Iraq, Afghanistan troop deaths near 5,000

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del., July 20 (UPI) -- The United States is approaching a combined 5,000 military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, military statistics indicate.

As of Friday, 4,996 service personnel had died in Iraq while 668 had been killed in Afghanistan, USA Today reported Monday.

All transfers of bodies from the two combat zones are handled at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where, since April, media outlets have been able to cover the proceedings, the newspaper said. In addition, the government also began to pay relatives' travel expenses to witness the arrivals.

Beau Beck told USA Today he was glad to be at the air base when the remains of his half-brother, Aaron Fairbairn, were returned with those of another soldier.

"There was this overwhelming sense of honor and respect," Beck said. "You didn't have to know those two kids on the flight line to feel that," Beck says.

During the Persian Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush's administration barred media coverage of returning casualties, in the interest of family privacy, and that policy was extended into the Iraq war. In 2004, Vice President Joe Biden, then a U.S. senator from Delaware, said the fallen "are essentially snuck back into the country under the cover of night, so no one can see that their casket has arrived."

The Obama administration this year re-opened the arrivals to journalists, provided families approve.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he was concerned that the media coverage may make families feel compelled to travel to the base, posing a possible financial hardship. The Pentagon decided to pay and help arrange travel, food and lodging for up to three people per family.