No Media at Repatriation of Fallen

[Canal du Nord]

The point that Remembrance Day is the most fitting observance and commemoration for Canada's war dead is worthy; I would personally have reservations with the idea that its significance is necessarily enhanced by making it a "holiday", i.e., a full day off work.  I personally am given Remembrance Day as a stat holiday.  I do not shop on that day, and always watch the National Remembrance service on TV, and usually watch all the relevant programming on the History Channel throughout the day.

In the UK, the Royal British Legion lobbyed for a nation-wide observance of two minutes silence at 11:00am on November 11th, which is very moving and significant when all traffic stops, and all people stop in the street and in their work places, across the country for two minutes.  This is obviously much easier to do in a nation with one time zone, but it could, perhaps, be even more impressive for a country like Canada when 6 successive time zones all observe two minutes silence on a normal workday (rather than a "holiday"), and then continue on.  It would incorporate Remembrance into every day life and compel a pause for reflection that would likely be lost for most people if it became simply a day off work.  Just food for thought.

 

[the 48th regulator]

I would personally have reservations with the idea that its significance is necessarily enhanced by making it a "holiday"

Think about it.

All business' closed.  You can not do anything just like on Christmas day.

The only shows on the Telly are the Parades, commemorations, and cerimonies live.  Then it is followed up by documentaries of the sacrifieces past and present.

We do it for Santy Clause, so I do not see why we could not provide that for our Soldiers, past and present.

dileas

tess

 

[Michael OLeary]

I have a unique perspective here. I am a full-time journalist and an infantry reserve member in Toronto. When I wear the uniform I am army first. Like the soldiers in Afganistan have a job to do so to does the media. The media is one of the institutions that is fundamental to a free and democractic society. The media holds the courts, politicians, and yes the army open to public scrutiny (Such is not the case in China or Syria) Scrutiny of institutions is key to an open and democratic society and fosters public debate, a freedom which many vets have fought and died for during the last 100 years. Do I think the media should be banned from the funerals? I think shooting and filming from a distance like they did was fine. As a CF member, if I was killed on tour I would want my return home covered in the media. I would have given the ultimate sacrifice for my country and I would want that shared with the nation who I gave my life for. There is a price for peace and stability - lives of our soldiers. Why hide that away in a closet like a dirty shame.

Mudeater,

Were the facts of the nature of the deaths hidden?

How long after the deaths were the media advised?

How quickly did the media have photos and personal details to print?

Did you have footage and photos from the ceremony of the departure from theatre?

Were those published?

Will your journalistic peers be covering each funeral, since you know who the soldiers are and the home towns?

If you have had (or will have) all of the above, please explain to me, exactly, how restricting media access at the one point when the remains are reunited with the grieving families constitutes "hide[ing] that away in a closet like a dirty shame."  You are supposed to be the objective journalist, yet even here you cannot resist sensationalizing this because it undercuts your petty desire to create stories.  Please, if you want to pretend that all, rather than some, of your ilk have professional standards and feelings for the fallen and their families, then do your best to present that yourself.

Do we really need tarmac photos for your and your editor to report the arrival?

Who holds you open to public scrutiny, if not the members of each group you try to expose to public view?
Please, do not try to compare us to countries where you would have had no access based on a single restriction.

 

[Michael OLeary]

I went to the local greasy spoon for lunch this afternoon. I was wearing my flying kit. There isn't a big military footprint in Corner Brook- (militia unit and a recruiting centre), but many people have family who are serving.

While standing in line I was asked by a older lady what I thought of the debate concerning repatriation and the flag. When she asked the restaurant got quiet. I guess it was the subject of the morning on the local call in show.

I said, " Ma'am, do you have any grandchildren?"
She replied Yes, 4".
I then asked, "Would you want their grieving faces on the six o'clock news if something tragic happened to you? The men and women who gave their life paid the ultimate price, they don't owe us anything more."

She bought me a coffee.

Bograt, well done, and a lovely anecdote for an objective journalist to borrow as a counterpoint to stirring the pot.

 

[geo]

geo, good idea.
AFAIK, having worked with them before, Army News equipment has the ability to hook into a SAT Truck. Thus the media would be able to use the feed from the Army News team on the ground, instead of having five or six different networks there, the Army could feed the signal to them all.
If you don't mind, I'd like to staff this idea up the Army News CoC. I think this might be a viable option...

Blakey, by all means, go ahead and do so.
Army news photographers could provide stills as well

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Yes, nicely done.
Sure put me in my place.
I suppose you parade Tuesday nights at Mewata.
Perhaps we can discuss this then......Beavis !

No worries, Cpl Ramsden; I hope to be around the regimental archives this summer, maybe I'll see you in the LdSH cage if you're still around.

 

[Stirling N6123]

Why hide that away in a closet like a dirty shame

That's a pretty low comment to make considering the company you are in. The PM made a decision and it's going to be followed. And irregardless of the who's whys and where's, one family did not want the media present at the repatriation at CFB Trenton, case closed, here's the door, well call you.

There is no secret agenda, no cover up, no "hiding in the closet like a dirty shame." Shame on you, for making the suggestion.

The media in my opinion needs to be treated like a young child, you get what you are given, or you get nothing. Harsh? Yes. But as it relates to this situation.....appropriate.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Courtesy of the Access to Information and Privacy Act, shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act - http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33409

http://www.recorder.ca/cp/National/060702/n070207A.html

Internal documents hint at military's discontent with Tory repatriation policy
ALEXANDER PANETTA, Canadian Press, 2 Jul 06

''OTTAWA (CP) - Senior military officials opposed the Conservative government's controversial ban on media coverage of homecoming ceremonies for soldiers killed in Afghanistan, documents obtained under the Access to Information Act suggest.

A Department of National Defence official snapped photographs outside a repatriation ceremony in April to illustrate how the government's policy was causing security concerns.

The department gathered pictures of journalists standing by the highway outside the Trenton, Ont., military base during the April 25 repatriation of four fallen soldiers.

About 20 photographs were shown to Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier, according to the documents.

"This may cause safety issues and generate even more frustration, particularly in winter," Lt.-Col. Richard Lavoie, a departmental public-affairs director, wrote in an e-mail in which he forwarded the photos to several colleagues.

Military officials found other ways to express their displeasure: they cleared equipment from the airport tarmac so the news media outside the base could have an unobstructed view of the ceremony.

The moves came on the heels of a controversial decision from Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government to keep the repatriation ceremonies a private affair.

The Tories initially declared their new policy a permanent one, but have somewhat softened their stand amid criticism from fallen soldiers' grieving relatives.

The Access to Information documents suggest discontent with the ill-fated policy was not limited to military families.

The e-mail exchanges between departmental officials were accompanied by photographs of police cruisers blocking a highway lane outside the base. That security blanket allowed journalists standing by the highway to capture distant images of the incoming flight and solemn ceremony.

A DND spokesman declined to comment on the repatriation imbroglio, saying the department often collects pictures of public events for archiving and training purposes.

But reporters who attended the event did not require public documents as evidence that military officials were peeved at the government order.

One journalist said the military made it obvious by their words and actions that day.

Soldiers moved trucks, cranes and other equipment so news cameras could get clear shots from outside the fence surrounding the base.

"The military men wanted us there," said one journalist assigned to cover the event.

"They were (greeting us) like, 'We're glad you came.' "

Ontario Provincial Police blocked off part of Highway 2 to protect photographers, camera operators and reporters from traffic, and a DND snapshot shows police officers huddling with a CTV crew, heads bowed and arms crossed, as they watched the ceremony on a video monitor.

The Harper government informed the military of the controversial new policy on April 24 - the eve of the repatriation ceremony for Matthew Dinning, Myles Mansell, Randy Payne and William Turner.

The four died in a roadside bomb explosion in the worst one-day combat loss of Canadian troops since the Korean war.

The Harper government said the new guidelines were permanent. The policy was similar to one adopted by the Bush administration in Washington at the beginning of the Iraq war to keep the American public from seeing news images of returning caskets.

DND officials received an e-mail from Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor's office saying the new directive was being issued out of respect for grieving families.

That line of reasoning was instantly undermined when the victims' families lambasted the government decision.

At his daughter's funeral in May, Dr. Tim Goddard gave a stirring eulogy saying the young woman died to protect Canada's freedoms, not to restrict them. Nichola Goddard was the first Canadian female fighting soldier to die in combat.

At Cpl. Matthew Dinning's funeral, his father Lincoln Dinning mentioned Harper by name and criticized the government's closed repatriation ceremonies.''

© The Canadian Press, 2006

 

[GAP]

Why a parent of loved one would want the media watching them greet their fallen for the first time is beyond me.  I would say that the reasoning is not related to grief. Would I want to have the media watch me meet my son, if he fell? NO, emphatically, NO. That is my moment and they can *amned well stay away!!!

Even at that, the government has stated that, if that is what you want, fine, we'll adjust on an individual basis. I don't see the problem.

 

[geo]

The media are available and on hand in KAF for all ramp ceremonies.
They have plenty of footage showing grief and shows of respect.  From my perspective,  they've been given plenty... now leave me alone :warstory:

 

[Infantry_wannabe]

I'm glad the government made the decision purely for the families' sake. What a kind bunch they are...

 

[geo]

Cheech..... yeah

Real mench