Father Who Believes Son is in 'Coffin' Photo Thanks 'Seattle Times' for Running It

A man who thinks his son's body was in the "coffin" photo has come out in support of showing the picture. He wrote a letter to the Seattle Times to thank them for publishing it. He feels it is wrong to 'hide' the photos from public view. So do I. People need to see the true cost of war. When it is out of sight, it is out of mind.

Father Who Believes Son is in 'Coffin' Photo Thanks 'Seattle Times' for Running It

By Greg Mitchell

Published: April 28, 2004 11:05 AM EST

NEW YORK The father of a U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq earlier this month, who believes his son was in one of the caskets shown in the now famous Tami Silicio photograph, has written a letter to The Seattle Times thanking the newspaper for publishing the picture that broke a Pentagon ban.

"Hiding the death and destruction of this war does not make it easier on anyone except those who want to keep the truth away from the people," the father, Bill Mitchell, wrote yesterday. The letter has not yet been published.
www.editorandpublisher.com... isplay.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000498198

Its one of those things.
You can please some of the people some of the time, but you cant please all the people all the time.

I'm just glad he came out and said why he supported it. He knows this administration's full of shyte.

Here's a link to all the Dover photos, released through a FOIA request.

Dover AFB gallery
To learn more about these photos, click here

NASA is stating that the first 18 rows of photographs in this archive are of honors rendered to the dead from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003. At the time of this writing (20:02 EST on April 23, 2004) it is believed that photographs 73 and on are of Iraq war casualties.


www.informationclearinghouse.info...

eastcoastkid, are you anti-war?

do you ever have ANYTHING positive to say about the united states? you completly idiotic if you ask me.

I am not ANTI-war. I wish for the world to be a better place. I fully support the troops in Iraq. I think the photo showed the truth. Some people can't handle the truth. But I can

Zuzubar and fellow Americans: I want the truth!
Pentagon: You can't handle the truth!

Originally posted by GeniusSage
eastcoastkid, are you anti-war?

do you ever have ANYTHING positive to say about the united states? you completly idiotic if you ask me.

Gee, you obviously read a lot of his posts and you don't realize he's anti-war? And I guess being anti-war automatically makes you against the United States? Now I see how you people think...Geniussage you never cease to post BS whenever you feel you can chime in without actually addressing the topic at hand...crawl back into your hole and we will see you again in two weeks when you post something else that is equally useless.

Originally posted by GeniusSage
eastcoastkid, are you anti-war?

do you ever have ANYTHING positive to say about the united states? you completly idiotic if you ask me.

Want to know whats idiotic? You telling him he is, because he has a thought in his head thats not butchered to hell through lies and such. I praise him for posting this and please keep them coming!

[Edited on 29-4-2004 by thedarkprojekt]

I'm not anti-war but I'm very "anti Iraqi war." I'm glad the father did this. Why should the administration force the media to keep their mouths shut about who dies in Iraq? And I don't want to hear "it's for respect out of their families." If that's so then why did the media tell us about that football player who died. Why not everybody else? What makes him so special?

Originally posted by GeniusSage
you completly idiotic if you ask me.

If you are going to insult someone's intelligence, you might want to check your own grammar. I�m just providing a suggestion.

People, please keep this above the 3rd grade. STICK on TOPIC. Don't hurl personal insults at another.

- Ktpr

I'm not sure what you guys seem to be wanting here. Even FOX News has shown pictures of coffins, yes, draped with flags. No, they are not showing them every 10 minutes and I don't think there is a 24/7 cable channel for them yet. Is that what you want?

I think the real motivation behind this post and your discussion about it is that you somehow think that if people saw more pictures of the coffins, then more people would be against the war. You want to be able to point to the TV and say "Ohhh. Look how Bush killed all these soldiers" (even though he didn't).

Do you honestly think that the American people don't know that soldiers are dying over there? I am well aware of it and still I support the War. You want the coffins on TV because you want to use the same propaganda techniques you accuse your opponants of using on the American people. Hmmm.

Originally posted by Ambient Sound You want the coffins on TV because you want to use the same propaganda techniques you accuse your opponants of using on the American people. Hmmm.

That may have some truth to it, but if all that people are exposed to is pro-war propaganda, then it would seem right to have anti-war propaganda as well. No but really, most Americans are out of touch with reality when it comes to things that we are doing...and if a couple of pictures on the news make them realize what war is all about, then it's for a good cause. We know people are dying, but it is so far away to most people that they don't think about it, or don't care. Our current generation of kids hasn't been exposed to any war until now, and it may be what they need to see what is really happening...pictures better explain the horrors of war and make more people wonder whether or not it is worth it to go. The government knows this, and is the exact reason they don't want to release pictures.

I think you underestimate Americans a little bit. I believe that more people than you think have definate feelings about this conflict one way or another, even if they are not that vocal about them. I'm not sure that more coffin pictures is going to change that many minds. I know that seeing them on the news (and yes, they have been on) is not changing mine.

Originally posted by Ambient Sound
I'm not sure what you guys seem to be wanting here. Even FOX News has shown pictures of coffins, yes, draped with flags. No, they are not showing them every 10 minutes and I don't think there is a 24/7 cable channel for them yet. Is that what you want?

I think the real motivation behind this post and your discussion about it is that you somehow think that if people saw more pictures of the coffins, then more people would be against the war. You want to be able to point to the TV and say "Ohhh. Look how Bush killed all these soldiers" (even though he didn't).

Do you honestly think that the American people don't know that soldiers are dying over there? I am well aware of it and still I support the War. You want the coffins on TV because you want to use the same propaganda techniques you accuse your opponants of using on the American people. Hmmm.

Very well stated, Ambient Sound. I fail to see where all of the "pro-war propaganda" is that supposedly permeates the airwaves and brainwashes the "sheep" that I hear about so much in this forum. I can get any view, pro or con, on this issue or any other issue, very easily.

Some people mistakenly conclude that if you agree with this administartion on anything, then you are a sheep. Some of these same people think that if they constantly attack this administartion, that makes them more patriotic than the rest. Also a mistaken conclusion.

Originally posted by Shoktek

...if all that people are exposed to is pro-war propaganda, then it would seem right to have anti-war propaganda as well.

No but really, most Americans are out of touch with reality when it comes to things that we are doing...and if a couple of pictures on the news make them realize what war is all about, then it's for a good cause. We know people are dying, but it is so far away to most people that they don't think about it, or don't care. Our current generation of kids hasn't been exposed to any war until now, and it may be what they need to see what is really happening...pictures better explain the horrors of war and make more people wonder whether or not it is worth it to go. The government knows this, and is the exact reason they
don't want to release pictures.

Excellent analysis Shoktek. Thank you. I, for one, believe the U.S. government has no right to keep Dover under blackout. There's a little thing called the first ammendment. If you fascists out there can't deal with that, then I suggest you get F**K out of this country!

"Genious"Sage, I suggest you log off, go down to your local recruiting station and volunteer for Iraq duty since you feel so strongly. Until then, your blathering is just that.

It's becoming more and more obvious that America is divided by those who want to police the world, and those who don't. The pictures should be shown, IMO, so people stay in touch with the reality and ugliness that is war. Why should only the soldiers have to see death? We're all Americans, right? If you support war, you should be happy to see the results of your efforts.

I LOVE this country. I have fought for this country! Why the hell do you think I'm so passionate about this whole horrible situation in Iraq? MY soldiers are being maimed and dying every day for NO GOOD REASON - other than Halliburton and Bechtel!

If you want to see how I feel about my country, look at this thread "What Do You Love About the USA?"
www.abovetopsecret.com...

"Gee, you obviously read a lot of his posts and you don't realize he's anti-war? And I guess being anti-war automatically makes you against the United States? Now I see how you people think...Geniussage you never cease to post BS whenever you feel you can chime in without actually addressing the topic at hand...crawl back into your hole and we will see you again in two weeks when you post something else that is equally useless."

my "are you anti-war" question was satirical...
ive read MANY posts of his, i know he's anti-war and he is quite blatently anti-american. He does nothing but critisise.

""Genious"Sage, I suggest you log off, go down to your local recruiting station and volunteer for Iraq duty since you feel so strongly. Until then, your blathering is just that."

i thought you were against sending troops to iraq? i think you're a complete idiot.


Also someone mentioned my gramar? that was a type error

Geniussage, I'm so delighted you could add more useless # to this otherwise good discussion. Do you ever actually post anything relevant to the topic at hand, or just baselessly flame people? No one criticized or attacked you, as you had nothing constructive to say in this thread. ECK expresses his own opinions, and a "forum" is a place where such things happen. Maybe you should try it sometime instead of just insulting people...it is clear you have nothing intelligent to say about this, so you just type a lot of bull#, which makes you look like even more of an immature fool. Everyone who responded to your original post agrees with that, you can't see it, why don't you move along and stop trolling on this board. I have not seen one good post made by yourself since I have come to ATS, just random insults with no contribution to the board, and you are far from being a "genius". But I guess that makes you feel better about yourself..come back when you have graduated the 8th grade and you can actually form ideas into sentences. People like you bring this board down.

BTW, Geniussage, you might want to spellcheck your posts from now on...lmao, you can't even spell GRAMMAR right when talking about how your spelling errors were due to typing mistakes...and your last post is full of them as well.

[Edited on 1-5-2004 by Shoktek]