Military.com poll favors photo ban

A recent poll conducted by Military.com showed that 70 percent of its participants wanted to continue banning the media from photographing flag-draped caskets arriving home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The findings closely support the stance taken by American Legion National Commander David K. Rehbein on protecting the privacy of the fallen heroes and their families.

"From our point of view, there is nothing to discuss," Rehbein said, reacting to reports that the White House and Department of Defense are considering a change in policy. "Photographing the caskets containing the remains of men and women who have made the supreme sacrifice on behalf of our country and its freedoms is little short of sacrilege. The practice would be intrusive and hurtful to the warriors' families. The return of fallen heroes is also a sacred moment for our armed forces, and should be respected.

"In our opinion, our fallen warriors deserve to be honored without compromise and not made the object of a media event or be made vulnerable to exploitation for propagandistic purposes," said Commander Rehbein. "Unless a warrior's family expressly wishes media coverage of the return of their son or daughter in this fashion, and respectful accommodations can be made, we can see no good reason to allow it."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered a review of the controversial policy after President Barack Obama said during a February 9 news conference that the White House is "in the process of reviewing those policies."

Reaction to a written statement by Rehbein on Feb 17 supporting the ban has been overwhelmingly positive by members of The American Legion. Results of the Miitary.com poll can be found here

http://www.military.com/news/article/president-reviewing-coffin-photos-b...