Nightline Friday 5/28: Koppel to read names of US dead in Afghanistan

Let's see how quickly Sinclair reacts to this.
 


Nightline Daily E-Mail
May 28, 2004


TONIGHT'S FOCUS: They honor the nation's fallen. Standing guard over the Tomb of the Unknowns, and providing the honor guards for all of the funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. They are the Old Guard. And we will honor the Fallen from the war on terrorism as part of tonight's broadcast.

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All over Washington today, you see them. Men and women of a certain generation, many with canes, walking a little slower than they did more than 60 years ago, when the world was engulfed by war. World War II veterans and their families have come into town for this weekend's dedication of the new World War II memorial. Across the water is Arlington National Cemetery. The veterans are dying at a rate of more than a thousand a day. In a couple of years, we will lose them. And many of them will find their final resting place in those rolling hills across the Potomac from the new memorial. There is one Army unit that will mark their final rest, the Old Guard. This is the unit that provides the honor guard, and the salutes, at all of the funerals there. They also guard the Tomb of the Unknowns, walking their post literally through rain or shine. When a hurricane hit this area a while ago, the Old Guard was given permission to come inside, to take a break from their posts. They refused, and continued to stand guard through the storm. It is a rigid routine, timed out to the second, and it is quietly moving. Tonight, Nightline producer Artis Waters will introduce you to these soldiers, and take you inside their world. And you'll hear their thoughts as they mark the passing in Iraq of many of their comrades, for it is not just aged veterans who are being laid to rest at Arlington these days.

As part of tonight's broadcast, we'll have a live camera at the Tomb for the changing of the guard. Now a couple of weeks ago, as I'm sure you all know, we did a broadcast called "The Fallen." It was our way of honoring those who have died in Iraq. Tonight we want to honor those who have paid the ultimate price in Afghanistan, and around the world on the far-flung fronts in the war on terror. Ted will read the names of those servicemen and women as we see the changing of the guard.

On Monday, Memorial Day, we'll tell the story of Exercise Tiger, one of the last rehearsals for D-Day in World War II. It went horribly wrong, and the survivors were forbidden to talk about it for decades.

So I hope that all of you have wonderful holiday weekends. It's easy to think of Memorial Day as a time for hot dogs, the beach, and long trips in the car. But in these troubled times, I hope that each of us, in our own way, will take a moment to remember those men and women, past and present, who have stood in harm's way.

Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff
Nightline Offices
ABCNEWS Washington D.C.

 

the country that bush and blair abandoned after promising they wouldn't.