Military Families Speak Out : The Flag-Draped Coffins

The Flag-Draped Coffins

March 14th, 2004

Recently, pictures of flag-draped coffins coming home from Iraq have been circulating on the internet and have appeared in the print media. This has stirred a nationwide debate about whether or not picture of flag-draped coffins should be viewed by the American public. On March 14, 2004, Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), Veterans for Peace and other organizations joined together at the gates of Dover Air Force Base. The delegation from MFSO included five families who have lost loved ones in Iraq. At the gates of Dover AFB we thanked the service men and women who so carefully and tenderly accompany, receive and honor our loved ones when they return. We also noted that in wars past, media footage of flag-draped coffins has reminded a nation of the human toll of war; but the current administration has instead chosen to hide these images. We further noted that casualty families are discouraged or outright prevented from receiving their loved ones at Dover and other bases. At the gates of Dover AFB, we called on the Bush administration to start telling the truth and stop hiding the toll of this war. Below is a presentation made by MFSO member Jane Bright whose son Evan Ashcraft, age 24, was killed in Iraq on July 24, 2003. Following that is a statement by Veterans for Peace on the current controversy. The final piece is a letter from MFSO member Lila Lipscomb whose son Michael Pederson was killed in Iraq on April2, 2003.

Dover Air Force Base was one of the stops my dear son Evan made on his journey home from Iraq. He was killed July 24, 2003. Evan was at Dover for several days, which I found out later, signified the extent of the wounds he sustained at the time of his death.

I have several reasons for being here today. One reason, of course, is because of my son, but my primary reason is to talk about the secrecy that surrounds the dead soldiers who pass through Dover. How it is played down in the media and to the American public that people are still dying in Iraq, not just American soldiers but Iraqi civilians including children, women and elders. Now we must put aside the secrecy and the lies and let the American public view the coffins when they return. How else will America feel the pain that the more than 560 families such as mine are feeling.

Our president may be a war president, but I don't believe the American people want an open-ended war based on lies, secrecy and deceit. Let the media, and the rest of America see the coffins when they return to U.S. soil. It's the least we can do. Our children did not live in secrecy, they should not be shrouded in secrecy upon their passing.

Thank you.

Jane Bright