because this is important

for us ALL to witness
(and my thoughts and prayers go out to all of us)

no politics. no preaching. just sorrow

Doleful Arrivals Open to Public
18-Year Media Ban on War Casualties' Homecomings Lifted at Dover Air Force Base

By Christian Davenport

Washington Post Staff Writer

The wind can whip cold across the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, freezing fingers that hold the flag-draped metal transfer case in which lie the remains of a fellow service member. You do not loosen your grip. You do not shuffle your feet. You do not grimace.

If you have to yawn, you do it through your nose. You swallow your coughs and sneezes, let itches go unscratched. Keep your mouth closed, eyes straight and the blinking to an absolute minimum.

Those are the rules.

Those are the rules when it's 4 a.m. and it's dark and there's no one around.

Those were the rules last night when the ritual of welcoming home the fallen was open to the public for the first time since President George H.W. Bush instituted a ban on news coverage in 1991.................

picture: The remains of Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Myers arrive at Dover Air Force Base. He was the first slain service member welcomed home publicly since 1991. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)