In the predawn darkness, the President of the United States of America saluted 18 fallen soldiers from the war in Afghanistan Thursday. Obama watched the caskets each one draped with the American flag as they came off the cargo plane.
All of the soldiers were killed in Afghanistan this week. October has been the most deadly month for American troops since the war began. There have been at least fifty five deaths so far this month. Over the past couple of weeks Obama has been talking about a potential troop increase, possibly by as much as 40,000 soldiers. On this early fall day, President Obama saw first-hand the real consequence of war.
Dale R. Griffin, an Army sergeant from Terre Haute Indiana, was the last soldier to come before Obama. With permission of his family, his were remains were the only ones that were to be honored in full view of the media. This was made possible by the 18-year ban that was lifted earlier this year by Obama.
According to
Yahoo, The President led a team of officials onto the gray C-17 cargo plane carrying Griffin, and then back off, where they stood for several minutes in a line of honor. With the clock just ticking a few minutes before four AM, Griffin's family pulled up in a blue vehicle. The only sounds coming from the plane and clicking of the cameras.
The President spoke to all of the families privately in a chapel. There was a solemn process of transferring the remains of fifteen soldiers and three Drug Enforcement Agency agents which took four separate movements. The President attended all of them.
By 4:45 a.m. Obama arrived alone back at the White House.
Obama wanted to show his respect after US troops faced a huge blow.
Yahoo reports, On Monday, a U.S. military helicopter crashed after retuning from the scene of a firefight with suspected Taliban drug traffickers in Western Afghanistan. The crash killed ten Americans including three DEA agents. There was another helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan when two helicopters collided - four more troops where killed in the collision. Tuesday, eight troops where killed in their personal vehicles when they were struck by roadside bombs in Afghanistan's Kandahar province.
Obama is expected to meet with the Joints Chiefs of Staff on Friday where he will have his war council meeting.
