I just received this email from the NASANews email list. I've been subscribed for years and they have always sent out a mixture of news and promotional info, but with a serious tone.
I have no reason to doubt this is an official NASA press release. If so, did the Dept. of Defense give Russ Kick photos of the Columbia ceremonies at Dover in 2003 in response to his Freedom of Information Act request for pictures of casualties coming in from Iraq?
COLUMBIA CREW MISTAKENLY IDENTIFIED AS IRAQI WAR CASUALTIES
Bob Jacobs
Headquarters,Washington
April 23, 2004
(Phone: 202/358-1600)
NOTE TO EDITORS: N04-59
COLUMBIA CREW MISTAKENLY IDENTIFIED AS IRAQI WAR CASUALTIES
Many news organizations across the country are mistakenly identifying the flag-draped caskets of the Space Shuttle Columbia's crew as those of war casualties from Iraq.
Editors are being asked to confirm that the images used in news reports are in fact those of American casualties and not those of the NASA astronauts who were killed Feb.1, 2003, in the
Columbia tragedy.
An initial review of the images featured on the Internet site www.thememoryhole.org shows that more than 18 rows of images from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware are actually photographs of honors rendered to Columbia's seven astronauts.
News organizations across the world have been publishing and distributing images featured on the web site.
-end-
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