I
will be watching this.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...usa_names_dc_6
'Nightline' Devotes Show to Reading War Dead Names
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ted Koppel's "Nightline" will dedicate an entire broadcast to a reading of the names of American servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq.
Koppel will read aloud the names of those killed since the March 2003 start of the Iraq war on the Friday edition of ABC News "Nightline," the network said on Tuesday. The reading will be accompanied by a photograph of each person named.
While "Nightline" and other U.S. TV news broadcasts have reported regularly on those killed in Iraq, "Nightline" executive producer Leroy Sievers said: "We realized that the casualties were on their way to becoming just numbers."
"'The Fallen' is our way of reminding our viewers -- whether they agree with the war or not -- that beyond the casualty numbers, these men and women are serving in Iraq in our names. and that those who have been killed have names and faces," said Sievers.
Due to time constraints in the 30-minute program, "Nightline" will limit its reading to the approximately 523 U.S. troops killed in combat since the start of the war. Another 201 have died as a result of accidents, friendly fire or suicide.
The planned broadcast follows the controversial publication in the United States last week of hitherto restricted pictures of dozens of flag-draped coffins returning home with the bodies of U.S. troops.
A "Nightline" spokeswoman said ABC's decision was not related to the publication of the photos, and there was no political intent behind ABC's decision to read out the names of those killed in the war.
"It is purely a tribute," she said, adding that "Nightline" had been working closely with the Army Times Publishing Company which has a database of names and photographs of troops killed in action.
ABC is owned by the Walt Disney Co.
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