Fallen Hero Commemoration Act Would End Ban On Photos Of Returning Military Dead

Photo District News:

The Department of Defense would be required to grant journalists access to ceremonies honoring fallen military personnel under a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The legislation is significant because it would, for the first time since Vietnam, let photojournalists capture the powerful images of flag-draped caskets arriving on American soil during wartime.

This week the bill won the endorsement of the National Press Photographers Association.

Read the whole story: Photo District News

Comments

[TovSquirrel]

I don't think the press would intrude--in your face--upon grieving grave-side families without their consent. Nor do I think that this is what it is about.

What President Bush the first did was stop allowing the coverage of the ceremonies for arriving caskets at the various military installations. Just in case the casualties were high and the "Mother or all Battles" dragged on, he did not want the "home front" morale to drop.

Maybe only the "important" people deserve the presence President of the United States (no, it is not customary for Presidents to meet all war dead) and the eyes of the nation (formerly called "the Press") to meet their mortal remains.

These men and women are the "Heroes" (even the patriotic propaganda machine says so!), so why cannot the nation meet them upon their return and do them some small honor of recognition of the sacrifice by acknowledging them. We cannot go to every funeral, nor would we want to, but allowing the press to be there (at the off loading of the caskets) does give weight to their sacrifice and brings it home for those with a soul.

[quadman]

The true best solution would be to leave it up to the families, which almost universally, I am sure would insist on having their privacy respected. Freedom of the press cannot trample a family's right to private grieving.

[wdw101]

The family's right to private grieving cannot trample the public's right to know. Freedom of the press should win.

[FiLoLi]

Then read the obit in the paper. The families are private citizens and you have no right to use our grief for your propaganda.

[awcbuddy8]

Are you kidding?

[quadman]

"...the public's right to know."

The passing of a soldier is universally available. The names of these fallen soldiers is already public information. The images, which likely bring pain to the families of these fallen soldiers, are not universally public property.

The press does not have the right to violate the private rights of private citizens.

Your logic doesn't hold up. This means that I can have camera crews with Katie Couric pulling commentary following virtually every fallen soldier's funeral. The existing rule, which has been in place since 1991, is good since it gives power back to the families. Likewise, the only reason to show images of flagged-draped coffins is for political purposes, no matter how well intentioned. Trying to gain political points by adding pain to grieving families is morally and ethically wrong. I believe the term I am looking for is decency.

[ImissTheCOLDWAR]

Are you out of your freaking mind?.....Do you have that little repsect for our fallen sevice memebers and families to make such a decree?.....Do you really feel that way?...Freedom of the press doesn not mean absolute access....If the family say NO..then NO means NO.....Don't we tell women that NO means NO to unwanted advances?......Is a Psychological Rape of the Press any worse than a Physical Rape?

[Ramirez]

Let the camera ghouls explain that to the grieving family then. Or maybe you could.

[LibRS]

Yeah this is a GREAT idea. Then we can have code pink show up and scream while they are being laid to rest. This is bs and nothing more.

[Andman0121]

Freedom of the press. Simple as that. You can either have it all or none at all. Of course your assertion that Code Pink would come yelling is absolutely preposterous. Having these pictures taken will finally jolt the lethargic, apathetic citizenry in realizing why war is terrible. Especially a war being fought for no reason whatsoever.

[LibRS]

getyourheadoutofyourbuttandstopdrinkingthekoolaid.

[Ramirez]

So you admit the only reason you want these photos is for political reasons, eh?

[k6007]

Well, it is about dammed time!! You show them shipping out, you show them coming home...In real time!!

[Triangle1]

The war is basically over now. There aren't many of these photo ops available. Too little, too late. http://mespace.wordpress.com

[alphax]

Lets hope GW Bush attends at LEAST one soldier's funeral, before he leaves office.

[Ramirez]

Presidential trivia:

Who was the last US president to attend a military funeral for a fallen US Soldier, Airman, Sailor, or Marine?

[VOTER]

Carter, Reagan, Bush, Sr. and Clinton, all attended funerals of soldiers

who died under their commands.

[Burnsey]

It would be nice if they would lift this ban. The soldiers should be acknowledged, after giving their lives for the country.

[MissingAmerica]

Amen to that!

[FiLoLi]

The soldiers are acknowledged by their communities and their families. We don't want your protestors or political statements.

[engineer68]

Tell me how a protester can gain entry to Dover Air Force Base? And how does a family know that it is their next of kin in the transfer case under the American flag? Lifting this ban is way past due.

[RedTide]

I visit the grave of a friend killed in Iraq at Arlington every year on the anniversary of his death. Watching the green lawn beyond his grave fill up, year after year, with new graves is heartbreaking and rekindles my anger about our involvement in this mess in ways I can't even express with words. I can't believe it took so long for this policy to change.

[JulieSA]

Hundreds of WWII Korean War veterans die every week. That accounts for most new burials in military cemeteries.

[ChiGuy]

Will wonders never cease? The bill was introduced by a Republican.

It's about damned time.

[Eric8869]

This is a little too late don't you think? I can't believe the administration got away with this for so long.

[wdw101]

wow, another post we agree on

[Moshe]

For most Americans, this war has not been part of their daily lives. It hasn't cost them anything (they actually got tax cuts instead) and they haven't had to even see the suffering of others

And that's why it's been so easy for so many Americans to ignore it and allow it to drag on.

But in the meantime:

U.S. MILITARY DEATHS (IRAQ): 4,141
U.S. MILITARY WOUNDED (IRAQ): 30,509
IRAQI CIVILIAN DEATHS: 151,000
'EXCESS' IRAQI DEATHS: 655,000

And every one of these people was an individual, not just a number, someone's son, daughter, father, mother, etc.

War is evil and insane, but it won't go away just because we ignore it.

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing": Edmund Burke

[fcsakes]

The fascist administration we are now toiling under doesn't like the photos published. They make the war seem too real - people might realize these are actually dead men and women, killed in his illegal war for oil. This is bush's method of dishonoring our war dead while at the same time saying he is doing it out of respect.

Excuse me, respect? That same strain of respect that lead you to proclaim, "no more golf" in honor of those fighting the (your) war? wow.

[cubs325]

as it should be - we should see and hear about every military death and injury so we ALL KNOW THE COST OF OUR POLICIES AND DECISIONS AND WHETHER WE AGREE THAT THE COST IS WORTH IT - it is pathetic and despicable that we sterile these heroic deaths/injuries

[indyleftist]

There is no current law banning it, so there is no need to pass laws to allow it.

The press would not be violating any laws by using the photos, they would just lose access to people in the Bush administration. Sadly the press opted for access over truth This law will change nothing, the only thing that will change the situation is for the press to just do their jobs

[going2ireland]

How wrong you are!!!

One family who lost a loved one WANTED the press there to cover the funeral at a National Cometary. It was nixed by our current administration. No cameras or video recorders were allowed at all, not even by family members.

[wdw101]

do they search people?

[Ramirez]

That makes no sense.

I think you need to provide a link to support that story.

[proudloudlib]

How about reading the whole story instead of just the quick read?

"Photographs of returning military dead were permitted during Vietnam, but a ban was instated during the 1991 Gulf War, according to Jones' office. The military has granted exceptions on rare occasions, such as the 1996 return of the bodies of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and other Americans killed in a plane crash in Croatia.

But since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, the Defense Department has specifically prohibited photographs of returning war dead. A policy updated in 2003 states: "There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning or departing from Ramstein Air Base or Dover Air Force Base."

[indyleftist]

You are wrong

No kind of legal punishment would happen to the reporters if they use the pictures
It is an order not a law

What would happen is that the defense dept. would pull them from the inbedded program and make getting visa's difficulty. Making it hard for them to do their jobs.

[nellie]

Gee, it only took seven years.

All the neo cons out there constantly screaming about free speech whenever some radio nut spews hate speech, here is an example of violations of the First Amendment. Just FYI.

[Ramirez]

It has been longer than "seven years."

The ban has been in place since 1991.

[FiLoLi]

Ouch!

[brainuser]

"If you do have a link you should provide it.

"If you are unable it makes the story weaker."

Ramirez

[nellie]

Try posting the truth once in a while. It's good for the soul.