Pentagon to Allow Some Media Coverage of Flag Draped Coffins

According to a 'Breaking' banner report, at the top of the MSNBC News site this is just out from the AP!!

I've done a quick search, and boy do I not like the AP site, looking for anything else on this but can't find a thing. Except a few of the recent articles and discussions.

I'll look around for some more information and post it.

A link came up three minutes, now slightly more, ago:

Pentagon to allow photos of returning war victims' caskets

Defense and congressional officials say news organizations will be allowed to photograph the homecomings of America’s war dead under a new Pentagon policy.

According to this brief announcement it says that Gates will be announcing the policy change later today, 2.26.09!!

The Video Report Of From MSNBC

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As part of one reply to a post I placed a few days ago:

""The private part probably is best handled at the memorial service or funeral if the family wishes, not at the arrival at Dover.""

This is always how it should be. We, myself 'Nam '70-'71, serve the Country and Constitution, a solemn viewing, In Honor, should be the Nations right when the Fallen Arrive at Dover, the rest is the Family and Community.
We have Arrival Ceremonies for those groups returning, and we readily show, even National, the Heartwarming Surprise returns to children's classrooms etc..

The Fallen Deserve To Be Treated In The Same Respect!!

Memorials

Today, as many know or should know, is Veterans Day, or actually many who observe call it what it was intended to be called, Armistice Day.


On this day in a U.S. occupation of anothers country, that seems so long ago but isn't, and which I served '70-'71, the following happened:


November 11, 1972

The U.S. Army turned over its massive military base at Long Binh to the South Vietnamese army, symbolizing the end of direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. The last American forces, however, did not leave until 1975.

**********

April 29 - Corporal Charles McMahon, Jr., and Lance Corporal Darwin Judge, USMC, are the last US military personnel killed in Vietnam. They are struck during a rocket attack at the US Embassy in Saigon, during the final North Vietnamese attack on the government.

April 30 - At 7:53 a.m., 11 US Marines (the last of 865 Marines assigned to guard the US Embassy) carrying the American flag, are airlifted from the US Embassy rooftop helipad. Three hours later the Vietnam war finally ends when North Vietnamese tanks break into the Presidential Palace.

There will be much written and said about Armistice Day, than again there will probably be even more not said nor written by many who really don't observe, even as to their family members long gone, wether killed in conflicts or served in but passed away years later.


The purpose of this is to point to another observance, actually two, one a dedication 15 year anniversary of one memorial, The Vietnam Women’s Memorial. Another a dedication anniversary two days later some 27 years past of 'The Wall', the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, both in Washington DC, this countries capital.


On November 13, 1982 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. Carved into black granite are the 58,260 names of those Americans who died in Vietnam. The designer, Maya Ying Lin of Athens, Ohio, a 21-year-old architecture student at Yale University, was the winner of the competition that drew 1,421 design entries: ". . . this memorial is for those who have died, and for us to remember them." Eventually, the Memorial included three elements, the Wall of names, the Three Servicemen Statue and Flagpole, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial.{ From: This Week In Peace History as will be some of the following links. }


Read more about the memorial:

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, USA, "The Wall" now has carved into it the names of the 58,260 American military personnel (eight were women) who were direct casualties of the war, including about 1300 who are still considered Missing In Action (MIA).

When The Wall was built, there were 57,159 names. A few names have been added each year: those where lost records of wartime death were found later or those names of men who died after the war from physical injuries as a result of the war. Each of the branches of the Department of Defense made and continues to make the determinations of eligibility.

The Women’s Memorial

Each Memorial Day and Veterans Day, the stories of the women cast in bronze come to life as veterans and other American patriots share their experiences “in their own voices.”

Through verse, prose and music, a tapestry of stories is woven by women who served in support of the Armed Forces: nurses, administrators, air traffic controllers, journalists, women who entertained troops as members of the USO and Red Cross, women who served in a variety of occupations around the world. Men who knew their sisters in war and have partnered with them to ensure healing and peace also share their stories in a compelling and educational way.

15th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Memorial, Veterans Day Nov 8-11, 2008, Various locations, Washington DC VWMF

Stunning photo gallery of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial including interactive panoramic images


And the young architect Maya Lin, who won the call for the design that is one of the most moving, emotionally, memorials ever constructed.


Charlie Rose interview with Maya Lin and filmmaker Freida Lee Mock, who made the Academy-Award-winning documentary, "Maya Lin - A Strong Clear Vision"


Charlie Rose 12/26/1995: Maya Lin & Freida Lee Mock



And what War and Occupation can do to many who survive:


MoJo: The Pentagon's PTSD Denial


How killing scars soldiers—and their loved ones.

In the spring of 2002, an Army major named Peter Kilner submitted an unusual essay to Military Review, a journal published by the Combined Arms Center in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Kilner argued that combat leaders have an obligation to justify the killing their soldiers do. "Soldiers who kill reflexively in combat will likely one day reconsider their actions reflectively," he wrote. "If they are unable to justify to themselves that they killed another human being, they will likely, and understandably, suffer enormous guilt" that could balloon into post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd). Top brass who ignored the issue, he concluded, were "treating their soldiers as commodities, not as persons."

After Two Iraq War Deployments


Army Major General Steps Forward, Breaks Culture of Silence on Mental Health

Blackledge got psychiatric counseling to deal with wartime trauma, and now he is defying the military's culture of silence on the subject of mental health problems and treatment.

"It's part of our profession ... nobody wants to admit that they've got a weakness in this area," Blackledge said of mental health problems among troops returning from America's two wars.

Facing The Wall: A Mission

Witness This Engaging Account About One Woman's Struggling in Taking Care of Her Vietnam War Veteran Husband Suffering From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

FACING THE WALL: A MISSION symbolizes the everlasting pains of war as well as our search for peace. It pays special attention to PTSD and its effects on the whole family.

Growing Problem For Veterans: Domestic Violence

"The increasing number of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) raises the risk of domestic violence and its consequences on families and children in communities across the United States," says Monica Matthieu, Ph.D., an expert on veteran mental health and an assistant professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis.

David Connolly in "Voices in Wartime"

Boston poet and Vietnam veteran, David Connolly, reads his poetry and talks about the death of friends, combat trauma, nightmares and memories, and how the experience of war changes people forever.

Military, VA Confront Rising Suicide Rates Among Troops

November 10, 2008
MP3: The Army says that suicides among active duty personnel have doubled in recent years, and multiple deployments might contribute to that increase. NewsHour correspondent Betty Ann Bowser explores how the Army and Department of Veterans Affairs are responding to the rising suicide rate.

You Can Listen To Report in mp3 with the link.

Extended Interviews {Video} : Army psychiatrist Col. Elspeth Ritchie, veterans advocate Paul Sullivan and VA Secretary James Peake. {after each interview hit the 'next' arrow to continue to next interview}{The discussion with Paul Sullivan is a Must Watch as he lays out the Legacy that will Be Remembered as to the Administration and the Appointee's of}

Forum: Ask questions of Ritchie, Sullivan and VA representatives. {Check back on Friday, Nov. 14 for answers to your questions.}

The Army says that suicides among its active duty personnel have doubled in recent years, and multiple deployments may be contributing to the increase. A veterans' advocate, an Army psychiatrist and representatives of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs take your questions.

And from 'Nam brother BOHICA's Dialy KOS Post last year this snippet:

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, it became "All quiet on the western front." An armistice signed at six o’clock that morning took effect and brought a cease-fire to the "War to end all wars." Since that fateful hour, most nations, which fought in that conflict, observe Armistice Day. The United States in 1938 made it official with a proclamation that states in part: "...it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and...inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples."

And what the day really is:

Armistice Day:

The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:
...Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations...

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday - - a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day."

'World Peace', wonderful concept that has been totally destroyed as the Hatreds Level have been greatly increased these last 8yrs. with the destruction and occupations under a banner of 'Terrorism' as we waged it against those we condemned for doing same!


What will the Memorial for the 'War on Terrorism', conflicts and occupations being fought under that misnomer in Afghanistan and Iraq, look like and give back to those who fought in these theaters, and their families, and their memories, memories of multiple tours in one or both.


To the rest it will be just another memorial.

Final Salute

Remember this photo? I'm sure you've seen it a dozen times as it's made it's way around the web. Her name is Katherine Cathey and she's a mother, a mother of a son who never met his father Marine 2nd. Lt. Jim Cathey. Katherine mentions this photo in a video, of which I'll give you the link to in a moment, one you should view.

Recently NPR's Fresh Air aired an interview with journalist Jim Sheeler who won a Pulitzer Prize for his series about Marine Colonel Steve Beck and the families of the fallen soldiers. Katherine Cathey was one of those families that Col. Beck helped. The interview was called A 'Final Salute' to Fallen Marines and you can read abit at that link, as well as listen to, or you can click here to bring up the NPR player to listen in, it's abit over 31min. long and well worth the listen.

Jim Sheeler followed Beck for a year, writing about the experience in a Pulitzer Prize-winning Rocky Mountain News series Final Salute. Sheeler's new book, Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives, is a continuation of the series.

There's an excerpt of his book at the Fresh Air interview link. This aired on the 30th of last month, I passed it on to a few folks but didn't use it in a posting untill I caught a video, over at the News Week magazine website a few days ago.

The video is one you should view, it's short but very moving, the link is in the quote below:

Maj. Steve Beck was charged with notifying families that their loved ones wouldn't be coming home from Iraq. How one widow received the news.

Katherine Cathey is featured in Sheelers book, in the Video she makes this statement: "That's reality, there should be over 4,000 pictures like that that everybody has to look at!".

Once again the the link to the News Week Video

Katherines statement, in the video, is the reality that this country should be living as those who die in it's service are brought home, but these pictures are kept well hidden from an apathedic society that's easily controlled and brought to the fear level, and we seem to like it that way.

We should be viewing the over 4000 pictures of the flag draped coffins, with family members included, 4,075 confirmed as of today from Iraq, and the 499 killed in Afganistan to date.

But what about the hundreds, possibly thousands, of potential deaths that are directly related to these conflicts, suicides, related to physical and mental injuries from these theaters of occupations, unknown causes........................etc., they to, though not counted, should be embraced and remembered in our countries concious!

The physical and mental injuries don't just stop happening when those we send into Wars of Choice return, they continue taking there toll for the years left, not only for those military personal but also their families and those who live in the countries invaded who suffer the most!!

There was also a recent report at Stars and Stripes, Four names added to Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The names of four U.S. servicemembers who died years after they were wounded during the Vietnam War are being added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial this week.

Stoneworker James Lee holds the paper as Priscilla Mason makes a rubbing of her husband's newly-engraved name on the Wall. Lance Cpl. Raymond C. Mason, wounded in Vietnam in 1968, died of causes related to his wounds in 2006.
See more photos here

"I can't even put it into words," Priscilla Mason, from Riverside, R.I., said after watching Lee at work. "My first reaction was, he's finally home.
"They were able to put him chronologically where he would have been if he had died Feb. 28, 1968, when he was shot. My first thought was, I wonder how many of those names (on panel 41E) did he know.
"I'm sure he feels he's home, too."
Raymond Mason, confined to a wheelchair since he was wounded, died May 28, 2006.

There is a Video at the end of the report as 'Nam Brother Raymond Masons wife Priscilla speaks about him and his and her comfort in bringing him home to 'The Wall'!

And what about those who live in the countries invaded and occupied, we think even less of them than we do our own, some even consider All of them our Enemies, and in todays age some already are or will quickly turn into seeking the retaliation for what we've done.

Among Iraq’s Children, Orphans Suffer Most

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The number of Iraqi orphans increased in the last few years due to the war. According to official Iraqi government statistics released in December 2007, the number of Iraqi orphans had reached at least five million over the last three years. Many due to the Sunni-Shia conflict. There are several social organizations caring for a small number of these Iraqi orphans, such as Child Aid International. There are approximately 26 orphanages that Alive in Baghdad has been able to locate around Iraq. Eight orphanages are in Baghdad and another 18 are distributed all over Iraq and generally they accept kids between the age of 6 and 18 years old.

One of the biggest scandals that happened in the history of the Iraq conflict is the one that happened in Al-Hanan orphanage. There were many pictures distributed online and by television of Iraqi orphans lying on the floor naked, with no food for weeks, sick and nearly dying. After this the Iraqi government began to show more attention for the orphans, there were many stories being reported regarding Al-Hanan Orphanage, like sexual abuses and bad treatment of the kids living there.

Al-A’ssal House is one of the rare orphanages that still take care of the young children who have a dead father or who are orphans due to losing both parents. The house has a special method and it’s opposed to the toy guns due to Iraq’s situation and the reason behind it, which is the constant conflict that Iraq is undergoing. Another organization was also created by this house, and it’s called the Sazan organization. This organization is taking in orphans for free, with no payment at all. Also this house employs Iraq widows in order to help the Iraqi women support themselves during the war. Despite all their hard work, this orphanage has not yet received any funding from the Iraqi government or sponsorship by a bigger humanitarian aid organization while other orphanages such as Al-Hanan orphanage received funds from the Iraqi government without oversight.

Ask yourself, as I did,

this orphanage has not yet received any funding from the Iraqi government or sponsorship by a bigger humanitarian aid organization

with all the monies being spent, and the War Profitteers reaping, especially on our Private Merc Army and the rest of the No-Bid Contracts, Why The U.S. Is Not Funding This and Other Orphanages along with So Much More!

There's much more to feelings than title says, 'Final Salute'!

Not only for our Fallen but also for the Innocents who have lost so much and it will continue!!

And thinking of Burma as well!

Happy Mothers Day?