Yesterday, the media covered the return of the casket bearing Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers who was killed in action in Afghanistan. This marks a change in the policy banning such coverage. It's allowed only if the families of the fallen allow it:
The new Pentagon policy gives families a choice of whether to admit the press to ceremonies at Dover, home to the nation's largest military mortuary and the entry point to the U.S. for service personnel killed overseas.Let's hope there aren't a lot of these ceremonies to cover in the future.
Critics of the previous policy had said the government was trying to hide the human cost of war.
President Barack Obama had asked for a review of the ban, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that the blanket restriction made him uncomfortable. The administration will let families decide whether to allow photographs.
For example, if several caskets arrive on the same flight, news coverage will be allowed only for those whose families have given permission.
