It is a sad weekend here in Washington as we mourn the passing of Ken Bacon, a former journalist and Pentagon spokesman who devoted the final years of his life to the plight of refugees around the world. He died Sunday at his family’s summer home in Block Island, R.I. He was 64.

You can read here and here and here about how Mr. Bacon decided to become Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs because he was so impressed with William Perry's work at DoD during the Carter administration that when Mr. Perry became the secretary under President Clinton, Mr. Bacon gladly agreed to be his spokesman. And how a trip to the Balkans with then Secretary of Defense William Cohen in the 1990s became an eye-opening experience about refugees for Mr. Bacon and lead him toward Refugees International, where he served as president. You may see a few references to the bow-tie he donned during briefings at the Pentagon.

Through it all you will read about a man who was honorable, distinguished and dignified throughout his life and his heroic battle against cancer. In a brief message he dictated days ago, he talked about how the haunting beauty of Mozart's Missa Brevis in F major sustained him. It was comforting message, indeed.

I never had the honor of meeting Mr. Bacon but I have felt the power of his character and what he brought to the Pentagon in the last few days as my fellow Pentagon correspondents and I have talked about his legacy and prayed for his family. Things have changed so much in the decade since he left. Talk to my colleagues at the Pentagon who worked with him, and you hear about a time when being a spokesman in the halls of the Pentagon was steeped in public service. Civilian spokesmen did not spend their days figuring out how to keep information from reaching journalists as they do too often now;they tried to inform. When Mr. Bacon briefed reporters he didn’t just read off ill-crafted talking points; he thoughfully answered questions. There was a professional relationship between the media and the three branches of government, not one where whoever shouts the loudest wins. Simply put, Mr. Bacon served the public, not his secretary, party, self interests or ego. It’s an era long gone, I am afraid.

Here is what Barbara Starr of CNN had about Mr. Bacon: “I first got to know Ken Bacon several years ago when he was the chief Pentagon spokesman. Ken did the job the way its supposed to be done: holding press conferences, answering questions, providing facts, information and context," said Starr. "I know he was often bemused to watch the new era of spin and message, since he so passionately believed that facts stand on their own merit.

My editor, John Walcott, had the honor of working with him during his days as a journalist and recognized his character and brilliance early on. "Ken Bacon was one of the two or three best editors I've ever had," said McClatchy Washington Bureau Chief John Walcott, who as The Wall Street Journal's national security correspondent worked with Bacon for three years in the 1980s. "He was one of the most decent, honorable, inquisitive and intelligent people I've ever known, and sadly, the qualities he possessed in abundance seem to be in increasingly short supply in Washington these days."

I just came back from a six-week tour in Afghanistan, where I felt the duty to public service amongst the military spokesmen there far more than I do among the civilians roaming the halls of the Pentagon. Perhaps it is because they are the ones ultimately serving – and dying – for their country. Mr. Bacon served before 9/11, before the nation was engulfed in two wars. So it was indeed a different time. But perhaps, precisely because the nation is waging two wars, the nation needs spokesmen to embrace Mr. Bacon’s approach now more than ever. I think it would be the greatest way to remember his life. And from what I hear from those who worked with him, it would be the kind of remembrance he would want most. That is what made him such a revered public servant.

UPDATE: Here is what our foreign editor, Roy Gutman, had to say about Ken Bacon:

"He was a prince of a colleague while a reporter; an incredibly helpful and reliable spokesman for the DoD, and then in his final position at Refugees International, a person who knew how to mobilize people in and out of government for the sake of those who had no homes, no power, no voice.  What I marvel at most was his engagement and effectiveness in everything he tackled. His passing is a huge loss for all of us."