Lifting the Ban

There has been much talk since January when our new Presidents mentioned lifting the ban on photographs taken at Dover Air Force Base. If you don't know, Dover is the largest military mortuary used by the Department of Defense. It is used to process the remains of service members both during wars and peacetime. Since 1991, the ceremony welcoming these heroes home has been private. No cameras were allowed. Last night, this changed. Staff Sgt. Phillip Meyers was the first service member welcomed home publicly in 18 years. He was killed on Saturday in Afghanistan from an IED.

Personally, I don't know what took so long. Allowing cameras doesn't change how the Old Guard at Dover performs their task. If anyone has seen the movie "Taking Chance" produced by HBO (I highly recommend it, but have a box of tissues!), then you should know that the care and precision taken by the people who work at the mortuary are amazing. With or without the public, these heroes are treated with the highest respect.

Why shouldn't this ceremony be made public? I think it has been so long since we went to war, that there are many who fail to realize that thousands of family are affected by it. Unless you have someone who is serving, it seems like it's just another news story like the economy, or the local weather. Unfortunately, I think it takes a very personal picture like these to bring them to reality.

If all of our soldiers have a large public ceremony when the soldiers depart, and when they return home unharmed, why don't those who paid the ultimate price deserve the same?