Counting the War Dead, Daily

As a hobby, he counts the war dead

Michael White says he didn't anticipate casualities continuing at this pace, or the toll his Web site would take on him.

Every day, White, 51, updates a Web site he launched in 2003, icasualties.org, to keep count of the dead: American troops, coalition troops, contractors and Iraqi civilians. He eventually began documenting deaths in Afghanistan as well.

Snip

Nor could White have predicted the toll his task would take on him. As the numbers climbed, the dead came back to life on his screen. They weren't just statistics anymore...>>>>>

Honor Ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base

Policy changed 18 years after Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney first banned news media from covering honor ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base.

This comes from the 'George Washington University National Security Archive' and gives the Chronology of DOD Policy on Images of the Honors Provided to American Casualties.

Washington, DC, February 26, 2009 – Today Secretary of Defense Robert Gates lifted a blanket ban on news media coverage of the honor guard ceremonies that mark the return of military casualties from abroad. The new policy will permit media coverage of the ceremonies, during which caskets draped with American flags are brought home from war, after consultation with the families of the fallen. The Obama administration’s move restores press access to the honor ceremonies, which had been the practice from World War II through the Panama invasion of 1989. During the lead-up to the Gulf War in 1991, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney instituted the ban. The news media lost a first amendment challenge to the ban, but Professor Ralph Begleiter and the National Security Archive forced the release of hundreds of images taken by military photographers under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 2005.

All Information along with a Number of Photo's can be found here