In 2002, an NFL player named Pat Tillman made big news when he turned down a contract worth millions and left professional football to join the US Army along with his brother. He went to Ranger school and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and was killed in action on the hunt for the Taliban. In the context of this story, I find the Pentagon’s refusal to make public the photos of the flag draped coffins of slain soldiers to be disgusting and cowardly. If Americans who see those photos feel like the sacrifice made by these soldiers is in vain, it’s not the photos that are the problem.