By Charles E. Roop
Another photojournalism-related bill will soon be sent to capital hill according to the NPPA. For the last few years, The White House and The Pentagon have been trying to avoid what happened in Vietnam and keep photos of flag-draped caskets from reaching the press…
Powerful photographs from the Vietnam War, including those from Dover [Air Force Base in Deleware], helped shift public opinion about the conflict and more and more Americans became opposed to the country’s efforts in Southeast Asia.
In America’s ensuing wars the military wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again and tried different methods of corralling photojournalism, including censorship in the first Gulf War and embedding photographers with troops to keep them under tight control.
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At home the clamp down has included trying to control coverage of the return of soldiers killed in war. Since 1991 and the Persian Gulf War the media have been banned from covering the arrival of flag-draped coffins at Dover. The air base is the military’s largest mortuary facility, where the bodies of soldiers killed in overseas action are prepared for burial before they are sent to famalies and hometown cemeteries across the United States.
Citizens and journalists have been crying foul over this mess from the DOD and the Redneck Administration.
Polticians are also crying foul. U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones, a North Carolina Republican, has taken a step forward by introducing the Fallen Hero Commemoration Act (HR 6662). The bill will allow “credentialed media members to photograph Dover’s military ceremonies as bodies of soldiers killed on active duty return home, as well as covering the flag-draped coffins arriving at any military installation.”
“Throughout the history of our Nation, members of the United States Armed Forces have selflessly given their lives to secure and protect the freedoms Americans enjoy today,” Congressman Jones said. “Today, our military is serving our nation in Iraq, Afghanistan and many other parts of the world. Without a loved one serving in the military, it is sometimes possible for Americans to overlook the sacrifices that have been made – and continue to be made – by members of the Armed Forces on behalf of our Nation.
“By once again permitting access to accredited members of the media at military commemoration ceremonies, memorial services conducted by the Armed Forces, and the arrival of the remains of fallen service members at U.S. military installations, this legislation would honor those who have given their lives in defense of our Nation,” Jones said.
This bill, which is supported by the NPPA, is the first step in the right direction. The powers-to-be right now are cesnoring the press (which I beleive is constitutionally illegal) for the sake of making the public beleive that any war does not have a human cost. The current policy is also a discrace to the soldiers who risk their lives for our country. Also, as NPPA general legal counsel wrote to Congressman Jones, “to deny media coverage of the return of our fallen heroes is a brazen attempt by the military to deny history.”
I hope this bill gets more support and will be passed.
