"It was a sobering reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every single day, not only our troops but their families as well," Obama said from the White House, reflecting briefly on his surprise middle-of-the-night trip to Dover Air Force Base to observe the return of the fallen Americans to the United States.

Speaking softly and somewhat haltingly, Obama said losses such as these are "something that I think about each and every day."

Asked whether the somber experience - watching cases carrying the remains come off a giant C-17 cargo plane one by one in the darkness and meeting privately with families so fresh in their grief - will affect his overhaul of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, Obama didn't hesitate to say that it would. But neither did he elaborate.

"The burden that both our troops and their families bear in any wartime situation is going to bear on how I see these conflicts," he said, adding nothing more.

An 18-year ban on coverage of Dover homecomings, dating to the 1991 Gulf War and strengthened by former President George W. Bush, was relaxed this year under Obama's watch. Now, families get to decide whether cameras can document the return. Nearly two-thirds have said yes to the media and even more to coverage by Pentagon cameras.

In this case, the return of only one of the 18 was open to the media.

His name was Dale R. Griffin, an Army sergeant from Terre Haute, Ind., and a top wrestler in high school and in college at Virginia Military Institute. He was remembered yesterday by friends and a former coach as particularly tenacious. Vigo County, Ind., Judge Chris Newton, a family friend, described him as "unbelievably tough and resilient."

It is unclear why the other families declined coverage.

But none who came to Dover had been told that Obama was coming until they were already there, so his planned presence was not a factor, said Dover spokesman Air Force Maj. Carl Grusnick.

The wife of Army Pfc. Brian Bates, who died Tuesday in Afghanistan, said she changed her mind and decided against allowing coverage after learning by phone about 11 p.m. EDT Wednesday that Obama would attend.

"Brian met the president, and that's all that matters," Enjolie Bates, who was not at Dover for the transfer, said in a telephone interview from her home in Lakewood, Wash. "I know he would like that. We didn't need to broadcast it to the world."

Both Marine Col. David Lapan, the Pentagon's public-affairs director, and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said there was no suggestion from the government for the families to lean either way on media coverage.

Griffin's remains were the last to be carried past the president. It was not quite 4 a.m. The sky was black and a yellowish light came from poles flanking the plane. The only sounds were a whirring power unit on the plane and the clicking of cameras. The president saluted as Griffin's case came down the ramp.

By 4:45 a.m., five hours after leaving the White House, Obama had touched back down on the South Lawn. He walked inside, alone.