Coming Home

NPR: WBUR's Here and Now

The bodies of five British service men are driven though Wootton Bassett, England, Friday, July, 10, 2009. (AP)

How should we honor the military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan? In the US, their bodies are returned to Dover Air Force Base. President Obama has lifted the ban on media coverage, if the families of the fallen approve. Those ceremonies are quiet and often attended by just a few people. But in Britain, thousands of people are turning out in the village of Wootton Bassett to greet the dead soldiers. We speak to USA Today reporter Rick Hampson, who recently wrote about the return of two Americans – Army privates Aaron Fairburn and Justin Casillas. We also speak to Allison Bucknell, a member of the local town council in Wootton Bassett, England.

You can listen in to this Discussion: Link brings up the player

Coming Home with Honor! Ending 18yr Ban, 4.05.09

First Photos of Fallen Soldier Ends 18-Year Ban
Air Force Allows Media to Cover Arrival of Airman Killed in Afghanistan

For the first time since the Obama administration reversed an 18-year-old ban on news coverage of returning fallen soldiers, the military allowed media to cover the arrival tonight of an airman killed in Afghanistan.

The arrival of remains of Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Myers, a 30-year-old supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, at Dover Air Force Base at 11 p.m. today marked the first time that the transfer of any of the nearly 5,000 U.S. troops who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan was open to the media. >>>>>More