March 30, 2012 - On Friday, the military released documents that explain how incinerated partial remains of 9/11 victims went into a landfill. Some officers from the Dover Air Force Base mortuary wanted a burial at sea overseen by a chaplain, but instead the remains were declared medical waste.
The Dover mortuary has also been accused of mishandling the remains of fallen troops. One man tried to stop it, but he paid a price. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin has his story.
It is a grim and solemn sight: flag-draped caskets coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
But unseen is an even grimmer fact: Many of the bodies inside those caskets have been blown to pieces.
As chief mortician at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Bill Zwicharowski prepared those remains for return to their families.
"It's a hard job," he said. "In addition to the stress -- the daily stress -- we're in a zero-defect mission and we can't make a mistake."
But there was a mistake in April 2009: The mortuary lost part of a soldier's ankle. The commander, Col. Robert Edmondson, ordered an investigation.
"I explained what I thought was wrong," said Zwicharowski, "and then I asked the question, 'Are you going to notify the family? And if not, why not?', and I think that was a question that really hit a nerve." read More>>>
March 30, 2012 – Defense Department leaders are determined to be as transparent as possible about military mortuary operations, a group of senior defense and military officials said here today.
Jo Ann Rooney, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, briefed Pentagon reporters on the release of “Appendix E” documents, which were examined during the Defense Health Board’s Independent Review Subcommittee.
The appendix details records of operations at Dover Port Mortuary, Del., from 1990 to 2012. The Dover mortuary handles remains of service members who die overseas, and also responds as needed to mass casualty events.
Members of the subcommittee, which was led by retired Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, released their report in late February. The panel recommended 20 recommendations for further changes at the facility. read more>>>
Casualty & Mortuary Affairs: A review of the release of documents for the Dover Port Mortuary Timeline from the Defense Health Board's Independent Review Subcommittee.
No comments:
Post a Comment