Brave Mother Wants Her Son's Casket Shown

From CNN:<

The mother of a soldier killed in Iraq invited news coverage of the arrival of her son's flag-draped casket at Sacramento International Airport.

Nearly a dozen reporters, photographers and television crews were present when the coffin of Army Sgt. Patrick McCaffrey, 34, was transferred to a hearse outside a cargo terminal late Sunday.

The scene was in stark contrast with Pentagon policy banning photographs of the coffins of dead military personnel while they are on military facilities.

McCaffrey "did not die for nothing. ... The way he lived needs to be talked about. Patrick was not a fighter, he was a peacemaker," his mother, Nadia McCaffrey, told the Los Angeles Times.

"I wanted his body to be coming home, so I just decided to do it this way. It just happened," she added Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America."

While she said the invitation to the media wasn't a political protest, she planned to continue speaking out against the war.

My heart and best wishes go out to the McCaffrey family. And no, your son did not die in vain. Not every soldier is a warrior. In fact, a seasoned soldier once told me the best soldiers make peace because they know in their soul what war means in a way the rest of us cannot.