"The Defense Department will allow families of U.S. troops and others killed in Iraq to watch their loved ones' coffins be removed from military transport planes at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, according to a memo issued last month. The Pentagon said it would allow soldiers' next of kin or a "designated representative" to attend as remains are transferred from planes to vehicles that carry them to the mortuary.

"Charles Abell, a deputy undersecretary of Defense, said that although the Pentagon does not encourage families to visit Dover, it has never barred them. A spokeswoman for the Dover base, however, said that before the memo, families were prohibited from watching the transfers.