Last month’s respectful 17-minute ceremony honoring a fallen 30-year-old Air Force sergeant’s final return to his native land took on added significance because it marked the first time in 18 years that the press was allowed to be present — and to photograph — the arrival of a flag-draped military coffin at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
No anti-war protesters were present. Even picketers from that tiny Baptist church in Topeka, Kan., who during the early months of the war offended decent folks everywhere by showing up at the funerals of fallen soldiers to shout insults and spread their particular brand of hate, missed this event. And those few members of the press who were present did not invade the private lives of grieving family members or ask inappropriate questions.
In fact, the media was there only because the soldier’s family said they could be. In deciding to lift the ban on photographs of flag-draped coffins arriving on American soil, President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates avoided further controversy by requiring the family’s permission for the press to photograph the return of a loved one. Some families say no, preferring to grieve in private; others say yes, wanting the soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice for his or her country to be publicly recognized. How the return home of a fallen soldier is recognized should have always been a matter for the family — not the government — to decide.
The ceremony marking the return home of the staff sergeant killed in Afghanistan was done with military precision. Except to the command “Present arms!” it was conducted in complete silence.
The controversial ban on taking or distributing photos of the coffins was imposed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 at the outset of the first Gulf War. A decade later, President George W. Bush reinforced the prohibition as he launched the invasion of Iraq. The lifting of the ban adds significance to this 141st Memorial Day.
Thousands upon thousands of Americans will pause today to honor the soldiers who have died not only in Afghanistan and Iraq but in Vietnam, in Korea, in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific during World War II and in all other wars in our nation’s history. We remain free today because of their sacrifice.
But Memorial Day has become more than just a day to remember fallen soldiers. It is a time to remember all of our loved ones who are no longer with us. More Americans will visit cemeteries this weekend than at any other time of the year.
Some will take in the parade in Ironton, and some will go to the pool or lake on what is the unofficial start of the summer vacation season. Many will enjoy picnics with their families and friends.
However we choose to observe this holiday we should take time to remember with fondness those who are no longer with us. They helped us become what we are and a part of them still lives thorough our lives.
Editorials
Memorial Day — 05/25/09
The return of fallen soldier is done with respect and dignity
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Try again
It is time for Kentucky Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, to cease playing political games and redraw district lines that are compact and are based far more on population changes during the first decade of this century than on partisan politics.
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'Asset poor'
More than one in four Kentucky households are “asset poor,” meaning that they are living from paycheck to paycheck with little or no financial cushion to fall back on should they suddenly lose their jobs or have another emergency resulting in a temporary loss of or delcine in income.
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Safer mines
The head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says coal operators throughout the country are improving their operations and, as a result, mines are becoming safer. However, MSHA chief Joe Main said too many coal operators still “don’t get it” and are continuing to cut costs by ignoring safety. That’s why MSHA plans to continue targeting mines with a history of repeated violations for additional inspections.
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Not far enough
For the past three sessions of the Kentucky General Assembly, bills that would raise the minimum dropout age from 16 to 18 have been approved by the Kentucky House of Representatives by wide bipartisan margins only to die in the Senate without even a vote.
Now the Senate Education Committee has unanimously approved a dropout bill hailed as an alternative to the House bill, but it does not go nearly far enough. It is a halfway measure that would have only a limited effect on preventing teenagers from quitting high school before graduation and virtually assuring themselves of lives on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.
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Not their job
The local government committee of the Kentucky House of Representatives has wisely killed a bill — dubbed “Cooper’s Law” — that would have allowed the family of the Lexington toddler with cerebral palsy to have a playhouse on their property despite a deed restriction that apparently prohibits such structures.
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Keeping FADE
Despite an increase in cost to the department, Carter County Sheriff Casey Brammell told the Carter County Fiscal Court that his department will continue to be active in the FIVCO Area Development Drug Enforcement (FADE) Task Force — at least for now.
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Needed changes
The soaring enrollment that Kentucky’s community and technical colleges have experienced in recent years could come to a sudden end — or at least be slowed — as about 5,500 students in the statewide system that includes Ashalnd Community and Technical College are expected to lose their financial aid under new rules being implemented by the federal government.
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Released early
While it is disappointing that 75 of the 952 prisoners granted early release in January have violated the terms of their releases, the good news is that none of the former inmates have been charged with new felonies. That’s an early, but positive, indication that the nonviolent felons released before their sentences were up have been carefully selected and are among those least likely to return to a life of crime.
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Obese children
Almost a decade after former Gov. Ernie Fletcher called childhood obesity an “epidemic” in Kentucky, a majority of Kentucky adults still think that there are too many overweight children in the state and they place the bulk of the blame squarely on the shoulders of their parents.
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Retiring
Dr. Gregory Adkins has served as president of Ashland Community and Technical College during a period of rapid growth and substantial changes. Adkins announced last week that he will retire June 30 after almost 11 years as the head of the school that now is located not only just off 13th Street in Ashland but also is in EastPark more than 20 miles from the Ashland campus.
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Try again
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