Black Box Report

12 days ago the Army fired Gina Gray. Who's Gina Gray, you ask? Just the latest person shoved aside who tried to do the right thing in a war whose architects have, without fail, done the wrong thing.

About three months ago, Ms. Gray took over as the Public Affairs Director at the Arlington National Cemetery. Soon after her appointment she realized military regulations were being violated; the media was being denied access to coverage of funerals of the Iraq war dead, even after the soldiers’ families granted permission. She fought to enforce protocol but was first demoted, then later canned. More than having policy and judgment on her side, Ms. Gray also has experience. She served in Iraq, had her convoy attacked and has impaired hearing to prove it.

A lot has improved under Defense Secretary Gates, but garbage like stop losses, the shortchanging of our troops and what happened to Gina Gray are still far too common.

If the powers that be thought about it instead of being so myopic, they'd realize the families’ courage and grace in sharing their loss lets the public become more invested in a war that for too long has been shielded from view at all costs.

Like no other time in history, the public has not been called on for shared sacrifice. Instead we are told "don't worry, be happy," or unforgettably, to go shopping.

Who is this administration, the same administration who embedded troops when the going was good, to now override family wishes for their own loved ones?

I have never seen a single media story that has trivialized a soldier’s death in Iraq or Afghanistan. By shielding America from caskets coming home, not attending funerals, not showing grieving families, this White House leaves us with the numbers of the dead and an occasional picture. No connection; no investment in a war were told has to be waged.

Gina Gray deserved better, and so do we.