Shortly after Obama took office, Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey also asked the White House to roll back the 1991 ban.
Why am I not surprised that he of "Jenghis Kahn" (spelling intentional), he of the history of sliming his fellow vets, he of accusing only the dregs of society end up in Irag, would be one of the first to ask. His intention, in my opinion, is not to honor the fallen…it will be to allow him to spout more of his nonsense.
The Obama administration is reversing an 18-year ban on news coverage of the return of war dead, allowing photographs of flag-covered caskets when families of the fallen troops agree, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.
"My conclusion was we should not presume to make the decision for the families," Gates said in announcing results of a quick review of a ban that had stood through Republican and Democratic administrations.
Although details are being worked out, the new policy will give families a choice of whether to admit the press to ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the entry point to the United States for the caskets of overseas war dead.
As I have stated many times before, I have never served in the military. As I have also said on a number of occasions, knowing what I do now (and perhaps, with a bit more wisdom as well), I wish I that I had. There is a bond, a knowing glance, the fellowship of shared pain and experience, that we civilians can never know. I thank all former military folks for their service no matter what their political stripes are. They made the decision to risk all of life’s treasure, talents, and families for their country.
The one thing that I can and DO share with all other military parents and loved ones is the one nightmare that strictly civilian families will never, ever know: the reality that someday I could live my worst nightmare – hearing the sounds of an unknown engine of a unknown car. And then, upon peering out the window and praying to God Himself that it would not be a U.S. Government car and that upon the car door opening, a uniformed officer stepping out. A few years ago, it would have been a Marine officer. Now it would be an Army officer. Either way, the news would be that which a parent should never have to bear – their child is gone.
And that should be a very private moment; not one that I would want to share with the world. Or the media. Or anyone else.
Thus, at Obama’s first Presidential Press conference (the one where the questioners were picked ahead of time – and the questions as well?), I first cringed, and then leaped to my feet in sheer anger at the question from CNN’s Ed Henry when he asked if the ban on photos of military caskets coming into Dover would be lifted. With all that was going on with Obama’s agenda, was I the only one that asked themselves – this is of primary importance?
How DARE he! For all of the talk of "honoring" those that had given their lives, the heart of the matter is this:
- The MSM feel it is their RIGHT to put my son (God forbid) on parade for their purposes.
- Their purpose is not to honor anyone.
- Their purpose is not to show the "true cost of war" as some claim.
- Their purpose, as I have seen during my fifty-odd years on God’s green earth, is to create such a narrative as to glorify themselves and their mission – to recreate the Viet Nam narrative in which they turned from reporting the news to making the news.
And they would use my Youngest to do this? My answer is "No".
Second, and more importantly, any journalist who thinks that this is "news," that a deployed soldiers’ family wants to be reminded of the risks involved this on the nightly news, that the family of a a service member who has given his last full measure wants to see this, is sadly, sadly, mistaken.
I do believe the media when they say it is for honor – but not for my Youngest but for themselves. To recreate that time and that place when they could say that they influenced a nation, yes. Any military death is a tragedy – my family or anyone else’s. But to put that death on public display in the way that they want to is beyond the pale.
Cynical? You bet. But all I have to do is reflect on what some of the media has done in the past. Not all, but certainly many. And it only takes one. In this, they are no better than that Devil-spawned Rev. Phelps and his family. Different purpose, different degree, but the purpose is the same – not to glorify the fallen but to raise up themselves. Leave the families alone.
We have seen the reaction of the regular American to Rev. Phelps – I hope the same would happen to the so-called journalists that would put my Youngest on display. For once those pictures are released, you can be sure that any anti-war group like Code Pink, the Peace and Justice groups, A.N.S.W.E.R, and any other like minded group would grab those pictures in a heartbeat.
Doubt me?
Blackfive again reminds me of what Code Pink does when they demonstrate at Walter Reed where our troops are sent for treatment and rehab:
"You got maimed for a lie"
Heck, this group (think that sad lunatic Cindy Sheehan) uses such a picture to shill for donations (and NO, these are NOT the Blue and Gold Star families that I am so privileged to know and work with). So yes, those that would use those pictures will do so for their own purposes. And NO, I would never, ever want my Youngest to ever fall into their hands.
And the press would be the useful idiots enabling their behavior. Of course, the journalistic protestations would be there – but they would never agree that they had any culpability in the matter. After all, who holds the journalists accountable?
Honoring the fallen? I first read the story of Marine PFC Chance and how his death was honored back in 2004 and how America honored him as he made his final journey home accompanied by Lt. Col. Strobl who kept an accounting of how the military and the civilians honored this fallen hero. No picture splashed across the screen coming off a C-17; no breathless story written on the front page. If you really want to learn how to honor the fallen, read the whole thing. HBO made a movie, a respectful one, called Taking Chance (disclosure: HBO did advertise with the ‘Grok – and no, I have not seen the movie as I do not have HBO).
If you, the media, wants to truly honor those that have sacrificed all, to honor the loved ones and the friends left behind, simply take the pictures of those lining the streets with the hands over their hearts, the hand salutes, the bowed heads, and the American flags waving in respect, as the hearse drive through America. Show the pictures of those that DO know how to honor our military that gave their all – the plain, regular, everyday, Main Street American that knows what the true cost is…
…and know how to honor that cost….
…the right way….
…the honorable way….
…with a silent, simple, but heartfelt whispered "Thank you".
And my answer is still "No".
