Since the start of the Iraq war, the Pentagon has sought to limit or prevent press coverage of the funerals of service men and women killed in Iraq, even when the families of these soldiers were fine with members of the press being present. In some cases, reporters were told where to stand and what they could or could not film.
Shortly after being hired as the public affairs director at Arlington National Cemetery, Gina Gray felt bothered by some new media limits on funeral services.
The new limits didn’t seem to fall under army restrictions, so she sought to open funerals up to the media, with the deceased’s family’s consent of course.
Now it appears that for her efforts, Gray was first demoted and then fired. In an article published by the Washington Post, Gray said,
“Had I not put my foot down, had I just gone along with it and not said regulations were being violated, I’m sure I’d still be there.”
Army Secretary Pete Geren has started an internal investigation into Gray’s firing.
With support for the Iraq war already low, it is understandable, at least from their point of view, why military officials would like to keep coverage of these funerals to a minimum. They’re depressing.
Americans don’t like seeing our soldiers shipped back in coffins.
A few people would get mad at the media over that, but really it would do more to turn many of the war’s already dwindling supporters against it. Showing people the true cost of war never helps that war’s continuation. There’s a big difference between a picture of a pile of rubble, and one of a mother crying over her son’s casket.
This issue isn’t just limited to Iraq though. Take Pat Tillman for example. As you may remember, Pat Tillman was a linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals who gave up playing in the NFL after 9/11 to join the military. Sadly, Tillman was killed in action in 2004. Even sadder is the fact that his death was caused by friendly fire.
Members of his unit attempted to cover it up and have since been removed from the Army Rangers. The problem is that the Army originally told everyone, including his family, that he had died from enemy fire after his unit was ambushed, even after evidence to the contrary had surfaced.
Why? Because now the Army’s super-patriotic, feel-good recruitment story now had a tragic ending. “Join the Army and get shot three times in the head by your own troops” doesn’t exactly have a nice ring to it.
Yes, war is tragic. War is horrible. No one (except possibly
Lockheed Martin and Boeing) wants war. That doesn’t mean we should ignore or be prevented from seeing how bad it really is though. In fact, the opposite is true. People should know how bad it really is before we decide to send a few hundred thousand young men and women to war with a place almost two thirds of us can’t even find on a map.
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Your opinion piece regarding media access to funerals at Arlington National Cemetery is not accurate on a number of points.
First, the media has never been denied access to funerals at Arlington. They HAVE been restricted to a position far enough away so as not to interfer with the services or with the family members at their time of grief. Of course they were told where to stand, would you want the funeral of your own loved one shown on the 6 o’clock news with close-up views of the grieving mourners or would you like to have cameras and microphones shoved in your face while you were in the midst of saying good-bye to your loved one? I think not!
Everyone in the media receives the daily updates from the Department of Defense regarding casualties from the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan and most news outlets publish them regularly. That does not smack of the government “hiding” the fact that young American men and women are being killed in the war against terrorism.
Did the media want to show casualties from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, etc being buried on the front pages of their publications? No, they did not. We seem to live in a different time where the lack of respect for young people who give their lives for their country seems to abound.
Michael Patterson
On your first point, yes, I would want them there, and I’m sure many families that disagree with us being in this war would be fine with a paper (or TV news program or whatever) showing the funeral of their loved one to show the real cost of this conflict.
Also, although they shouldn’t be directly in the families faces during the service, cameramen should be able to get any angle they want as long as they’re out of the way (like they should be anyway).
Second, saying “Four soldiers died in a roadside bombing” and showing a funeral are two completely different things.
Third, in WW1, all news coverage was handled exclusively by the government, and in WW2 the was an Office of Censorship. That’s not a cute nickname journalists came up wither either. That’s what they really called it. I haven’t seen as much on the coverage of Korea, but I know that the coverage of Vietnam, with its graphic photos and video of wounded American soldiers led to opinion turning against the war.
Also, the only group I’ve seen disrespecting our fallen soldiers is the group from Westborough Baptist. Yes, during the Vietnam war returning soldiers were treated horribly for something many of them had nothing to do with and no control over due to being drafted, but I’ve seen nothing but respect for returning soldiers and condolences to the families of the fallen in this conflict.
A couple of things.. First, let me be clear that I believe the families of service men and women are the quiet heroes. They take a very large load when a family members volunteer for a such a life. I believe it is one of the noblest path an American can undertake. But I am a bit disturbed that the wishes of the servicemen and women are not made known, or seem to be even dismissed. This should be about them, and what they would have wanted. After the Cindy Sheehan and Hendrix fiascos, most every Airman, Marine, Soldier and Sailor I was deployed with made effort to communicate thier wishes to loved ones. The military services also introduced changes to clearly record member wishes (such as disposition of remains in the case of death). The wishes of the service members and families should be the priority.
With that said, evidence is coming out that administrators at Arlington were, as a minimum, quietly hostile towards the family wishes. To me, that is unforgiveable. You’ll most likely see changes occur behind the scenes to prevent this in the future. I still stand that none of it should have happened to begin with - but that’s just me….
Soldiers are not heroes. They are soldiers doing a job. I don’t like how people worship the soldiers, “pray for the soldiers.” It’s absurd.
In May, my friend, an Air Force engineer, committed suicide at age 22. His funeral was private, and there was no reason for him to have any form of media at his funeral. It’s OK if they are invited.
The one censored aspect of this war that could change many opinions on the whole Middle East struggle is imbedded journalists who are monitored closely by Pentagon PR officials. For example, Zoriah (www.zoriah.net) published pictures of dead soldiers on his Web site, which led Pentagon officials to request removal of the pictures. When Zoriah refused, they revoked his imbed privileges and flew him out of Iraq. (By the way, his pictures were compliant with military code for pictures of dead soldiers).
Brent… I feel sorry for you and your disrespectful comments in the first part of your post. I suppose firefighters and police officers are not heroes either because they are just “doing their job.” They are heroes, just as Soldiers are. You should give a little mroe respect because its the Soldiers sho fight for your freedom of speech, which in this case is quite moronic, as well as the freedom for others.
I do agree though that if a family invites the press it should be OK.
Brent… You are a sad little man.
Brent:
Name one other job where risking your life is a job requirement.
Soldiers who have been killed in the line of duty won the very freedoms that you enjoy today. Without victory in previous wars, America would not be “land of the free, home of the brave.”
Great comments, Michael.
Quoting Michael: “First, the media has never been denied access to funerals at Arlington. They HAVE been restricted to a position far enough away so as not to interfere with the services or with the family members at their time of grief.”
Exactly. A funeral, military or otherwise, is a time for family and friends to celebrate a life lived and lost. It is not, and should never be, a media circus. Media can respectfully remain on “allowed grounds,” as they have always been, to view funerals from a respectful distance.
Whoever “name” is… how about Secret Service Agent, Police Officer, Fire Fighter? That is just to name a few…
I believe that soldiers are hero’s. Maybe not in the same way as Superman, but to those of us who still value our right to freedom, they embody every sense of the word. If it were not for those brave men and women who risk their lives to protect our liberties(even those of us who doubt their heroism), we would not be able to do what I am doing now…. Voice our opinions. So regardless of what anyone says, I will pray for our soldiers, for they are the arms that help hold this great nation together.
All soldiers are heroes. Especially the soldiers who kill innocent civilians and commit war crimes. Super heroic. I love the troops so much I encourage sending them to Iran.
Bandwagon Patriot…. You’re an idiot. Better yet, let’s send you to Iran and see how long you last.
Guardian UK:
“Sixty children were killed in air strikes by US-led coalition warplanes in western Afghanistan last week, a UN investigation has found. UN investigators said they discovered “convincing evidence” that a total of 90 Afghan civilians died in the incident.”
Thank you, glorious heroes, for defending my freedom from sixty dastardly Afghan children!
“US-led coalition warplanes” means it could have been any one of a number of other military’s forces.
Bandwagon Patriot, you apparently crave attention, which much to your satisfaction, I have given you. You are the same type of fool that probably whines about how the police are your enemy. However, when one day in your own time of great need, you will not hesitate to call on them (or our soldiers) for help and protection, in the ultimate move of your self-righteous hypocracy.
Sorry you missed the sixties, bud. Maybe you can transfer to Chicago. I hear Bill Ayers is still teaching up there. I’m sure you two would kick it off nicely.
Enjoy your life of loathing the establishment and democracy that has given you the freedom to spread your miserable disdain for this country’s heroes.
I read this Batman comic book where Joker robbed a bank and held a bunch of people hostage. Batman drove up in his batmobile and ordered an airstrike. It leveled the entire neighborhood killing hundreds of people.
I was like, “whoa, what a hero”
IMHO, they should not be open to the public. The fallen gave their lives to our country, and our country needs to give their families space and peace in which to grieve. If a family member wishes to come forward and make a statement to the media, then they are and always have been free to do so. Opening funerals to the public will either result in the sensationalizing of their personal tragedy, or giving jerks like Fred Phelps more reason to protest military funerals.
A point made by another commenter needs clarification. The airstrike mentioned in Afganistan was ordered by *Afgan* soldiers training under US military trainers. The chief of the village that was destroyed has already said several times to the media he does not blame the military. Rather, he blames a rival group which intentionally gave false information to the Afgan military who in turn relying on that information called in airstrikes by coalition forces on the unfortunate target. Please get your facts correct before ranting at those who stand ready to give their lives to keep us safe.
You have a source for that? Because every media outlet reports that the US special forces ordered the airstrike and that every Afghani official, both local and nationally, are livid.
Bandwagon patriot, you’re pretty funny. You should probably be a comedian or something like that. Best of luck to you when you graduate, though I will say most good careers look down on pessimists, but with your views you’d make a great college proffessor at Cal Berkley or somewhere similiar. Thanks for the great posts. I needed a good laugh from an anarchist.
FYI, from the AP.
Afghan commission: US troops took fire first
By Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 2, 2008 7:07:32 EDT
KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan army commander said that U.S. and Afghan troops were fired on first from a village where a government investigative commission says scores of civilians were killed, according to a report released Sunday.
The chief of staff for the army’s Herat corps told the head of the government’s investigative commission that shots were fired early Aug. 22 from Azizabad at U.S. and Afghan troops. The troops had gone to the village on a raid.
But the report, released by the office of President Hamid Karzai, did not specify who fired the shots.
“When the ANA (Afghan army) and coalition troops got close to the village, firing started after the ANA unit stopped, and the coalition forces conducted the operation in the village,” the report said.
Looks like some Afghan on Afghan violence.
I agree that the families of the soldiers should be allowed to grieve in private without the media all up in their faces.
Can’t we just get along
This coming from a military child who dosen’t understand why the media feels they need to be at the funerals of our parents. They do not go to anyone else’s parent’s funerals and should be respectful and just stay away. It’s aggravating how intrusive they have become. I wish some of the people on this blog would think before they go out and insult people in the military by saying they are not heroes. It is just plain ridicules, while there are other heroes such as police, firemen, etc it is an absurd notion to say that military men and women are not also heroes.