Call it irony, call it "gotcha!" -- call it a doggone shame -- but the
Bush misadministration's policy of not allowing its war dead's return
flights and off-loaded coffins to be photographed by the media has
gone to the dogs.
It seems some of America's troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan have
been cremated next to animals at a facility that's not even a part of
the Defense Department's program for handling the remains of its
dead. And no military officers were assigned to officially observe
the processes and take possession of the remains under military
protocol.
Look upon this as just more fallout from war criminal Bush's obsession
with secrecy and media snooping.
And on the day of his daughter Jenna's wedding, this controversy
couldn't have happened at a better time!
---------------------------------
"Some War Dead Were Cremated at Facility Handling Pets"
By Ann Scott Tyson
Wa****ngton Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 10, 2008; A01
The U.S. military has, since 2001, cremated some of the remains of
American service members killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere at
a Delaware facility that also cremates pets, a practice that ended
yesterday when the Pentagon banned the arrangement.
The facility, located in an industrial park near Dover Air Force Base,
has cremated about 200 service members, manager David A. Bose
estimated last night. It uses separate crematories a few feet apart to
cremate humans and animals, he added, insisting that there had "not
been any people gone through the pet crematory."
Pentagon officials said they do not think that human remains and
animal remains were ever commingled at the facility. "We have
absolutely no evidence whatsoever at this point that any human remains
were at all ever mistreated," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell
said at a news conference hastily convened last night.
Regardless, the Pentagon will no longer permit crematories not located
with funeral homes to handle the remains of U.S. troops, defense
officials said.
Officials said they do not know the number of service members cremated
at the Kent County facility, which is identified on a billboard as
Friends Forever Pet Cremation Service.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates found "the site and signage
insensitive and entirely inappropriate for the dignified treatment of
our fallen," Morrell said. "The families of the fallen have the
secretary's deepest apology," he said.
"The secretary believes that it is inappropriate, even if though
permissible under the rules and regulations, to cremate our fallen,
our heroes, in a facility that also cremates pets," he added.
The revelation came to light when an Army officer who works at the
Pentagon traveled to Delaware on Thursday to attend the cremation of a
military comrade. Offended to discover that the facility was labeled
as a pet crematory, the officer sent an e-mail late Thursday night to
superiors at the Pentagon that included a photograph of the signage.
It soon rocketed to the attention of Gates, who directed David S.C.
Chu, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, to
conduct "a comprehensive review of existing DOD policies and practices
governing the cremation and handling of remains of U.S. service
members," Morrell said.
Army leaders, meanwhile, briefed members of Congress about the e-mail
yesterday morning. The lawmakers, an Army spokeswoman said, "were as
concerned as we were," and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) subsequently
sent a letter to Gates, "raising the same concerns the secretary of
defense had when he learned of it from the Army."
Bose said the Army officer "got in a huff because he saw the sign and
went back and really stirred up the pot." The officer attended the
cremation because no relatives of the deceased soldier were present,
Bose said, adding that the officer left without speaking to him or
asking any questions.
Bose said that Capitol Crematory and Friends Forever Pet Cremation
Service owns one pet crematory that is square and too small for most
humans, who are cremated in two larger, rectangular crematories in the
same room.
The Air Force has no crematory facility at Dover Air Force Base, where
the Dover ****t mortuary handles the remains of all U.S. service
members who die overseas. As a result, in 2001 Air Force officials
contracted with two local funeral homes to perform cremations,
including with Torbert Funeral Chapels and Crematories, which oversees
the facility managed by Bose, and another crematory that is located
with a funeral home.
Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, director of the Air Force Staff, said he does
not know whether any military officer had ever inspected the
contracted crematories. "That is something which we need to take a
look at," he said.
Typically, Bose said, service members would drop off remains at his
crematory after he signed the paperwork for them, and would return the
next day to sign for and pick up the cremains.
That would be contrary to the normal procedure described by Klotz, in
which the military provides an escort for all service members killed
overseas during trans****t to the United States, and again after
"medical processing" at the Dover mortuary as the deceased returns
home for interment.
Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne directed yesterday that the
service "cease using the off-site crematory, use only crematory
facilities that are co-located with licensed funeral homes, and have a
military presence during the off-base process at the funeral home
facilities," Morrell said.
Military officials said they are concerned that the new requirements,
such as that the crematory be located with a funeral home, could slow
the cremation process.
"Dover is a relatively small city . . . so there is a limitation in
terms of the number of facilities that could do that," he said.
Even the suggestion of impropriety with cremations touched a raw nerve
at the Pentagon.
Military culture instills that showing respect for the fallen is an
extremely im****tant and solemn duty. Funerary rituals such as removing
flags from military caskets and presenting them to the deceased's
family are carried out meticulously, while other demonstrations of
respect include personally delivering news of the loss of a loved one
to the next of kin.
The officer who went to Delaware did so "to be a physical presence, to
be a part of that bond that is so unique to this warrior ethos in our
profession," Lt. Gen. David H. Huntoon Jr., director of the Army
Staff, said. Instead, he said, the officer found conditions that he
considered "insensitive."
http://www.wa****ngtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050902334.html
|
