274 Servicemembers Remains

[Guest]

dumped in a Virginia Land Fill and not a one of anyone on this board seems to care. I am beginning to think that the military should not care about this country or our elected officials if these is the way the American People and the Commander In Chief cares about those that give all for this great country.
Shame on all of you. Someone needs to go to jail.

[Guest]

Far worse than anything I have heard in my lifetime.

[Guest]

dumped in a Virginia Land Fill and not a one of anyone on this board seems to care. I am beginning to think that the military should not care about this country or our elected officials if these is the way the American People and the Commander In Chief cares about those that give all for this great country.
Shame on all of you. Someone needs to go to jail.

Sure it's Obama's fault.... Never would have guessed it.

[Guest]

dumped in a Virginia Land Fill and not a one of anyone on this board seems to care. I am beginning to think that the military should not care about this country or our elected officials if these is the way the American People and the Commander In Chief cares about those that give all for this great country.
Shame on all of you. Someone needs to go to jail.

Can you provide the article...Haven't heard anything about this. :sad:

[Guest]

Here's the story....

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/08/9290603-report-air-force-dumped-remains-of-274-troops-in-landfill

[Guest]

the story was on the national news (NBC) this evening. There were inferences made to a cover up. Questions about how could those in command not know?

In the closing comments there was a statement the Air Force would apologize to the 278 families.....IF....the family called the Air Force!!!!!

This story was in the news several weeks ago and then died away while under investigation. And now that the official statements were made to the public via NBC, I suspect the government and it's mouthpiece (NBC) have done their duty.

Absolutely disgusting. How can there possibly not be an accounting and those in the know fired....regardless who it will be.

I for one will be writing to my representatives as well as Obama expressing my disgust. There needs to be an outrage and an uprising by we the people with a demand for an accounting for those who knew.

Unfortunately not enough of we the people will take the time and effort as they are not directly affected....they think. These people died to protect the freedoms and the rights we all have and take for granted.

The Air Force will apologize if the family calls!!!!!!

btk

[Guest]

Sure it's Obama's fault.... Never would have guessed it.

Never said a word about President Obama being a fault. But he is the Commander in Chief and HE needs to take the lead in this and someone needs to go to jail. Just shows the lack of respect that this administration has for those who protect and service this country.

How would you feel if this was your son, daughter, husband or wife?

[Guest]

I know that patriots out there share the anger, contempt and disgust for the way our heroes were treated. Each in our own way, feels the pain caused by a selectively incompetent, hypocritical administration who gives the world's leading terrorist and mass murderer a dignified burial at sea so as not to offend his radical Islamic followers and treats our own with conscious disrespect. We need to know who gave the orders and who covered it up. We need justice for all.

[Guest]

I work for the Air Force. Although I have nothing to do with this story nor do I work anywhere near the departments involved, I *can* tell you this. This isn't the last you've heard of this.

When someone shines a light on a discipline problem - and that's what this is, a disciplinary measure in the making - the Air Force won't listen to excuses. Someone's head is going to roll - it may just take a while.

Where I work at Hanscom AFB we get the occasional 'news blurb' of disciplinary actions on base and you can lose your career over something relatively small. You can lose your job and be discharged for things a little more severe. This? This may put people in the brig.

Oh, and for the "It's Obama's fault because he's the Commander in Chief" crowd - according to the article quoted, it stopped happening in 2008. For the calendar-impaired crowd, that's before 1/20/2009 when he took office.

But the real problem I have with this story is this.. How can the USAF know that there were 274 remains handled this way and yet claim:


"It would require a massive effort and time to recall records and research individually," Jo Ann Rooney, the Pentagon's acting undersecretary for personnel, said in a Nov. 22 letter to Rep. Rush Holt (Dem.-N.J.), who has pressured the Pentagon for information on the issue on behalf of one of his constituents, according to the newspaper.


Massive? It seems to me you already KNOW the scope of the problem. Get the records (which are available to any family member who requests them) AND LOOK IT UP!

[Guest]

I think the reactions to the story were knee-jerk reactions based only on a first emotion. I am sure Ladydoc knows of those from her work.

The story leads one to believe that 274 deceased servicemember bodies were just tossed into the dump. Read the story, folks. It says that the body fragments had been used for DNA testing and then were cremated and then disposed of. A body fragment for DNA testing is going to be a small piece - not the whole body. The cremated fragments were mixed with medical waste and taken to the disposal area.

If any of you have had an operation and had a piece of your body removed (gall bladder, appendix, etc), these are cremated and put in with medical waste. I believe the same is true for an arm or leg.

The knee-jerk reaction of "someone has to go to jail for this" and "would you be upset if this were your son or daughter" is not appropriate. The body fragments were just little parts of the body and it sounds to me as though most of the body (identified through the DNA testing of the fragments) was put into caskets and given to the families.

According to the article, which obviously was not read by the original poster, states the practice was carried out between 2003 and 2008. The cremated fragments are now buried at sea in ceremonies - which began in 2009. Um, who was President between 2003 and 2008?

[Guest]

What the above poster fails to realize is that sometimes all that is left of the deceased servicemember are pieces. That is all that the family gets back and it is a closed casket service. So yes, I am upset, that someone would think that it is garbage and dumped in a land fill. I realize when this took place, I know who was president, shame on him as well as the current occupant of the WH. I had no great love for the last one as the Iraq war was started because Sadam tried to kill his father. He used the office of the president and his presidental powers for a person reason. Shame on him and this country for allowing that.

Removing body parts in an operation and disposing of them is not the same as what this story is about. If you can't tell the difference then I have pity for you.

[Guest]

Figmo, you did not get what I wrote at all. The article stated that the DNA tested fragment was cremated and disposed of. Most of the identified body fragments went to the family. If one fragment had to be used to determine who was killed, it did it's job. The family should be happy to know it got the correct fragments and not to complain that one fragment was not returned. It is a closed casket service so the fragments only represent what was the person. I would bet that a clinical psychologist could explain it clearer than I could - ask one if you know of one.

Why shame on the current President for this practice? It was the current President who stopped this practice. The time period was 2003-2008.

This has not happened since 2008.

'Nuff said on this topic.

[Guest]

and I thought we were going to have a thread make it without the always needed, by some, Bushslapping!!!

Just exactly what value is it supposed to add to any discussion? Don't fret too hard the answer for most of us is NONE! A waste of discussion.

btk

[Guest]

BYK, What I did was to show the committed act was done during the time time period of 2003-2008. This, to me, is a non-story now about 4 years after the fact and, again to me, it was a non-issue at that point.

I interjected the time in there so no one would believe the issue was that of the current administration.