US Fallen - Week Ending Oct. 31, 2009

video and your respectful comments are memorial tributes to our fallen soldiers. Please visit USFallen.org website for previous episodes, military funerals and homecomings. On Wednesday,18 Americans came home. President Obama was at Dover Air Force Base, Del. – the first time a president has been present when remains of fallen military arrived. The president’s presence was significant. He will soon decide how to continue pursuing the war in Afghanistan. Welcoming home the 18 dead Americans and meeting with family members – when their grief and loss was still raw – will surely weigh on his decision. Obama acknowledged as such after the Dover ceremony: “The burden that both our troops and our families bear in any wartime situation is going to bear on how I see these conflicts.” The president was photographed participating in the arrival of the casket of one Fort Lewis soldier, Sgt. Dale Griffin, whose family had given permission for media coverage of his return. Because of the welcome change in military policy, which allows families to decide on coverage at Dover, more Americans are able to witness – at least from a distance – the price paid by soldiers and their loved ones. This has been the worst month for U.S. fatalities in Afghanistan since the United States invaded the country in October 2001. As long as U.S. troops are on the ground in such dangerous places as Afghanistan and Iraq, the grim ceremony at Dover will be repeated again and again. Fallen Description: Maj. David L. Audo, 35, of Saint Joseph, IL., Pfc. Brian R. Bates, Jr., 20, of Gretna, LA., Staff Sgt. Keith R. Bishop, 28, of Medford, N.Y., Spc. Robert K. Charlton, 22, of Malden, MO., Sgt. Fernando Delarosa, 24, of Alamo, TX.. Cpl. Gregory M.W. Fleury, 23, of Anchorage, AK. Spc. Joseph L. Gallegos, 39, of Questa, N.M., Staff Sgt. Luis M. Gonzalez, 27, of South Ozone Park, N.Y. Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, 29, of Terre Haute, IN., Pfc. Kimble A. Han, 30, of Lehi, UT., Sgt. Josue E. Hernandez Chavez, 23, of Reno, NV., Sgt. Issac B. Jackson, 27, of Plattsburg, MO., Capt. Eric A. Jones, 29, of Westchester, N.Y., Spc. Eric N. Lembke, 25, of Tampa, FL. CWO Niall Lyons, 40, of Spokane, WA., Staff Sgt. Shawn H. McNabb, 24, of Terrell, TX.. Sgt. 1st Class David E. Metzger, 32, of San Diego, CA., Pfc. Devin J. Michel, 19, of Stockton, IL. , Capt. David "Seth" Mitchell, 30, of Loveland, OH., CWO Michael P. Montgomery, 36, of Savannah, GA., Sgt. Nikolas A. Mueller, 26, of Little Chute, WI. Spc. Jared D. Stanker, 22, of Evergreen Park, IL., Lance Cpl. Cody R. Stanley, 21, of Rosanky, TX., Spc. Brandon K. Steffey, 23, of Sault Sainte Marie, MI., Capt. Kyle R. Van De Giesen, 29, of N. Attleboro, MA., Pfc. Christopher I. Walz, 25, of Vancouver, WA., Sgt. Patrick O. Williamson, 24, of Broussard, LA., Sgt. Eduviges G. Wolf, 24, of Hawthorne, CA., Music: Time to Say Goodbye – Texas Tenors Mansions of the Lord Sgt. MacKenzie TAPS Photos/Resources afghanistan.pigstye.net defenselink.mil kvue.com thesunchronicle.com thonline.com militarycity.com USFallen.org Video Production Jerry CastILo Producershow less...