Mods,
Most of the paragraphs in this article are single sentences. If I have pasted too much, please edit.
Thanks!
Few Americans see caskets come home
Dover: A news media blackout instituted to ensure privacy for soldiers' families also protects policymakers as war casualties mount.
By Gus G. Sentementes
Sun National Staff
Originally published February 17, 2004
DOVER, Del. - If Lupita Rubio's husband died in Iraq, she'd want to see his remains returned to nearby Dover Air Force Base, marked with a ceremony seen by all.
"I would like for him to get the recognition he deserves," said Rubio, 38, while eating lunch at the Corner Eatery with her husband, a load- master on a C-5 military cargo plane.
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During the Vietnam War, images of caskets by the hundreds being unloaded at Dover had a powerful impact on the American public. The images evolved into a kind of political shorthand: Could the nation's resolve survive the "Dover test"?
The media blackout enables the military and policymakers in Washington to sidestep the question. A White House spokesman declined to comment on the policy.
snip
"What's really hard to wrap your head around is that there's some mother grieving right now," Evans said. "You need to pay respect to the fact that these aren't just five caskets coming home tonight. They're so much more real than that."
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"That's all you hear on TV, it's a count," said Hutchings, her voice quavering. "It's nothing but a count."
She said she received a "typed, generic letter" of condolence from President Bush.
"I'm sure everybody got the same one," Hutchings said. "I'm not impressed at all."
more:
http://tinyurl.com/2ngkf*************************
Who really benefits from this blackout policy? The families or the Bush* administration?