To the editor:

The Bush administration has denied Americans access to the return of our dead children killed in Iraq, saying the decision was based on respect for their sacrifice and for the families’ privacy.

Dover, Del., where the bodies are returned, is a short drive north of the White House. Perhaps President Bush, on behalf of a grateful nation, should pay all of our respects to the returning dead. Every day, in the early morning hours, he could motorcade out to the military base to meet the scheduled Air Force transport aircraft from Baghdad packed with flag-draped coffins. There, in the darkness, he could bow his head and say a sincere “Thank you for your sacrifice from a grateful nation” as each of the coffins is carried down the ramp. Or, better yet, “I’m sorry.”

Curtis D. Bennett,

Lawrence