The other day I wrote about Sec Gates reviewing the policy of the media ban at Dover AFB. When I got up early this morning, the first thing I see in the paper is that the policy is being changed. Ok I’m not happy about it and really wasn’t how I wanted to start my day.
Personally I think that the policy should have stayed the way it was. Like my grandfather used to say ” if it ain’t broke… don’t fix it ” There was no need to change it… it wasn’t violating anyone’s rights or hurting anyone. In fact it was protecting our military families.
I have mixed feelings about Sec. Gates decision on the media ban. On one side, I’m glad that the final decision is left up to us. On the other hand, if a family decides to allow the media, what will the media do with the pictures. WIll they use this opportunity to exploit our military families?
I think that the new decision will open up a can of worms for some families. What if the spouse doesn’t want it and the mother does? What about more than other coffin arrives? What happens if Family A wants the media there, and Family B doesn’t. Will the media respect that ?
Also I think that this is one more thing a spouse has to deal with during an already horrific time. This is one more question a service member and their spouse have to discuss during their “what if ” conversations.
My other question is what will the media do with these pictures? Will they be respectful of the military families once they are there? I would truly hate to see them doing what they normally do. We’ve all seen it .. they run over, stick a camera in your face and say something totally inappropriate like ” so how are you feeling right now ” or ” what are you going to do now” ,etc.
So what do you think?
