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Public Comments - Media

Honoring the fallen
Polk County Itemizer-Observer
May 12, 2004

Craig Coleman
Polk County Itemizer-Observer

MONMOUTH -- As a training officer with the Oregon Air National Guard, Paul Evans has a crucial responsibility preparing the soldiers of the 116th Air Control Squadron at Camp Rilea in Warrenton -- and sister units across the country -- for the possibility of deployment to Iraq.

"My job is to make sure my folks are as prepared as possible," said the former Monmouth mayor during a recent visit home. "And that we don't deploy people who don't have an idea why they're there."

That obligation to his soldiers extends even into their deaths, making certain the men and women killed in the line of duty are properly recognized.

"When it comes to the sacrifice of those that gave their lives, it is not too much to ask for the country to have to pause, tip their hat and say 'Thank You,'" he said.

Honoring fallen soldiers is an issue Evans has been especially passionate about since being called back to active duty after Sept. 11 -- and even more since the start of the war in Iraq.

Last spring, the Pentagon began enforcing a policy that bans arrival ceremonies for, and photographs and television footage of, the coffins carrying deceased military personnel at Dover Air Force base in Delaware.

The installation receives most of the bodies of soldiers killed in action.

U.S. officials cite the logistics of coordinating gatherings as well as respecting the privacy of family members as some of the reasons for the restriction. Critics call it a way for the Bush administration to hide the human cost of the war.

Evans says it's a rule that he's become increasingly disillusioned with, and that the arrival ceremonies and allowing some coverage of the event isn't about invading people's privacy.

"Rather, it's an opportunity in a democratic society for people to recognize that there is a sacrifice and a butcher's bill for the freedoms and liberties that we have in this country," he said.

The no-media, no-ceremony policy has became an increasing source of controversy and national debate. On April 18, The Seattle Times published photographs of flag-draped coffins in Kuwait being loaded onto a transport plane bound for Dover.

The cargo worker who shot the photos was subsequently fired by her employer, a military contractor, for violating the government regulation.

On April 29, "Nightline" aired photos and the names of soldiers killed in combat in Iraq.

The Sinclair Broadcast Group, which reaches 24 percent of the households in the United States, refused to run the program on its eight ABC affiliate stations, calling it "contrary to the public interest."

With friends that have died in Iraq, and others currently stationed there or preparing for deployment, Evans takes the policy very seriously.

He's discussed the matter with families of fallen soldiers, and said most agreed that there should be some type of public acknowledgment.

He believes allowing a small pool of four to five reporters to film the transport process and an arrival ceremony with families present, then showing the footage on C-Span or another cable news channels would make for a proper tribute.

"I don't think it's appropriate for a huge, emotional-drawn out ceremony with a bunch of public speakers coming in," he said.
"But I think a dignified return ceremony is more than warranted.

"Quite frankly, I think anything less is un-American."

As a Guardsman, Evans said his criticism for the policy is rooted primarily in the desire to do what's most respectful for his fellow soldiers.

As a citizen, however, he feels that there is a cost to the war that the public deserves to know about.

"This administration appears to want to ignore that, push off those deaths as if they don't matter and damn it, they do," he said. "Again, I don't want this to be the focal point of an antiwar debate, because I think we should be there.

"But regardless of your views on the war, put those feelings off the table. What's on the table is are we honoring the sacrifice?

"I don't think we are."