Koppel continues tribute to war dead

ABC News’ “Nightline” will follow its controversial tribute to U.S. troops killed in Iraq with a similar reading tonight of the names of 122 service people killed in the war on terror, mostly in Afghanistan.

Anchor Ted Koppel will read the names at the end of the broadcast, which will largely focus on the elite Army unit that guards the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery. The names of those killed since October 2001, when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, will be shown on screen, along with their military branch, rank and age, but no pictures.

“Nightline’s” April 30 Iraq tribute, called “The Fallen,” was preempted by about 10 ABC affiliates across the country, including seven owned by the Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair said the show was “motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.” Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.), who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was among those who criticized Sinclair’s refusal to air it.

Sinclair executives didn’t immediately respond to calls about whether the company plans to air tonight’s broadcast. A “Nightline” spokeswoman said the network was unaware of any planned preemptions.

Some others complained that “Nightline” hadn’t included troops killed in the war on terror among “The Fallen.” Leroy Sievers, the program’s executive producer, said time limits prevented that then, but “Nightline” always planned to come back to those killed in Afghanistan. “We can’t do the entire story every time,” he said.

“Nightline” isn’t including photographs this time, he said, because they weren’t able to find enough of them.

ABC isn’t alone in honoring fallen U.S. service people this Memorial Day weekend. The comic strip “Doonesbury” on Sunday will list more than 700 names of those killed in Iraq. A spokeswoman for Universal Press Syndicate, the comic strip’s distributor, said the company is unaware of any newspapers that won’t carry the Sunday strip.