In 1991, President George W. Bush imposed a ban on media coverage of the delivery process of deceased servicemen and handover ceremony of the remains of their relatives at a military air base in Dover, Delaware. Shortly after taking office, President Barack Obama ordered the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has revised this policy.
As a result, the ban was lifted, and now the right to authorize or prohibit the media coverage given to members of the bereaved families. April 5, 2009, for the first time in 18 years, the press announced the transfer of the deceased soldier, Air Force Sergeant Phillip Myers. Since the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001, more than 5,000 victims of war were brought home. Collected here are photographs illustrate the process of delivery of the nine soldiers who were brought to the U.S. after April 5, 2009.
Members of the U.S. Army Honor Guard carry the remains of a military Specialist Israel Candelaria Mejias of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. His body was brought to the U.S. from Iraq, April 7, 2009. Israel Candelaria Mejias, 28 years old, died April 5 near Baghdad, trying to defuse the bomb. (Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images)
U.S. Air Force Major General Jonathon Riley watching the press during the unloading process of the remains of Air Force Sergeant Phillip Meyers, April 5, 2009 at the Air Force base in Dover, Delaware. Sgt. Philip Meyers, a native of the town of Hopewell, Va., was killed April 4 in Afghanistan, an improvised explosive device. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)
Aboard a Boeing C-17. The soldiers stand at attention with the flag of the shipping container covered with the remains of military Specialist Israel Candelaria Mejias shortly before the arrival of the team transporter. April 7, 2009, Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. (Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images)
Team carriers coming on board the aircraft to pick up the shipping container with the remains of military Specialist Israel Candelaria Mejias, who was killed in Iraq. Tuesday, April 7, 2009. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh)
The soldiers carry case containing the remains of military Specialist Israel Candelaria Mejias. April 7, 2009, Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. (Brendan Smialowski / Bloomberg News)
The soldiers carry case containing the remains of military Specialist Israel Candelaria Mejias to the hearse. April 7, 2009, Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. (Brendan Smialowski / Bloomberg News)
Military pilot closes the door hearse, which is containing the remains of military Specialist Israel Candelaria Mejias. April 7, 2009, Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. (REUTERS / Tim Shaffer)
Sergeant Star Samuels hangs svezhevyglazhenny flag in the funeral center at the Charles Carson Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. March 31, 2009. These flags will cover the shipping containers during a solemn ceremony of transfer of the remains of fallen soldiers. Burial center named Charles Carson - the largest and the only one in the continental United States funerary complex. Sergeant Samuels is assigned to the 43rd Squadron logistics support base of the Air Force in the Pope, North Carolina. (US Air Force photo / Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III)
Sergeant Laterza Fraser, a specialist on the preparation of personal belongings, polishes hours of the deceased soldier. Department, which employs Laterza, training of personal items for their transfer to relatives during the ceremony. Sergeant Frazier is assigned to the 43rd Squadron logistics support base of the Air Force in the Pope, North Carolina. (US Air Force photo / Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III)
The team transporter with transport container in which the body of Sergeant Gary L. Woods Jr.. Still visible in the photo containing the remains of Sergeant Edward W. Forrest Jr.. April 12, 2009, Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. Sergeant Gary L. Woods Jr. from Lebanon Junction, Ky., and Sergeant Edward W. Forrest Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri, were killed in the line of duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom. (REUTERS / Tim Shaffer)
The representative of the United States Air Force (upper-right corner) looks at forklift komatsu, on which are five shipping containers containing the remains of U.S. soldiers. April 12, 2009, Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. Five soldiers of the U.S. Army: Private Second Class Bryce Gautier of Cypress, Calif., Corporal Jason treats from Davenport, Iowa, Sergeant Edward Forrest ml. from St. Louis, Missouri, Sergeant Gary Woods ml. of Lebanon Junction, Ky., Sergeant Brian Hall of Elk Grove, California was killed on April 10 in the Iraqi city of Mosul when their military vehicle rammed a car filled with explosives. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)
The team transporter with transport container in which the body is an ordinary second-class Bruce Gauthier. April 12, 2009, Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. (REUTERS / Tim Shaffer)
The team transporter loads in containers hearse carrying the bodies of Sergeant Brian Hall of Elk Grove, Calif., 25 years. Sunday, April 12. (AP Photo / Carolyn Kaster)
One of the five containers with remains loaded into a hearse. April 12, 2009, Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware. (JIM WATSON / AFP / Getty Images)
Made at different times of four photos of the five dead soldiers. Left to right: Corporal Jason treats, 20 years, Sergeant Gary Woods ml., 24, Sergeant Edward Forrest ml., 25, and Staff Sergeant Brian Hall, 32 years old. The four soldiers and Private Second Class Bryce Gautier, were killed on April 10 in the Iraqi city of Mosul when their military vehicle rammed a car filled with explosives. (AP Photo / US Army)
Sergeant Star Samuels (left) and Sergeant Willard Rico put the American flag on the coffin during a rehearsal ceremony to hand the center of the burial of the remains of the Charles Carson at a military air base in Dover, Delaware. March 31, 2009. For the funeral, it was decided to order flowers delivery. (US Air Force photo / Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III)
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