after it bought Wang, Burke said from Getronics' U.S. headquarters in Billerica, Mass.

"A lot of people in Atlanta know Jack and say he was a very nice guy," Burke said.

Getronics co-worker Bill Melvin said Hensley combined technical savvy with people skills when managing large-scale telecommunications projects.

"Jack was very diplomatic and tactful," Melvin said. "He was able to communicate with people without talking over them."

Melvin, who worked with Hensley for 17 years, said there was another dimension to the technology expert.

"Overall, Jack was one of the kindest souls I've ever known. He loved his daughter. He loved his wife," Melvin said. "I'm heartbroken for Pati and Sara. I cannot possibly imagine the horror they are facing."

Jack and Pati Hensley moved from Cobb County's upscale Vinings community to their home in Marietta 10 years ago and refocused their lives when their only child, Sara, was 3, said Hensley's brother.

"In the '90s, the computer business was racing so fast that both he and Pati decided they just didn't want to keep current and go with the jobs," he said. "They wanted to focus on their daughter."

Pati quit her computer job and with her husband co-owned Networks, a sports bar in Powder Springs, from 1994 until 1999, according to Cobb County records.

They relocated the business to Maxim Road in Douglas County, operating under the name Our Place from April 2000 to January 2003. They sold the business, located near Thornton Road, which now operates as Marlene's.

In the past couple of years, the Hensleys had money problems, his brother Ty said. At one time, he said, Hensley had three part-time jobs — at a convenience store, delivering mail and as a substitute teacher.

Hensley went to Iraq to work for Gulf Supplies & Commercial Services "to get his family above water," his brother said.

"He is very close to his daughter," he added. "He saved his vacation days to come home in June to surprise her for her birthday."

"Yay, let's invade the privacy and show a sad, distraught family to the general public so that the general public will want us to leave Iraq so this doesn't happen again!"

The press can't decline to cover this.
However, if the press was climbing fences and peaking through windows like paparazzi, then they've earned some scorn.  But, this is news and you can't ignore it.

Added:  When the family needed somebody to broadcast their comments about their family member, in an attempt to influence the terrorists, the press was convenient.  I look at the tactics they use in determining wether or not they've crossed the line.

Quoted: The press can't decline to cover this. However, if the press was climbing fences and peaking through windows like paparazzi, then they've earned some scorn.  But, this is news and you can't ignore it.

That doesn't mean they have to camp outside the family's house like a bunc of dam vultures!

Quoted: The press can't decline to cover this. However, if the press was climbing fences and peaking through windows like paparazzi, then they've earned some scorn.  But, this is news and you can't ignore it. Added:  When the family needed somebody to broadcast their comments about their family member, in an attempt to influence the terrorists, the press was convenient.  I look at the tactics they use in determining wether or not they've crossed the line.

Why can't they????? Why can't they at their own discretion and why the hell can't they especially AFTER THE FAMILY REQUESTED that they go away and give them some time?????

Quoted: Quoted: The press can't decline to cover this. However, if the press was climbing fences and peaking through windows like paparazzi, then they've earned some scorn.  But, this is news and you can't ignore it. That doesn't mean they have to camp outside the family's house like a bunc of dam vultures!

That's where the NEWS is.  Again, look at how the press are conducting themselves.  If they're intruding on the family's home or blocking the family's access to their home, I will agree.  But, their mere presence isn't enough.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The press can't decline to cover this. However, if the press was climbing fences and peaking through windows like paparazzi, then they've earned some scorn.  But, this is news and you can't ignore it. That doesn't mean they have to camp outside the family's house like a bunc of dam vultures! That's where the NEWS is.  Again, look at how the press are conducting themselves.  If they're intruding on the family's home or blocking the family's access to their home, I will agree.  But, their mere presence isn't enough.

WHAT news is there? What is left from this? The man is dead. The family has requested the media to respect their request for privacy. They have NOTHING to say, other than "We have nothing to say, leave us alone"? What news???????? That there is going to be a funeral. That people are grieving. Fuck them.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The press can't decline to cover this. However, if the press was climbing fences and peaking through windows like paparazzi, then they've earned some scorn.  But, this is news and you can't ignore it. That doesn't mean they have to camp outside the family's house like a bunc of dam vultures! That's where the NEWS is.  Again, look at how the press are conducting themselves.  If they're intruding on the family's home or blocking the family's access to their home, I will agree.  But, their mere presence isn't enough.

Now, how about you put yourself in the family's position. If your dad/brother/son had just been murdered in this manner, would you be saying to yourself "Well, they are just doing their job." Or would you be asking for them to leaev you alone for a while?

This family did not ASK for any of this to happen. Let them mourn in private. When they are ready, they will speak to the press.