Coffin’s Arrival & Procession From War Issue

Officials from the Pentagon are reconsidering a ban that doesn’t let the media cover coffins arriving at the Dover Air Force Base( it has been in place since 1991). President Obama ordered the review on February 9th. The officials are looking at how Britain and Canada let the media cover their soldiers arrival ceremonies. It seems that Britain and Canada let the media have much more access to the return of soldiers than the U.S. does. Officials are also asking the families who have lost loved ones in the war their opinion. Many of the families do not want the ban lifted. They say that it protects the families privacy and some do not want their family members death publicized. Others say that the government is trying to make the deaths not look as bad as they really are by not letting the media cover them.
Quite a few years ago, in 2003 a poll was taken about this issue by The New York Times. 1,042 people took this pool and out of those 62% said that they should be allowed to see the coffins at Dover, 27% did not like the idea.
FUOTTM, which represents 60,000 families who have military family members are against lifting the ban. They have sent an e-mail to members to see if they are in favor of the ban or want to change it. About 600 replied, the results are as follows: 64% say the ban should not change, 21% said it should be changed, but the family should say if media can or can not cover it, and 12% said that it should be changed to let cameras in.
A mother who is does not want the lift of the ban to happen said that …“This was our precious son, not a political statement.” Another mother who is for lifting the ban said…”I feel people need to be made aware of the sacrifice my son and so many other brave men and women have made for their freedom.” Bunt many military families think that it needs to stay as closed ceremonies.
The Britain Defense Ministry takes pictures of the arrivals of the ceremonies at an air base in Lyneham and lets the media have those pictures to use. Reporters are allowed at points but they have to keep away from the families. Public gets to see the pictures in either form.
In Canada they have a road along Highway 401 called the Highway of Heroes that a procession travels down taking the soldier to a morgue. Many people go to the highway and pay their respects to the soldier. In Britain there is a similar event that takes place. The procession goes from Lyneham to a mortuary in Oxford. The procession goes through a town called Wootton Bassett. People stand in the streets of that town silent, in tribute as the procession passes. At Dover ,in the U.S., the processions do not happen in the eye of the public, the mortuary is on the airbase so there is really no way for a public procession. Some families allow news coverage of the funeral.
In 2006 Canada put a stop to the news showing the arrival ceremonies of the coffins, but a month later it was reversed and the families got to decide if they wanted it to be shown or not; the would family has to agree or it was not shown.
My Opinion:
I think that it should be entirely up to the family if the media can show it or not. I think that some families just should have their privacy, while others might need it to be covered. It might make some families feel better to know that people know their loved one’s story and experience the procession with them.


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