Woman: Soldier's Casket on Baggage Cart
Georgies Colatoral Damage.
The Army is investigating a woman's claim that a soldier's flag-draped casket was placed in an airport baggage cart with other luggage while being transferred between airline flights.
"The Army is always concerned with treating all of our fallen comrades' remains with the utmost dignity and respect," spokesman Lt. Col. Kevin Arata said in a statement Thursday.
Cynthia Hoag, 56, a former Army reservist, said she was waiting for a flight at Rochester International Airport on Oct. 27 when she saw the coffin taken off a commercial flight along with passengers' luggage. A uniformed soldier accompanied the coffin as it was placed in a baggage car and transported to another flight, she said.
"At the very least, couldn't there have been a hearse to transport the fallen soldier?" Hoag asked in an essay in Tuesday's Democrat and Chronicle newspaper. "At the very least, couldn't there have been a group of soldiers to receive one of their own?
"The Army is always concerned with treating all of our fallen comrades' remains with the utmost dignity and respect," spokesman Lt. Col. Kevin Arata said in a statement Thursday.
Cynthia Hoag, 56, a former Army reservist, said she was waiting for a flight at Rochester International Airport on Oct. 27 when she saw the coffin taken off a commercial flight along with passengers' luggage. A uniformed soldier accompanied the coffin as it was placed in a baggage car and transported to another flight, she said.
"At the very least, couldn't there have been a hearse to transport the fallen soldier?" Hoag asked in an essay in Tuesday's Democrat and Chronicle newspaper. "At the very least, couldn't there have been a group of soldiers to receive one of their own?
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 8:11 PM
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Army Review of Allegations in Rochester Newspaper
About Soldier Remains Allegedly Being Placed With Luggage at Airport
The November 30, 2006, “Rochester, NY., Democrat and Chronicle” ran an opinion-editorial and a news story indicating that a local citizen had seen a container with the remains of one of our fallen Soldiers removed from a commercial flight there and then placed in a baggage cart with other luggage. This was an inaccurate observation and story.
The Army’ immediately reviewed details of that October 27, 2006, flight mission. The findings show something quite different than what was reported in the press:
The military escort for that fallen Soldier was a Sergeant First Class was an experienced veteran who had performed four previous escort missions. He linked up with the fallen Soldier at Dover, Del., and received a briefing on his responsibilities.
The Air Force had coordinated and booked the flight with the airline.
The Army’s casualty affairs case manager had prepared the funeral home for receipt of remains, a funeral home selected by the Soldier’s family.
The hearse arrived at the airport early, was directed to a cargo area and positioned itself at the required safe distance from aircraft. When the flight arrived at Rochester Airport, the escort informed the ground crew that he was escorting remains and was on-site to ensure proper procedures were followed.
The ground crew removed luggage to reposition the remains for off-loading.
The escort checked the cargo-hold, verifying the container was positioned correctly. Returning to the flight line, he supervised unloading onto an empty transport, an empty baggage cart, rendering honors at that time. The escort then accompanied the remains in the baggage cart to the hearse. He was very clear in his report that at no time were the Soldier's remains co-mingled with other baggage.
The funeral home also verified that there was no baggage in the airport cart when it was opened to transfer the remains.
The U.S. Army’s warrior ethos includes “I will never leave a fallen comrade.” This means not only never leaving a buddy in need, not only always recovering our comrades from the field of battle, but also ensuring the proper return of their remains and personal possessions to their families with great care and compassion. This begins with the Soldier’s unit in the combat zone, and includes the work of military medical and mortuary experts at Dover, Del., and an array of escort, notification, and casualty support officers. At each step, we strive to treat our fallen comrades with faultless dignity and respect.
The Army takes feedback from our Army families, the public, and the media very seriously. It helps us improve our conduct of this vital mission. Addressing unsubstantiated claims without first checking for the facts, in particular when a family is in mourning, is inappropriate to say the least. Our military families deserve to know the facts first, presented in-person, in a dignified setting and not from a media source.
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