thedrifter
04-07-09, 07:42 AM
April 7, 2009
Always a solemn return, but this time with a photograph
Allowing coverage of war coffins garners mostly positive reactions
By BETH MILLER
The News Journal
Even from a distance and under the late-night sky, it was clear how the United States military treats its war dead.
With white gloves.
The gloves -- worn by the six men and two women who carried the transfer case bearing the remains of Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Myers at Dover Air Force Base late Sunday -- seemed luminescent.
And they seemed to say what could not be said with words on this solemn occasion.
The prayerful words of Maj. Klavens Noel, the chaplain, could not be heard by anyone but those in the cargo bay of the 747 that had arrived at Dover Air Force Base from Ramstein, Germany, a few hours earlier. Myers died Saturday in Afghanistan of wounds from an improvised explosive device.
From the pavement below, where Myers' widow and several other family members stood, even the powerful floodlights couldn't illuminate all of what happened in the slow, painstaking process of transferring Myers' remains from the aircraft to the military's primary mortuary facility.
A total of 5,014 other airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines killed while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq had gone that way before this 30-year-old Virginia man.
But this evening was different. News organizations were permitted to attend -- by decision of Myers' widow, who flew from the Royal Air Force base in Lakenheath, England, to attend the transfer. She was the first to be asked since Defense Secretary Robert Gates decided last month to end the 18-year media ban and grant access when families grant permission.
Thirty-five journalists attended the transfer Sunday night. Each agreed to ground rules established by the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations center at Dover -- no flash, no live coverage, no unnecessary motion. They stood in a sequestered area that gave Myers' family a private buffer zone.
A gentle breeze swept the ramp as the transfer unfolded in almost total silence.
Ordinarily, this part of Dover Air Force Base is a busy, noisy area, with the mammoth C-5 and C-17 cargo planes landing and taking off at all hours of the day and night.
But now, it was strikingly quiet. The hum of an aircraft generator, the rapid clicking of camera shutters, and a few forceful commands from Col. Dave Horton -- "Present, arms" and "Order, arms" -- were the only sounds during the 20-minute event.
The gloves spoke more expansively about the exacting detail and precision applied to every encounter with this fallen airman, who only the day before had been a world away in Afghanistan.
"When a military member falls, they become the highest priority," Maj. Paul Villagran said.
That was why the Bronze Star recipient's remains reached Dover so swiftly. And though Gates' new policy was to take effect Monday, Myers' remains were returned so expeditiously that military officials lifted the ban a few hours early.
The remains of a soldier whose name has not been released was on the same flight from Ramstein, Dover officials said. His family had not been asked for consent of media coverage, though, and his transfer was performed privately before Myers'.
Privacy is 'bottom line'
Reaction to the coverage was generally favorable Monday, even from some who opposed the decision to lift the ban.
Merilee Carlson of St. Paul, Minn., was among those who feared news coverage would damage the process and possibly add to the grief of families.
Carlson, whose son Sgt. Michael Carlson was killed in Iraq in January 2005, is president of Families United Mission. The group issued a statement from her Monday morning, the day the new policy was to take effect. In the statement, she expressed disappointment that "today there will be cameras flashing the first time that a mother, father, wife, or husband welcomes home their fallen hero."
After reviewing the coverage Monday, her thoughts were more tempered. But she still had concerns.
"I believe the media have handled it very well," Carlson said. "I don't know how the family feels. I have not been able to reach them. But one of the concerns we have for this is where the photos go -- not tomorrow, but next month. Where will they be used? Will they always be used to honor that hero? I know the media and if they've got a story to tell and have a photo to illustrate it, they will use it. And once it's out online, what will it be used for?"
Judy Campbell, who chairs Gold Star Families of Delaware, said her family would not have chosen to lift the ban, but said as long as the families' wishes are respected, she is satisfied.
"We may each have our own personal feelings about how we feel about this ban being lifted, but in the end, the only thing that truly matters is we are free because of men and women who so faithfully serve and are willing to do so even at the cost of their own lives," she said. "We must do all we can to preserve their memory and honor the wishes of their families. We must never forget men like Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Myers. If we do, we have failed, and he did not fail us."
Though she did not favor lifting the ban on media coverage, Carlson said now that coverage is possible, families who grant permission may be disappointed if media outlets do not continue covering the returns.
"You certainly wouldn't want to grant that permission and turn around and see that nobody cares," she said. "But at least the military is taking photos."
Military officials will evaluate the process to see where it might be improved.
Capt. Michael Anderson, a spokesman for the Dover mortuary who was among those who escorted members of the media Sunday night, said he was pleased so far.
"The bottom line is, the privacy of the families was protected, the dignity, honor and respect of the dignified transfer was preserved, and the media were professional," he said.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Les' Melnyk said Dover's effort was getting good marks from Washington.
"From what I have seen of reaction here at the Pentagon, Dover implemented the revised policy smoothly the first time out, and nobody here will be looking over their shoulder and telling them how to do their job," he said. "From what I saw of the coverage of Staff Sgt. Myers' dignified transfer, the media were respectful of his service and sacrifice, acknowledged the extraordinary care and dedication the military takes in returning our fallen to their families, and did not use the occasion as a platform for anti-war rhetoric. That is what we hoped for."
Ralph Begleiter, whose Freedom of Information lawsuit prompted the Pentagon to release hundreds of photos of the fallen troops' return to Dover a few years ago, said he was pleased that coverage was again possible. He was also pleased that military photographers would resume their record of the events, work they stopped after his suit was filed. Those photographs, he said, should be part of the public record.
Begleiter said he sees irony in the new policy, though, in its ban on live coverage of the returns. He traces the 1991 ban to an embarrassing convergence of live TV images in 1989, when President George H.W. Bush was shown joking with reporters at a news conference on one side of the screen while casualties from a conflict in Panama were shown arriving at Dover on the other.
Remembering the war dead became an extended commitment for Patricia Kirby Gibler of Lewes, who with others stood for 236 consecutive Sundays in silent, public vigil near Lewes' Zwaanendael Museum to call for an end to the war. The practice ended last month after President Obama announced a timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq.
"Seeing the caskets really brings to Dover or Delaware or the United States a picture of the return of a soul, a human being who has given their life for whatever purpose that might serve," Gibler said. "There isn't a soul who doesn't want peace. ... In some private, introspective way, we can all mourn and grieve and begin to forgive, and those, I think, are the first steps to peace."
Ellie
Always a solemn return, but this time with a photograph
Allowing coverage of war coffins garners mostly positive reactions
By BETH MILLER
The News Journal
Even from a distance and under the late-night sky, it was clear how the United States military treats its war dead.
With white gloves.
The gloves -- worn by the six men and two women who carried the transfer case bearing the remains of Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Myers at Dover Air Force Base late Sunday -- seemed luminescent.
And they seemed to say what could not be said with words on this solemn occasion.
The prayerful words of Maj. Klavens Noel, the chaplain, could not be heard by anyone but those in the cargo bay of the 747 that had arrived at Dover Air Force Base from Ramstein, Germany, a few hours earlier. Myers died Saturday in Afghanistan of wounds from an improvised explosive device.
From the pavement below, where Myers' widow and several other family members stood, even the powerful floodlights couldn't illuminate all of what happened in the slow, painstaking process of transferring Myers' remains from the aircraft to the military's primary mortuary facility.
A total of 5,014 other airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines killed while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq had gone that way before this 30-year-old Virginia man.
But this evening was different. News organizations were permitted to attend -- by decision of Myers' widow, who flew from the Royal Air Force base in Lakenheath, England, to attend the transfer. She was the first to be asked since Defense Secretary Robert Gates decided last month to end the 18-year media ban and grant access when families grant permission.
Thirty-five journalists attended the transfer Sunday night. Each agreed to ground rules established by the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations center at Dover -- no flash, no live coverage, no unnecessary motion. They stood in a sequestered area that gave Myers' family a private buffer zone.
A gentle breeze swept the ramp as the transfer unfolded in almost total silence.
Ordinarily, this part of Dover Air Force Base is a busy, noisy area, with the mammoth C-5 and C-17 cargo planes landing and taking off at all hours of the day and night.
But now, it was strikingly quiet. The hum of an aircraft generator, the rapid clicking of camera shutters, and a few forceful commands from Col. Dave Horton -- "Present, arms" and "Order, arms" -- were the only sounds during the 20-minute event.
The gloves spoke more expansively about the exacting detail and precision applied to every encounter with this fallen airman, who only the day before had been a world away in Afghanistan.
"When a military member falls, they become the highest priority," Maj. Paul Villagran said.
That was why the Bronze Star recipient's remains reached Dover so swiftly. And though Gates' new policy was to take effect Monday, Myers' remains were returned so expeditiously that military officials lifted the ban a few hours early.
The remains of a soldier whose name has not been released was on the same flight from Ramstein, Dover officials said. His family had not been asked for consent of media coverage, though, and his transfer was performed privately before Myers'.
Privacy is 'bottom line'
Reaction to the coverage was generally favorable Monday, even from some who opposed the decision to lift the ban.
Merilee Carlson of St. Paul, Minn., was among those who feared news coverage would damage the process and possibly add to the grief of families.
Carlson, whose son Sgt. Michael Carlson was killed in Iraq in January 2005, is president of Families United Mission. The group issued a statement from her Monday morning, the day the new policy was to take effect. In the statement, she expressed disappointment that "today there will be cameras flashing the first time that a mother, father, wife, or husband welcomes home their fallen hero."
After reviewing the coverage Monday, her thoughts were more tempered. But she still had concerns.
"I believe the media have handled it very well," Carlson said. "I don't know how the family feels. I have not been able to reach them. But one of the concerns we have for this is where the photos go -- not tomorrow, but next month. Where will they be used? Will they always be used to honor that hero? I know the media and if they've got a story to tell and have a photo to illustrate it, they will use it. And once it's out online, what will it be used for?"
Judy Campbell, who chairs Gold Star Families of Delaware, said her family would not have chosen to lift the ban, but said as long as the families' wishes are respected, she is satisfied.
"We may each have our own personal feelings about how we feel about this ban being lifted, but in the end, the only thing that truly matters is we are free because of men and women who so faithfully serve and are willing to do so even at the cost of their own lives," she said. "We must do all we can to preserve their memory and honor the wishes of their families. We must never forget men like Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Myers. If we do, we have failed, and he did not fail us."
Though she did not favor lifting the ban on media coverage, Carlson said now that coverage is possible, families who grant permission may be disappointed if media outlets do not continue covering the returns.
"You certainly wouldn't want to grant that permission and turn around and see that nobody cares," she said. "But at least the military is taking photos."
Military officials will evaluate the process to see where it might be improved.
Capt. Michael Anderson, a spokesman for the Dover mortuary who was among those who escorted members of the media Sunday night, said he was pleased so far.
"The bottom line is, the privacy of the families was protected, the dignity, honor and respect of the dignified transfer was preserved, and the media were professional," he said.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Les' Melnyk said Dover's effort was getting good marks from Washington.
"From what I have seen of reaction here at the Pentagon, Dover implemented the revised policy smoothly the first time out, and nobody here will be looking over their shoulder and telling them how to do their job," he said. "From what I saw of the coverage of Staff Sgt. Myers' dignified transfer, the media were respectful of his service and sacrifice, acknowledged the extraordinary care and dedication the military takes in returning our fallen to their families, and did not use the occasion as a platform for anti-war rhetoric. That is what we hoped for."
Ralph Begleiter, whose Freedom of Information lawsuit prompted the Pentagon to release hundreds of photos of the fallen troops' return to Dover a few years ago, said he was pleased that coverage was again possible. He was also pleased that military photographers would resume their record of the events, work they stopped after his suit was filed. Those photographs, he said, should be part of the public record.
Begleiter said he sees irony in the new policy, though, in its ban on live coverage of the returns. He traces the 1991 ban to an embarrassing convergence of live TV images in 1989, when President George H.W. Bush was shown joking with reporters at a news conference on one side of the screen while casualties from a conflict in Panama were shown arriving at Dover on the other.
Remembering the war dead became an extended commitment for Patricia Kirby Gibler of Lewes, who with others stood for 236 consecutive Sundays in silent, public vigil near Lewes' Zwaanendael Museum to call for an end to the war. The practice ended last month after President Obama announced a timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq.
"Seeing the caskets really brings to Dover or Delaware or the United States a picture of the return of a soul, a human being who has given their life for whatever purpose that might serve," Gibler said. "There isn't a soul who doesn't want peace. ... In some private, introspective way, we can all mourn and grieve and begin to forgive, and those, I think, are the first steps to peace."
Ellie