Press release from the National Security Archive: “Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005 – In response to Freedom of Information Act requests and a lawsuit, the Pentagon this week released hundreds of previously secret images of casualties returning to honor guard ceremonies from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and other conflicts, confirming that images of their flag-draped coffins are rightfully part of the public record, despite its earlier insistence that such images should be kept secret…The photos released by the Pentagon were taken by U.S. government photographers, not by journalists… These are among the most respectful images created of American casualties of war – far less wrenching than images we regularly see from the battlefield. They’re taken under carefully controlled circumstances by military photographers covering honor ceremonies.”