War dead return home
An airman stands next to the coffin containing the body of Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers as it is lowered from a plane upon its return to the U.S. at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware April 5, 2009. Myers, of Hopewell, Virginia, died April 4 near Helmand province, Afghanistan of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device.
The coffin containing the body of Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers is moved by a transfer team upon his return to the U.S. at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware April 5, 2009. Myers is the first U.S. war dead whose return was covered by the media since a 1991 ban was lifted, allowing families to decide whether to allow photos and television footage of the flag-draped coffins of their loved ones.
The coffin containing the body of Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers is carried by a transfer team upon his return to the U.S. at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware April 5, 2009.
Airmen salute the vehicle carrying the body of Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers after a transfer team moved it from a plane upon its return to the U.S. at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware April 5, 2009.
（以上、ロイターより転載）
報道禁止令が撤廃されたため戦死兵の帰還がメディアでカバーされた最初の写真。国家と兵士との関係を鑑みれば、第２次世界大戦中、兵士の命を最も大切に扱ったのは米国で、最も粗末に扱ったのが大日本帝国だった。ところがその米国もベトナム戦争では兵士の命をモノと考えるに至った。泥沼化して根底から戦争の目的、米国の正義が揺らいだからだ。しかし、写真の厳粛な儀式を見れば再び兵士の命を大切に扱っているようだ。