For many months I have been writing in support of publicly honoring our fallen heroes when they touch American soil at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware—of course, with the approval of the family of each hero.
On February 26, 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced a policy consistent with what we presently have at Arlington National Cemetery which allows the family to decide whether to allow media coverage.
On April 5, the Defense Department implemented the policy. The new policy permits the media to attend “dignified transfer” ceremonies with permission from the families and provides for paying the expenses of up to three relatives of a fallen hero to travel to Dover to watch their loved one come back home.
Throughout these deliberations, there had been apprehension and criticism on the part of many organizations and individuals, fearing that media access and publicity would diminish the solemnity and dignity of the occasion.
In “A Fallen Hero Returns for All to See and Honor,” and in “Dignified Transfer” Ceremonies for Our Fallen Heroes,” I wrote how those concerns were tested when the first fallen heroes were welcomed home publicly under the new policy.
One of those fallen heroes was Air Force Staff Sergeant Phillip A. Myers who was killed by a makeshift bomb in Afghanistan:
The fallen hero’s family was there to welcome him home, along with about two dozen members of the media.
The ceremony was somber, solemn and dignified. It was broadcast on most networks. I watched it. It was moving. It was appropriate..
However, my opinion doesn’t matter. What matters is the opinion, the reaction and the acceptance of this new policy by family members of the fallen heroes.
I went on to quote favorable and emotional reactions from family members who traveled to Dover to meet their fallen heroes, or who chose not to travel to Dover, but who let reporters and photographers document their heroes’ return.
At the time, one of our readers, who had expressed some concerns earlier, commented:
This program appears to have been thought through and implemented exactly right. It gives the families a chance to personally see their loved ones remains returned, gives the country a chance to see the consequences of war, and retains the families’ privacy if they wish.
I am glad to report that every article I have read supports the reader’s impressions and expectations.
A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor reviews the changes made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to a “long-controversial policy that effectively barred families and the media from witnessing the return of caskets containing the war’s deceased,” and under which “Families were technically allowed to visit Dover to see their loved ones’ remains returned, but they were not encouraged to participate in the ceremony. Media were completely barred.”
Among the changes made by Mr. Gates:
• He offered all families the opportunity to be flown to Dover, at government expense, to see the return of their loved one’s remains.
• He offered the families the opportunity to choose to have the event covered by the media.
Since the new policies took effect:
…Dover has received more than 350 deceased, and about 70 percent of the families opt to come to Dover to see what the military calls a “dignified transfer” of remains, in which the transfer box is pulled out of the plane by military pallbearers, lowered by a truck onto the tarmac, and driven to Dover’s morgue. About 60 percent permit open press coverage, according to Air Force officials.
The article continues to describe the new $1.6 million facility recently inaugurated, “designed to offer comfort to families who come to Dover Air Force Base to grieve for the loss of loved ones in foreign wars,” and, more important, a “place that befits the grief.”
While adequate “facilities” are just a small part in the equation to honor our fallen heroes and to provide comfort to their families, all indications are that this is one program that truly is working.
The Christian Science Monitor:
It seems like a simple thing – a nice place for families to grieve. But in a military that must balance hundreds of priorities, the “Center for the Families of the Fallen” was an initiative that took time to realize. Gen. Norton “Norty” Schwartz, the Air Force Chief of Staff, said the military had to have a place to offer families that “befits their grief.”
“Perhaps someday, a world without armed conflict will no longer elude us, but until then, this nation requires and values the efforts of its service men and women, and the love and support of their family members who sustain their efforts,” he said.
I repeat my views on this issue: “Nothing to hide here. Everything to Honor.”
Image: Courtesy upi.com
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.