Remains of Soldiers---Treated Like Trash

I guess we can all define "respect, dignity and appropriate" in different ways.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nati...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/n...

I write this blog today with a heavy heart. Since the story broke, I have gone through the debate with myself on to write vs. not to write on this topic. This story makes me physically ill and so sad for the families involved. I cannot believe that the United States Air Force and our Congress/Elected Officials felt it would be "acceptable" to dispose of human remains of fallen heroes in a landfill over a period of many years. To throw away fallen heroes this way is so sad.

What is even sadder is that these families thought that the remains of their loved ones would be treated with dignity and respect. These families who only received portions of their loved ones remains back thought that any remaining portions of their bodies---if found---would be disposed of in a dignified and respectful manner. Wow, what a shock to find out what really happened and without their permission or authorization!

Below are statements from the first link:

"...Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta supports the Air Force's handling of the scandals, spokesmen from the Pentagon said. Panetta also agrees with the Air Force's decision not to notify relatives of the 274 fallen service members whose body fragments were incinerated and secretly dumped in the landfill, Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters..."

"...The secretary is comfortable with the way the Air Force has handled this," Kirby told reporters at a news conference. Kirby said there were "real constraints" that restrict the Air Force from notifying relatives of the dead troops. Air Force officials said each of the families signed forms stipulating that they did not wish to be notified if additional remains were subsequently recovered or identified..."

..."The forms authorized the military to dispose of those remains in an "appropriate manner." The families were not told that the remains would be cremated, incinerated and dumped in a landfill..."

Some may be offended by my next statement and no disrespect is intended on my part. I love my animals. When one of our smaller animals has died, we have them cremated (our choice as opposed to burial or the landfill). When you have your loved one (pet) cremated, the company asks if you want the ashes back or if you prefer you can donate the ashes to be spread in local parks (the remains are a very safe form of fertilizer). Either way, you sign a form with respect to intent. My point is this. We treat our fallen animals with more dignity and respect than the men and women who have given their lives to fight a war that was never our war to fight and a war that will never be won only to have their remains thrown away like common household trash! What the heck folks?

What should scare anyone who reads this even more is that our Government and policy makers within the United States Air Force found this act to be "appropriate." We can also be pretty sure that they have lied as far as how many remains went to this landfill and over what period of time and when/if that policy really has/was changed. Many families will never even know! How is this "appropriate?"

I do not know about the rest of you but this makes me want to vomit---it sickens me to think that this is what this country has come to and that this falls into a category of "appropriate" or "acceptable." It also sickens me that these families were not made aware of the situation and given the choice of what to do with their loved ones remains.

This is how we treat our Vets! This is how we treat the people who fight for our freedoms. We should all be ashamed and outraged. DISGUSTING!!!