Mike Moser "I Say" Published April 30, 2004

Why hide the sacrifices of our soldiers?

"It is good war is so terrible ­ we shouldn't grow too fond of it."

That quote is attributed to Robert E. Lee as he spoke of things he had seen while leading the Confederate army during the Civil War. While that quote is more than a century old, it applies as much or more today as he did back in the 1860s.

Trouble is, we are treated to war in our living rooms today as if it were a virtual video game. What we see of the war in Iraq, for the most part, is orchestrated by the powers that be in the military and in our government. Humvees racing at breakneck speed across the sands of Iraq confirmed what so many thought ­ that this war would be a cakewalk. Or so it seemed.

That is why I am quite angry with the military establishment's position on coverage of our war dead being returned to their families and loved ones. These brave, heroic souls who paid the ultimate sacrifice for you and me deserve better than to be delivered back to American soil in dark of night.

And we as Americans need to grasp the full reality of what price is being paid by our young soldiers and sailers and airmen on foreign land.

We hear a lot about how much the war is costing taxpayers, how much is and will be spent on rebuilding Iraq, but what about the loss of some of America's bravest?

I find the military's position of barring media coverage of the return of our lost men and women to be an affront to the memory of those lost souls. I can only guess as to why our government is so adamant that their return be shrouded in secrecy.

Last week this issue came to head when a newspaper in Seattle published photos of 17 flag-draped coffins in a military mortuary upon their return to the states.

I looked at the pictures. I studied them. And tears welled in my heart as I came to grasp the full impact of what this war means to so many families and loved ones. I wasn't filled with an anti-war sentiment as I viewed the photos.

Instead, the photos helped me understand the depth of sacrifices being made.

I was touched by one photo that showed a lone soldier saluting the coffins, each lined in perfect formation and covered by the American flag that has through the centuries seen too many of our bravest die so that the rest of us can live in the comforting arms of freedom.

Another photo showed a serviceman lovingly and caringly straightening a flag on one coffin. The respect from one soldier to an unknown soldier goes beyond what I can describe here.
One reason the military says it has chosen to keep the return of dead heroes secret is out of respect for the families of these soldiers. I appreciate that thought but find it hollow.

I realize that we all deal with our grief in our own indigenous way and I would never want anyone from the media to intrude on their private grief. But to think that these families would want the sacrifice of their soldiers to go unnoticed by this nation is something I cannot accept.

Maybe I am by myself, but I think this nation needs to grieve over each and every loss and there is nothing that brings this sacrifice home like the photos I viewed last week.

Whether this war is right and righteous I cannot judge myself. Time and history will ultimately decide whether we are right or wrong. What I do know is that we need to recognize the total cost of this war, not just the monetary price tag. Freedom has never been free. The price tag is red with the blood of brave Americans and we need to pause and pay respects each and every time one of our bravest makes their final trip to American shores.

We can't do that when these brave lost souls come home in dark of night.

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Mike Moser is the editor of the Crossville Chronicle. His column is published periodically on Fridays.