In the early morning hours today as most Americans slept, President Obama made an unannounced visit to Dover Air Force base in Delaware to pay respects to the families of 18 Americans who died in Afghanistan earlier this week. Dover base is typically the first point of entry for bodies of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to the New York Times, Obama had a private discussion with family members and saluted as the bodies were transferred. Very little information about the event was made public.
By the way, an image like the one used in this blog entry is still pretty rare. Earlier this year the Pentagon ended an 18-year ban on media covering the return of Americans killed in war. Today these returns can be photographed with the permission of the victim’s family.
Comments (10)
Jitendra Kaushal
30 October 2009 at 08:33 EDT
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In Kohima, India, there is a war memorial with an inscription which comes to my mind on reading this blog.
‘ When you go home tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today’
Beatrice Churu
Location: Nairobi Kenya
30 October 2009 at 08:57 EDT
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A very honorable gesture from the president! Courage! Not all may appreciate the leadership grace inherent in such a gesture. Yet behind all fears and wrath and uncertainty, there lies aspirations that all will be well; and it shall.
america FIRST
Location: usa is the best
30 October 2009 at 09:51 EDT
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God Almighty please help us end this war and ALL wars on this earth.
God Almighty bring us peace to this great nation.
God Almighty bless the great USA !!!
america FIRST
30 October 2009 at 09:59 EDT
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bring our troops home NOW!!!
mr. presdient obama please in GOD’s name end this war NOW!!!
Our nation needs help . stop sending our
TAX dollars to Israel and china and the middle east.
America has LOST so much money and jobs because of this wasteful spending on this war !!!
lets put our nation FIRST !!!
Kein Yu
Location: washington d.c
30 October 2009 at 14:26 EDT
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we americans should thank God for giving us a great nation to live in.
GOD BLESS THE USA !!!
Mohammed Joel Mateen - U.S Navy
Location: chicago Ill. usa
30 October 2009 at 14:33 EDT
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My prayer and my heart goes out to these
fallen great hero’s who died and their
friends and family.
mike jones
Location: los angeles CA
30 October 2009 at 14:36 EDT
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thank you and God bless the USA
majeed
Location: pakistan
2 November 2009 at 14:55 EST
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American war on terrorism in Afghanistan is no more than a wild a wild goose chase .What America got in Iraq and why they are fighting in Afghanistan? is very strange. they have taken the whole world on storm. Remember that America and afghanisatn would be the same economically,politically and strategically at the end of war. All the world hate USA for fighting its own people and the innocent people of the world. Who fired their trade centre is not known but the way they are killing people is known to every body. Muslims are not afraid of death .they believe in the life after death as more comfortable than here. they are not terrorist and want peace but they are being projected as terrorist. They donot beg for life and would fight up to the last.
waqoo
Location: oromia
3 November 2009 at 06:06 EST
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please god help oromia to be free and become the Great country like USA.
A
Location: IR
8 November 2009 at 13:34 EST
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I am sorry for you.