The ban began with Bush. Here's a 1998 photo of the arrival of Senior Master Sgt. Sherry Lynn Olds, killed in the Nairobi embassy bombing.
Posted on 04/29/2005 8:49:41 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon, under pressure from open-government advocates, released hundreds of images Thursday of flag-draped coffins of American soldiers.
The Pentagon had previously refused to release such images, which were taken by military photographers. Nor has it allowed the news media to photograph ceremonies of soldiers' coffins arriving in the United States, saying it is enforcing a policy installed in 1991 to respect the privacy of families of dead soldiers.
The pictures were released in response to a request for all military photos of caskets containing the remains of American soldiers taken since the U.S. launched its attack on Afghanistan in October 2001. Some critics have contended the government is trying to hide the human cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon provided most of the images without context, so it was unclear where and when they were taken and whom they portrayed.
Most of the photographs showed soldiers carrying or saluting flag-draped coffins. Some of the labeled pictures were of remains of the Columbia space shuttle astronauts, military accidents around the world and deceased veterans of previous wars, while signs in the background of a few pictures identified their location as Afghanistan.
The military obscured the faces and identifying badges of many of the soldiers pictured in the ceremonies. A Pentagon spokesman said the pictures were edited out of privacy concerns.
The photographs were released in response to a Freedom of Information request and lawsuit by Ralph Begleiter, a professor at the University of Delaware and a former correspondent for CNN, who argued the photographs were a public record.
Jim Turner, a Pentagon spokesman, said the photos released were taken for historical or training purposes. He said military photographers now are taking pictures at such ceremonies less frequently.
Last April, the Air Force released scores of photos taken at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware in response to another FOIA request. The pictures included shots of some of the coffins of the astronauts who died in 2003 on the space shuttle Columbia. The Pentagon later called that release a mistake.
Not sure if the fallen men are still brought out through Kuwait, but we used to see the coffins arrive. The honor guard would wait at plane side and remove the coffin respectfully while bagpipers played. Not sure why anyone wants or needs a photo of that. Let these men be taken care of by their comrades and keep the media out of it.
You bring up a good idea. It is a public cemetary, my beloved Father is buried there and frankly I would not like to see the cemetary turned into a circus for the media to get the money shot.
I have never gone to see the resting of JFK, because frankly it is a place I feel is for family and it would not be right for me.
Excellent comment, thanks.
Photos taken by the military photographers are by definition public property, subject to the FOIA.
Then your beef is rightfully with the media and others who will misuse the photos. That still doesn't absolve the government of its obligation under the FOIA.
I'm unbelievably for open government, and oppose Bush's penchant for secrecy and censorship.
Exactly which war did the military "always" allow these photos? I was in Viet Nam, but had never heard that pictures were allowed. All 50+000? I think not.
The ban began with Bush. Here's a 1998 photo of the arrival of Senior Master Sgt. Sherry Lynn Olds, killed in the Nairobi embassy bombing.
I believe that is audio film which represented the pomp and circumstance of the occasion. You are saying that in a war, combat troops were always photographed when being loaded and unloaded. I'm here to say you are full of shiite. Troll.
Howard Dean's brother was not a soldier if I recall correctly.
Not always. The majority aren't. Bush wants to keep us from seeing the minority who are. All presidents have been afraid of what images of coffins will do to popular support for their wars, and Bush is no exception. He tried to make sure no one would see it. I think the war stands on its own as just, the coffins just reminding us of the high cost of freedom and security.
Troll.
That was quite unneccessary. Anyone who disagrees with you or the President is a troll?
Charles Dean graduated from North Carolina in 1972 and went to work on the anti-war campaign of Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern. After McGovern lost in a landslide to President Nixon, Charles Dean decided to travel around the world. He left New York for Seattle by car with a friend in the spring of 1973 and then traveled by freighter from Seattle to Japan. He later went on to Australia, where he lived on a ranch for nine months.
He and Sharman took off for Southeast Asia and were arrested by the communist Pathet Lao on Sept. 4, 1974, during a trip down the Mekong River in Laos. They apparently were suspected of being spies, although the U.S. and Australian governments said they were merely tourists and strongly protested their detention.
The two men were held in a small, remote prison camp for three months before they were believed to have been executed on Dec. 14 while driving toward Vietnam with their captors.
Thanks for the info. Now, I just got some disturbing news about a Marine from my community who was killed in Iraq this past Tuesday night. His name is Joseph Tremblay and he was 23 years old. My sister knows this young man, her husbands younger brother is best friends with this Marine. The humvee he was traveling in was hit by a makeshift road side bomb. Please pray for his family, his fiancee, and Joseph Tremblay himself. Thanks.
Prayers going out now. Sorry for your loss. I hope the family has a good support circle in the community.
Not sorry the left didn't get these pictures in time for the election, which was their only goal. In 2008, things will be doing better in Iraq making these pictures useless as an issue.
I have to keep telling the left, this isn't a sideshow.
In a very loose sense, yes.
But the military often will---as I know from having lost a elder brother 38 years ago (he was an A-4 driver)over a rice paddy far away, be very careful about the dissemination of such photos or info on NOK.
You seem to forget that someone has to FILE a FOIA request to force their release. Guess who were the whiners?
It wasn't the tooth fairy.
Again, it comes back to motive. The MSM and other groups have their very specific agenda. It is NOT to support the troops or their families. The MSM could care less about them.
This policy is not from the Bush administration. Censorship you say? It is rather anti-explotation if anything.
All I did was sit in the jump seat from Iraq to Kuwait...and then salute at the debarkation point.
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