Reporters, news photographers and TV cameras are being asked to stay away from the funeral of 25-year-old Army Reserve Sgt. Brandon A. Parr, a husband and father who called his mother's house in West Valley City his home.
The funeral for Parr, who was killed in Iraq last Saturday, is expected to be a private affair.
The family's wishes are not unusual, according to Lee Price, chief of Fort Hood's Casualty Assistance Center in Texas. About half of the families he deals with in a 175-county area in North Texas choose to keep the media at bay, at least initially, while trying to grieve for their fallen service member.
"They want to deal with that as a family, not as a media circus," Price said. "Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, (media) don't capture what the soldiers really do in Iraq — what you capture is the sensationalism that gets the highlights."
Parr's family indicated early they don't want to be the "scoop of the day," according to Army spokesman Claude McKinney of the Army Reserve's 96th Regional Readiness Command in Utah.
Parr and two other sergeants with the 630th Military Police Company were killed in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device went off near their armored vehicle.
When McKinney informed local media Monday of Parr's death in Iraq, he said in a press release that the family did not wish to speak with media. McKinney has since said the family intends to never talk with reporters.
"I would not fault this family nor any family who would wish to not have media involvement in their bereaving process," he said.
Yet the media, McKinney added, can have a positive role in covering the funerals of service members. He said a story can bring honor to the military member and convey concepts of nationalism. "I think the media's presence can engender feelings of patriotism," he said.
Parr is the fifth deployed military member with Utah ties who has died overseas in 2007.
In North Texas already this year, Price has helped over 50 families through the process of laying to rest service members who have died in an accident or while training or who were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"A lot of the families want to deal with their grief in their own manner, privately," Price said.
As a military police officer, Parr's job during his two tours in Iraq included securing specific areas and routes. He was born and raised in California, but exactly where or when he'll be buried is being kept private.
"The media and public will not be invited," McKinney said in a statement Thursday. "No additional personal information will be forthcoming regarding this soldier or his family."
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com