Some parents had complained that they had been forbidden from doing that, but the Pentagon now says, formally, they can. But the administration wants no pictures taken at Dover -- by families or anyone else, and that has set off a sharp debate. Lucky Severson has our special report.
LUCKY SEVERSON: Victims of the embassy bombing in Kenya arriving at Andrews Air Force Base in 1998. A solemn President Clinton was there to pay his respects.
The coffin ceremony was televised nationally.
But on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March of last year, the Bush administration reinstalled a ban on pictures of the arrival of war coffins and expanded it to include all U.S. bases. No more pictures like these of arriving coffins. Some Americans say the ban allows the administration to hide the body count of the Iraq war. Others, like Kirk Morris of Gurnee, Illinois, say the blackout prevents a media circus at a very tragic and private moment for the families.KIRK MORRIS (Father of Geoffrey Morris): You have to be reverent towards those who have given their life, given their all for this country.
SEVERSON: His 19-year-old son Geoffrey, a Marine machine-gunner, the big brother of five siblings, gave his all in Iraq on Palm Sunday 2004.Mr. MORRIS: I have three Marines knock at my door and wake us up. We are still grieving heavy -- this family -- for the loss of a son and a brother.
SEVERSON: Officials say the photo ban is in deference to the privacy and the sensitivity of the families of the fallen. And, that President Bush believes we should honor and show respect for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. So when these pictures, almost 300, appeared on the Internet in April, the private Defense Department contractor who took them was fired and the debate about the policy rekindled.
Mr. MORRIS: I believe pictures like that have the potential to be used in a negative way. And that frightens me. I do believe that the news media has been irreverent in certain cases and certain pictures that have come out of the war.SEVERSON: Vicky Langley's son, Marine Private Jonathan Gifford, was killed in the invasion of Iraq.
VICKY LANGLEY (Mother of Jonathan Gifford): My only son. My worst nightmare. The hardest thing I ever had to go through.SEVERSON: She says when she saw the Internet pictures on TV at home in Decatur, Illinois, they gave her comfort.
Ms. LANGLEY: I was pleased people are seeing the respect they are treated with. It is nice to know that not only did they not die in vain, and all America knows it, but even their brothers treat him like they lost a brother.
Unidentified Teacher: On the other hand you might argue...
SEVERSON: Sam Hoff is a history professor at Delaware State University in Dover, home of the military's largest mortuary.
And his class is debating the merits of televising casket ceremonies.
Unidentified Student: My brother is in the Air Force. God forbid something should happen to him. I mean, I wouldn't mind showing his picture and saying his name and that he died doing his job, but then showing the casket, I think that's ridiculous.
Unidentified Student: I think it's twofold. Yes it's personal, but also the public should also know how many of these young men and women are being killed over there.
SEVERSON: That's the reasoning often used by opponents of the picture prohibition, that the administration doesn't want to publicize the cost of the Iraq war in American lives.Dr. SAM HOFF (History Professor, Delaware State University): There is one thing that doesn't lie. The caskets don't lie.
Dr. HOFF: His very simple point was, before you commit American troops to foreign conflicts, you have to understand the ramifications of what occurs; you know, people die. And if the American people are not prepared for seeing those caskets in that manner, then they better think twice about supporting a conflict abroad.
The ban on pictures here at Dover was imposed by the first President Bush. It was after the networks carried a split screen showing the president laughing at a press conference. The other screen showed the grim pictures of the caskets of U.S. soldiers killed in the invasion of Panama, arriving at Dover. The split screen left an unfair impression and an angry president.
Ms. LANGLEY: I don't think they want people to know how many are dying, but people have the right to know.
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