On Monday, Staff Sgt. Phillip Meyers, killed on duty in Afghanistan, returned home to the United States for the last time. And for the first time since 1991, journalists and photographers were allowed to cover his casket’s transfer from a military transport plane back to American soil. As a result of the Pentagon lifting the media ban from these ceremonies, Americans will be able to more fully appreciate the enormous sacrifices of its soldiers and the true cost of war.
The ultimate decision to let the media attend this sacred ceremony is correctly being left up to the families of the dead. Understandably, some families want to mourn the loss of a soldier privately, and they deserve that right. But it was never correct to assume that this was the case for all families of servicemen and women killed in action. There were will always be families like Staff Sgt. Meyers’ that are going to want the whole world to know that their loved one died proudly fighting for his or her country.
In keeping these ceremonies censured from the public for so long, the government had succeeded in keeping Americans a little more disconnected from those serving this country. It can be difficult enough for some to understand how terrible war is, especially given the United States’ all-volunteer army, which results in an unequal representation of each socio-economic class in the military.’
Hopefully, publishing powerful images of the American flag-draped casket will remind Americans that we are still in the middle of two deadly wars. The Iraq War may be winding down, but 45 American lives have already been lost this year. The situation in Afghanistan is even more dire, with 2008 as the deadliest year on record for U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
As important as the economic recession is to Americans, the intense focus of the media on economic issues has been overshadowing any coverage of the Iraq or Afghanistan Wars. Thanks to the end of this media ban and the willingness of families of the fallen to share their sacrifice, Americans will once again be exposed to the haunting images that remind us that freedom is not free.
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