This Time Magazine photo of a flight arrived in Reno, NV suggests that there is indeed dignity associated with the transport of remains.
http://www.time.com/time/yip/2005/
Posted on 12/15/2005 2:04:02 PM PST by robowombat
Army defends transporting of dead to U.S. on commercial flights
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes European edition, Wednesday, December 14, 2005
WASHINGTON — Defense officials confirmed this week that the bodies of deceased troops are usually transported as freight on commercial airlines, but they insisted the practice is not unusual or disrespectful.
The practice came under scrutiny this week after Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., helped arrange an honor guard to welcome the body of a San Diego soldier, Spc. Matthew Holley, killed in Iraq in mid-November.
His family contacted the senator after being upset by Army plans to deliver his remains without formal ceremony via a commercial airport, and after the airline denied them permission to have members of their son’s unit unload his casket.
Shari Lawrence, deputy public affairs officer for Army Human Resources, said military aircraft are prohibited, legally, from providing services already available through commercial flyers, as spelled out in laws governing noncompetition between the military and the private sector.
“We don’t expect everyone to be happy about that,” she said. “We do have families who get upset, and we tell them it’s OK to be mad at us. … But it’s part of public law.”
In a separate statement, a defense official said the practice is “not at all disrespectful” and that commercial airlines “have historically been able to bring our fallen heroes home more quickly than if moved aboard military airlift.”
Lawrence said the bodies of nearly all troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are brought to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for identification and preparation of the remains, then sent to their final resting place from there.
Defense officials said every body that leaves Dover is accompanied by an escort, either a servicemember or a member of the deceased’s family.
If the family is within a day’s drive of Delaware, the body is usually driven to the appropriate funeral home. If not, the casket is usually driven to Philadelphia International Airport, and a domestic flyer is paid by the department to carry the body.
Lawrence said the procedure mirrors what would happen if a civilian casket was being transported. The military coffin is loaded into a shipping case, and the escort accompanies the body until a family member or a funeral home takes over.
Contrary to popular belief, the Army does not have a formal ceremony for when the bodies of soldiers arrive at the base or when they are delivered to the family, she said.
“If the Army is going to pay its respects, that would be at the funeral or a memorial service,” Lawrence said.
Bernard Edelman, an associate director with the Vietnam Veterans of America, said during that war, bodies were returned to both Dover and Oakland Army Base in California, and traveled on commercial flights and trains from there to the servicemember’s hometown.
“In any case, it has to be terribly difficult for the family,” he said. “But the body does get home, and that’s something.”
Boxer has sent a letter to Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey for an investigation into this case, noting that she “would like to spare other families from this terrible experience.”
I'm not quite grasping the problem here. How do they want them to be transported home, in First Class???
Ask yourself this, if a member of your family died overseas, how would you get the body home? I would think via commercial carrier. I don't think this shows any disrespect, and believe me, I have the highest regard for all the members of our armed services.
I think you are right that someone is just trying to stir the pot. Probably a politician. I'd forgive just about anything the family said or did in midst of their grief.
Boxer: SB/DD
Same Bitch / Different Day
I prefer SC/DD.
This is a partisan sliming attempt, using our war dead as a instrument.
It makes me angry.
This is the way the military has done this unfortunate task for as long as anyone can remember. My dad was shipped to Arlington in a cargo hold of a civilian airliner. So what? I know it is different when it is a son, daughter, husband or wife killed in the line of duty, but the military treats its dead with as much respect as is possible.
This is just a political attack. No wonder the military hates liberals for the most part. They see through this.
Agreed
I've had some personal experience of how these remains are treated, and you wouldn't believe the care and respect that goes into the handling and preparation of the bodies. The fact that they're being shipped as "freight" to their home locations is nothing more than a matter of semantics. There's no problem with custom transport to a processing center, but it would be absolutely impractical to arrange special transport for each set of remains to specific locations all over the country. There's nothing at all disrespectful about it, except perhaps in the eyes of those who seize upon every opportunity to discredit the military.
Did she mention that all (I know for a fact that the Marines do this)are escorted to their final destination?
I thought they were bitching about them being returned on military aircraft to Dover. Now the bitch is that they are returned on commercial air?
Did she mention that all (I know for a fact that the Marines do this)are escorted to their final destination?
Every single one is even in peacetime.
All the services escort the fallen home.
The casualty notification process and the ensuing procedures are strictly controlled in order to prevent politicians, like Boxer, from doing exactly what she's doing. Just shows you can't keep the bitch down.
What is to investigate? This is standard policy. It is not disrespectful or inappropriate.
Barbara Boxer is proof that being stupid is no barrier to success in this great country.
This Time Magazine photo of a flight arrived in Reno, NV suggests that there is indeed dignity associated with the transport of remains.
http://www.time.com/time/yip/2005/
Yep, I did escort duty once.
I'm surprised they were able to muster up an honor guard on such short notice. They must have been already been performing honors at a funeral to get organized, get in the proper uniform, and out to the airport so quickly.
So I am speaking from personal experience.
Regardless of military service or not, HR's (Human Remains) are not considered "Freight". Throughout the air freight industry, HR's are handled with utmost respect.
Furthermore, everything that goes into the airplane has a priority:
1) Passengers
2) Luggage
3) HR's
4) Mail
5) Freight
6) COMAT (Company Materials)
Why is this important? During Christmas season there's tons more mail in the air than any other time of the year. All those cards and gifts! Plus people carry more luggage with winter clothing and more gifts. When planes are full, what do you think get's bumped? (left behind)
Starting with COMAT, the lower priority stuff gets bumped. I have never seen an HR left behind.
HR's are not FREIGHT.
Former Military Chick addresses this aptly here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1539363/posts long read, but definitly worth it!
The demoncrats are becoming predictable and repetitive. This is similar to the criticism that Rumsfeld wasn't personally signing condolence letters.
When things go well for the president (oh, like an election in Iraq for example), the usual suspects have to counter with something negative. Even though the shipment of bodies, civilian or military via air carrier is perfectly normal, Boxer infers something that isn't there with her "terrible experience" comment.
I think that actually supporting the president and the troops would be her "terrible experience".
Defense officials *shouldn't have to defend this practice*. But somehow, any time a Dem manages to distort something, the accused do have to defend themselves.
And the accusations can get really flimsy, like this one. What's next? Our military are making Iraqi kids fat by giving them candy?
The Marine Corps has a uniform policy for escorting the remains of deceased Marines home and to their final place of rest: MARADMIN 057/05
the Army does not have a formal ceremony for when the bodies of soldiers arrive at the base or when they are delivered to the family
Therein lies the problem. Perhaps now the Army will be embarrassed into action.
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