Oct 29, 2009 8:27 am US/Eastern
Obama Honors North Attleboro Marine At Dover
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (WBZ) ―
-
-
President Barack Obama salutes as a team carries the transfer case containing the remains of Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin of Terre Haute, Ind., during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., on Oct. 29, 2009.
Susan Walsh/AP
-
-
Marine Capt. Kyle Vandegiesen with his wife Megan.
Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Standing in the pre-dawn darkness, President Barack Obama saw the real cost of the war in Afghanistan: The Americans who return in flag-covered cases while much of the nation sleeps in peace.
In a midnight dash to this Delaware base, where U.S. forces killed overseas come home, Obama honored the return of 18 fallen Americans Thursday.
All were killed this week in Afghanistan, a brutal stretch that turned October into the most deadly month for U.S. troops since the war began.
Among the 18 was
Marine Capt. Kyle Vandegiesen of North Attleboro, who was killed in a helicopter crash Monday.
The dramatic image of Obama on the tarmac was a portrait not witnessed in years.
Former President George W. Bush spent lots of time with grieving military families but never went to Dover to greet the remains coming off the cargo plane.
Obama did so with the weight of knowing he may soon send more troops off to war.
For all the talk of his potential troop increase -- maybe 40,000, maybe some other large figure -- Obama got a grim reminder of the number that counts: one.
His name was Dale R. Griffin, an Army sergeant from Terre Haute, Ind.
He was the last fallen soldier to come before Obama. And his remains were the only ones to be honored in full view of the media with the permission of his family.
A ban on such coverage was lifted this year under Obama's watch.
The president led a team of officials onto the gray C-17 cargo plane carrying Griffin, and then back off, where they stood for several minutes in a line of honor.
It was not quite 4 a.m. The sky was black and a yellowish light came from poles flanking the flight.
The only sounds were a whirring power unit on the plane and the clicking of cameras.
A blue vehicle carrying members of Griffin's family pulled up.
The president saluted as six soldiers in camouflage and black berets carried Griffin's remains into a waiting white van.
The military calls the process a dignified transfer, not a ceremony, because there is nothing to celebrate.
The cases are not labeled coffins, although they come off looking that way, enveloped in flags.
On a clear fall night, the president zipped to Dover in about 40 minutes.
He immediately spoke privately in a chapel with all the family members.
The solemn process of transferring remains of 15 soldiers and three Drug Enforcement Agency agents unfolded in four separate movements.
Obama took part in all of them.
A chaplain offered prayers for the fallen, the crews that brought them home, the families who lost a loved one, and a nation embroiled in war.
By 4:45 a.m., the president had touched back down on the South Lawn, where even an active White House was sleepy.
He walked inside, alone.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments