February 17, 2009
Posted by Claire
Leave our fallen soldiers the hell alone!
(found on rn)
Folks this has me seeing red. You and I both know that this will be abused, and it will not be used to merely journal the return of a fallen hero.
Our soldiers are not objects for general public gawking!
This may make some folks angry with me, but I have to say screw what the public wants. These soldiers are human beings who lost their lives protecting their Country. Can they not be afforded the dignity and respect of their coffins not being used for the sake of political exploitation? Don’t their families deserve having the peace of mind of knowing their fallen loved one is protected from the media vultures? Please don’t allow the wives and husband, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters of our fallen military members to ever have to face a disrespectful picture of their beloved Soldier, Marine, Airman, or Sailor’s coffin.
My son’s shoulders carry enough burden on them – for the sake of all things holy, do not think for one minute that should he fall, I will sit back and watch his sacrifice be desecrated for the disgusting gain of our failing media (the ones with their hands out asking for the government to bail them out too).
Pentagon Rethinks Photo Ban on Coffins Bearing War Dead
By Ann Scott Tyson and Mark Berman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 17, 2009; Page A01
Excerpt:Every week, Air Force cargo jets land and taxi down the runway at Dover Air Force Base, Del., carrying the remains of fallen U.S. troops. After a chaplain says a simple prayer, an eight-man military honor guard removes the metal “transfer cases” from the planes and carries them to a mortuary van.
The flag-draped coffins are a testament to the toll of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to the sacrifice borne by those who serve in the military and their families. But this ceremony, known as the “dignified transfer of remains” and performed nearly 5,000 times since the start of the wars, is hidden from the American public view by the Pentagon.
President Obama said last week that he is considering lifting the ban on photographs and videos at Dover, in place since the Persian Gulf War in 1991, raising fundamental questions about the impact of such images on the public morale in wartime.
For Obama, changing the policy would carry some political risk as he ramps up the war effort in Afghanistan with tens of thousands of fresh troops, increasing the likelihood of combat deaths that could produce photographs of numerous coffins arriving at one time at Dover, the sole U.S. port of entry for the remains. At the same time, Obama has advocated transparency in government, and continuing to hide the Dover ritual from public view conflicts with that principle as well as with public opinion on the issue, polls indicate.
“Showing these pictures would remind people of the war,” said S. Robert Lichter, director of the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University. But he added that “what turns people against a war is not knowledge that Americans are dying but the belief that they are not dying for something” worthwhile.
A majority of Americans favor allowing the public to see pictures of the military honor guard receiving the war dead at Dover, with about 60 percent responding positively and a third answering negatively in polls posing the question in 1991 and 2004.
Some families of fallen troops also support allowing the news media to photograph and videotape the ceremony, or at least letting the families decide whether to permit it rather than continuing the government ban.
“I would have loved to see them fly my son back in and give him a full salute,” said Janice Chance of Owings Mills, Md., whose son, Marine Capt. Jesse Melton III, was killed Sept. 9 in Afghanistan’s Parwan province. She said she is in favor of media coverage of the return ceremony.
“As long as it is done in good taste, and they are showing that the people here in the United States are welcoming them back and saying job well done, that is what I would like to see,” she said.
<snip>
Other family members strongly disagreed, however, saying they felt media coverage would allow their lost loved ones to be politically exploited.
“This is very much Democratically driven to make it available to the public so they can publicize the negative side of the war and show the American public there is a high cost to be paid here,” said Cal Peters, whose stepson, Marine Capt. Garret Lawton, died Aug. 4 in Afghanistan. “I think this is the ultimate disrespect.”
10 Comments
February 17, 2009
I 100% agree with you. I HATE when they use this kinda stuff just to get attention. Our Soldiers deserve so much more respect.
Ugh. Stupid freaking media.
February 17, 2009
Over at my site, I today posted an email from Gold Star Father Robert Stokely, whose son Sgt Mike Stokely died in Iraq. Robert has given LOTS of contacts, and asks us all to contact them all and make our views known.
If you know me at ALL, you know my views on this – and yes, I did add them to my post.
Because this is a family site, I will just say &^#@%********* media.
February 17, 2009
I will be linking to that post Brat! Thanks for the heads up. Ugh. This is making me sick just thinking about it. I guess it’s time for Damon to buy a motorcycle and for us to join the PGRs.
February 17, 2009
I have to agree, Claire. Can you imagine…what it would have been like for me, in the middle of the night, at the end of January in Iowa, with the press there? No. Not even one. No. It is enough to just breathe, I can’t fathom pictures and questions and invasion of the most all encompassing pain ever experienced. Lord. No.
As for the PGR. I had the best experiences with them. Protecting families from the crazy so-called preacher and family in Omaha. Good people.
February 17, 2009
They are great folks, Bon. When ever I hear of news like this you and Mel are the first two ladies to come to my mind… and then I see rage. There is no way any of us can sit by and watch our Gold Star families face exploitation like this. No way.
February 17, 2009
The feelings, need for privacy of the families and friends of the Fallen come first in my book. And the dignity of the Fallen Soldiers. I don’t trust our liberal media enough to entrust a solemn moment like this to them.
Bon, my deepest sympathies to you and your family.
February 17, 2009
I can only believe that were it my son or daughter my reaction would be violent.
With Utmost Respect ~ Semper Fi, Hank
Major, USMC (Retired)
Anyone who denigrates our fallen deserves the wraith reserved for treason.
February 18, 2009
I am a patriot guard rider and have seen the media in action and it is not pretty,family says no media and guess what happens,no respect!we need to support the families,no media!
February 18, 2009
This makes me sick. The media has to be stopped and reigned in from this crap. Why does America not support the war and see the toll that we’re taking? Because the media has desensitized us! They’ve tried to turn this around into an unjust war… everyone is out there screaming about how unjust this war is but they DON’T KNOW WHY!!!!! People repeat what they hear on the news or radio (or God Forbid… MTV) without any conscious thought. When is the media going to pull their heads out of their butts and stop this Anti-America campaign that is so popular right now?
~Cat
Better yet… I don’t care. I’m proud of my husband’s dedication to this country.
February 18, 2009
I am proud of their service too! I feel like a mama bear though when it comes to our fallen. Their families are devastated and need to be protected and sheltered. If they want to talk to the media it should be their choice, and their choice alone. No one else should make that decision for them.
You know the other thing that chaps me about this whole thing is they are doing this in the name of transparency… yeah… get transparent about our dealings with Iran. I would be really curious to hear exactly what’s been said. Will I ever hear it, no.
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