A Coffin, a Flag, a Photograph

On February 9^th, President Obama stated that he was considering overturning a Pentagon policy that has been in place since the Persian Gulf War in 1991, under President George H.W. Bush’s administration (Tyson & Berman).  This policy regards a photo ban on the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where soldiers’ bodies are taken off planes in coffins and given a simple prayer and honorary ceremony.  This brief ceremony is known as the “dignified transfer of remains” (Tyson & Berman).  This photo and media ban has been the source of much controversy, especially with the war in Iraq occurring right now.

The big question here lies in the issue of privacy and media coverage.  Many of the fallen soldiers’ families wish to keep this ceremony private, and want nothing to do with the media because they believe their moment of grief and suffering should be private.  Other families want the media there, to show America the pain and suffering they go through to make the public more appreciative of what our soldiers are doing for us.  Because of the emotional nature of this ceremony, the Pentagon banned all media coverage and photos, with a few select exceptions.  Sixty percent of Americans felt that the public should be allowed to see pictures of the military guard and ceremony, with only one third answering the other way, in polls during 1991 and 2004 (Tyson & Berman).  At Arlington National Cemetery, the policy is that family members of the diseased choose whether or not to allow media, and if they choose to let them cover it, they are kept far enough away where they cannot hear anything (Tyson & Berman). 

The glaring issue here is whether or not this is censorship.  Shouldn’t the public have more say in how we want to treat our war heroes?  Policies on war photos and media coverage of wars have been controversial for many years.  An example from the Gulf War occurred when photographer David Turnley took a debatable photo of a soldier crying over his dead comrade.  The photos were published in Detroit, but people questioned whether such highly emotional photos should be shown to the public (Lester).  Are the deaths of war heroes a public interest?  Or are they a private matter in which only close friends and family should be witnessing?  President Obama recently ruled to overturn the Pentagon’s original ban and it is now up to the families to decide whether or not they want media coverage on Dover Air Force Base, just like the policy at Arlington.  The media continues to play a large role in today’s society, and the issue of censorship will keep being brought up, especially with the war in Iraq being a prevalent topic in today’s news.