Head Strong: Stopover in Dover: Respecting fallen heroes
2.15.09
Kevin Bacon has given me a new perspective on whether the media should be allowed to photograph the arrival of flag-draped coffins at Dover Air Force Base.
The controversy is back in play after it was raised Monday in President Obama's first prime-time news conference. CNN's Ed Henry asked whether the president planned to overturn the long-standing rule barring photographs of soldiers' coffins at their point of domestic arrival in Delaware.
Henry was referring to a policy implemented by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and maintained by Bill Clinton, though both had allowed for exceptions. George W. Bush had no exceptions; cameras were verboten.
Obama said that his administration was reviewing the policy and that he'd reserve judgment until that process was complete. The following day, Defense Secretary Robert Gates - a Bush 43 holdover - said he was conducting his own review and indicated that he'd be open to changing the policy: "If the needs of the families can be met and the privacy concerns can be addressed, the more honor we can accord these fallen heroes, the better."
Looking for the balance between openness and protecting each family's privacy, I spoke to John Ellsworth, president of an organization called Military Families United. He's also the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Ellsworth, who was killed in Iraq in 2004.
Ellsworth explained that in most instances, the bodies of our fallen heroes are prepared by a mortuary in Kuwait or Germany and then met by an honor guard in Dover. There, the soldiers are placed under the watch of the officers who will escort them to their final resting place.
"From that point on, that Marine or soldier or airman or Navy seaman will not be alone. They are escorted by one of their own," Ellsworth told me.
He also said the decision to allow photographers to record the transfers in Dover shouldn't be a political issue to rally those supportive of the government's policies or opposed to them. The policy, he said, should be dictated by each family that is dealt the blow of losing a loved one to war.
"My personal view is we don't necessarily think that it should be banned," Ellsworth said. "We believe it should be left up to the individual families to either allow or deny access to the photographers. I think this policy should be modified to give a little latitude to the families."
U.S. Rep. Mike Castle (R., Del.) shares that feeling:
"My view on that has always been that the families should be protected," he told me. "And I have always been for open media in whatever the circumstance may be in normal situations. But if for whatever reason the families want privacy, my sense is that that should be respected first and foremost."
Each makes sense. But it is Philadelphia-born actor Kevin Bacon who offers yet another dimension to the debate through his performance in the HBO movie Taking Chance, which will premiere on Saturday. Bacon plays Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, who in 2004 accompanied the body of fallen Marine Cpl. Chance Phelps, who was killed in Anbar Province, Iraq, to Dubois, Wyo.
The movie, which Strobl cowrote based on entries he made in a personal journal, fills the void left by the current policy. It's instructive about the painstakingly dignified way in which our military cares for the remains of those who make the supreme sacrifice - much like the events at Dover - almost entirely out of public view.
Americans would benefit from seeing this process. The simplicity and solemnity with which these heroes are offered their final salute is poignant beyond words.
Strobl and Bacon appeared together on Hardball With Chris Matthews last week, and something each of them said struck me. Strobl told Matthews he was moved to write about his escort duty "because I wanted to remember how ordinary Americans all across the country reacted to my trip with Chance."
The man who portrays him encountered a similar bond during filming: "We'd go and we'd shoot the scene, and there'd be extras and actors, and they were so moved by just watching the shooting of the scene. They were so touched by what we were doing even though it was all pretend. And they'd come up to me and say, 'Thank you so much for making the movie.' And I was kind of embarrassed because I felt like I'm just actor-boy."
We need to be deferential to the families of those whose loved ones died protecting our country. We just shouldn't have to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon to see them honored.
Michael Smerconish's column appears Thursdays in the Daily News and Sundays in Currents. He can be heard from 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays on "The Big Talker," WPHT-AM (1210). Contact him via www.mastalk.com.