Images
of fallen soldiers indelible
Lee
Underwood
On
Friday, newspapers across the country, including
the Press-Telegram, released pictures of
flag-draped coffins containing dead American
soldiers arriving home from Iraq. The pictures
were obtained from a Web site opposing government
secrecy, www.thememoryhole.com.
Since
the first war in Iraq, the Pentagon has
actively pursued a ban on any such images
reaching news organizations or the public.
According to the Press Telegram Article
“Final Images Hit Home,” by
Bill Carter, the Bush Administration believes
that “the policy was put in place…to
protect the sensitivities of military families.”
Allow
me to recreate the picture on the front
page of California section of the Press-Telegram.
There
is the cavernous cargo hold of a large transport
plane, possibly a C-17, opened in the back.
The open hatch forms a ramp to offload cargo
onto the tarmac. On either side of the cargo
hold, large fluorescent bulbs illuminate
the twenty American flag draped coffins
arranged neatly in three rows down the center
of the grip-taped and stainless steel flooring.
In the foreground is the ranking officer.
He stands at attention with his hands behind
his back. He is looking down the lines of
coffins and at two honor guards standing
near the edge of the ramp. To the officer’s
right, a line of soldiers, some dressed
in the camouflage battle dress uniforms,
some in their desert gear and one in formal
dress blues, stand at attention. They are
preparing to salute the fallen soldiers
one last time.
I
don’t know what the soldiers standing
at attention are thinking. Not one of them
is charging the camera with intentions to
give the camera man a straight-arm. Not
one of the soldiers is covering their faces
with whatever jacket or sweater they happened
to be holding. No one is rushing to slip
into the back of a limo before an altercation
or a hurtful comment is directed towards
them. No one is moving.
The
scene is quiet. This is how soldiers respect
fallen soldiers. This is how soldiers respect
each other. The American flag is how those
laying in coffins respected the country
for which they died.
And
it would be nice if the war-making machines
in the Pentagon showed us and the soldiers
fighting in their war some respect by displaying
the reality of our country’s actions.
I
have learned more about honor and pride
and respect from this picture in the Press-Telegram
than the combined speeches of all of our
country’s leaders during my lifetime.
If
you think the Pentagon should stop the circulation
of these pictures, that’s OK, because
I can explain the scene to you from memory.
Lee
Underwood is an English education major
at Cal State Long Beach.
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