Gina Gray, Public Affairs Director at Arlington National Cemetery, was fired after raising questions about the military’s refusal to allow the media to cover the funerals of soldiers who were killed in war.
Ironically, Gray was working to ensure that the military followed official Department of Defense policy concerning burials at Arlington. The policy allows media to cover funerals with the family members’ consent.
Gray has charged that military officials pressured families that wanted to allow media coverage of funerals. Media, including photographers, are kept 50 yards away from funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. The Pentagon, in an attempt to downplay the human devastation of the war, barred the photographing of soldiers caskets at all Pentagon facilities just before the start of the Iraq war.
