Media access to funerals allegedly discouraged

Media access to funerals allegedly discouraged

Ex-employee says Arlington official contacted families about media allowance
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Aug 5, 2008 9:58:07 EDT

The former spokeswoman for Arlington National Cemetery says the facility’s No. 2 official has been calling military families to try to talk them out of media coverage of their loved ones’ funerals, despite his denials that he does so.

Gina Gray, who was fired June 27 after 2½ months on the job, said Deputy Director Thurman Higginbotham told her in early May that he had been making such calls for about a year — while denying he did so at least three times, including once in an April 30 meeting with Pentagon reporters to discuss the cemetery’s media policy.

Gray, an advocate for a more welcoming policy for the media at the iconic cemetery, said Higginbotham also frequently asserted that many families have told him they don’t want media coverage. But after reviewing all Arlington paperwork for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001 and buried at the cemetery, Gray found that 63 percent of the families agreed to media coverage, wishes relayed through their casualty assistance officers to Arlington officials.
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DOD:Department of Dishonor?

Do you think she would have wanted the funeral covered? Or would she have made the choice to have it private?

Has the DOD become the Department of Dishonor? Considering that when a nation goes to war, it's usually taken for granted the ultimate sacrifice will be made by some. What kind of sacrifice is it when the DOD will allow no pictures of the coffins coming back or the military funerals? What kind is it when the families want the media coverage? There have been stories of families wanting the media to be present when the bodies of their loved one are returned to these lands, but have been prevented from doing it. Military funerals are often times when the families are comforted by the press providing reporting on the life that was sacrificed serving the nation. Some of the most powerful images of military funerals have been included in history books. Each time a picture is taken of a coffin draped with a flag, it is a symbol of honor. Why does the DOD treat it so disrespectfully? It is not a thing of shame. Why do they dishonor the wishes of the families?

Military fires public affairs official for refusing to limit press at funerals
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Friday July 11, 2008


The Department of Defense has attempted for years to manipulate popular opinion towards the war in Iraq by limiting press coverage of military funerals.

When Gina Gray, a media specialist with a long history of working with the military, became public affairs director at Arlington National Cemetery earlier this year, she found that officials there had started hampering media coverage even in cases where the families gave permission. When she tried to uphold the existing regulations, she was harassed by her supervisor, demoted, and then fired.

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Canadians can see their fallen coming back, but we can't see our own.


What's next? No pictures like this showing the emotion they have for each other?


This nation has finally developed a devotion to those who serve. Across the nation people are stepping up to rebuild homes for veterans wounded, adapting them for handicap veterans so they can have an easier life. They are stepping up to offer support and comfort for the families. One thing everyone seems able to agree on is that no matter what they think about the occupation of Iraq, they do love the troops. It's really too bad the DOD would rather dishonor the wishes of the families and try to hide the images of coffins coming back and the final places where they rest after laying down their lives for this nation.