Obama honors fallen Americans at Dover

President Barack Obama salutes as a carry team carries the transfer case containing the remains of Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin of Terre Haute, Ind., Thursday at Dover Air Force Base.


Obama honors fallen Americans at Dover
By BEN FELLER
Associated Press Writer
Oct 29, 6:41 AM EDT

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) -- 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.

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.


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