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Subscribe to RSSThe Air Force confirmed Thursday that unclaimed remains of 274 U.S. service members were disposed of in a Virginia landfill between 2003 and 2008. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
The incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops were dumped in a Virginia landfill, according to government records, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Air Force officials said that the dumping was hidden from families who had given authorization for the remains to be disposed of in a respectful and dignified manner, according to the newspaper.
There were no plans to inform families, officials told the newspaper.
New information revealed that the practice, exposed by The Washington Post in November, had become very widespread until it was halted in 2008, the newspaper reported.
Last month, Pentagon and Air Force officials said that figuring out how many remains were sent to the King George County, Va., landfill would take combing through the records of more than 6,300 troops.
Full story in the Washington Post: Air Force dumped more ashes than acknowledged
"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.
Steve Ruark / AP file
An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of a soldier on Oct. 15, 2011 at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
Holt reacted angrily to the news, the newspaper reported.
"What the hell?" he told the Post. "We spent millions, tens of millions, to find any trace of soldiers killed, and they're concerned about a 'massive' effort to go back and pull out the files and find out how many soldiers were disrespected this way?"
"They just don't want to ask questions or look very hard," he added, according to the newspaper.
According to records the military gave The Post, between 2003 and 2008, 976 fragments from 274 personnel were cremated, incinerated and dumped in the landfill. An additional 1,762 remains, which could not be DNA tested because of damage from explosions, were gathered from the battlefield and dumped in a similar manner, the Air Force told the newspaper.
The widow of an Army sergeant killed in Iraq told the newspaper she was furious when she was told how some of her husband's remains were dumped in the landfill.
"They have known that they were doing something disgusting, and they were doing everything they could to keep it from us," Gari-Lynn Smith told the newspaper. She had been pressing the military for information on the subject for four years — ever since she got a report on her husband's autopsy and learned that some of the remains had not been put in the casket for his funeral, according to The Post.
Changes in disposal policies came about after an in-depth review at Dover was ordered in 2008 by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
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" ... between 2003 and 2008, 978 fragments from 274 personnel were cremated, incinerated and dumped in the landfill."
YAY Bush Administration!!!
Sorry, but I don't see that this is an administration issue. It is a military issue that the commander who is responsible for the disposal of the remains should be held accountable. There is not any administration that would know the details of how this was being handled. To try to make this political lessens the impact of the egregious handling of parts remains of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.
First, let me state that I abhor what happened and those responsible should be held accountable. That being said, I would suggest everyone step back, take a deep breath, unwind and re-read the article. Honestly that's what I did.
The article references parts. The article is NOT about whole remains. For example, a hand, leg, arm or foot might have been retrieved in an after action sweep (I personally know several individuals who did this) and the parts sent to the medical unit. If it was soon enough and they KNOW who the part belonged to, they would evaluate the possibility of re-attachment. If not feasible, they would pack the part and send it stateside for proper disposition. Stateside, they would do the testing and contact the individual or his/her family for instructions. Personally, I wouldn't want a limb sent to me as a personal war rememberance if I lost it fighting, nor would I want to exhume a loved one to place it in the coffin with him/her.
What they did was in fact what all medical institutions do with body parts. They get creamated and disposed of.
Disgusting beyond all words!
First, fire Jo Ann Rooney, the Pentagon's acting undersecretary for personnel. And her boss! And the Secretary of the Air Force! Then demolish the Dover AFB mortuary and move the job to somewhere else where they give a damn about patriotic duty!
Take this function away from the Air Force and give it to the Marines! They understand the costs of personal sacrifice in a much more up close manner than the Air Force does. They understand Honor and Duty much more so than these Air Force bureaucrats! Disgraceful! And don't give me the crap about this just being "odds and ends" parts! They are parts of American War Dead that need to be handled every bit as respectfully as whole bodies! Does the Dover Mortuary take American flags and dump them into trash cans and the landfill when they are retired?
Next revoke the lifetime pension and benefits of that duty slacker George W. Bush, who skipped out on his Air National Guard commitments during the Vietnam War, then started a war of his own! It's his minions who took the remains of the men who fought his personal war against Saddam Hussein and dumped them in the trash! Like Jon Corzine, there is no personal accountability for those "at the top"! Plutocrats!
Osama bin Laden gets a respectful Islamic burial at sea. And then our very best are laid to rest in a *$*#@* garbage dump!?!? Who's sick nightmare is this? Why is no one being punished! I WANT JUSTICE!
I Pray everyone reads this and passes it on.
THE UNITED STATES NAVY SALUTES OUR U.S. .. MARINE CORPS....
THE MARINES WANT THIS TO ROLL ALL OVER THE U.S. , Canada and The World.
Please don't delete this until you send it on, Let's send it around the world.
FRIENDS ARE BORN, NOT MADE
This is a poem being sent from a Marine To his Dad. For those who take the time to read it, you'll see a letter from him to his dad at the bottom. It makes you truly thankful for not only the Marines, but ALL of our troops.
THE MARINE
We all came together,
Both young and old
To fight for our freedom,
To stand and be bold.
In the midst of all evil,
We stand our ground,
And we protect our country
From all terror around..
Peace and not war,
Is what some people say.
But I'll give my life,
So you can live the American way.
I give you the right
To talk of your peace.
To stand in your groups,
And protest in our streets.
But still I fight on,
I don't bitch, I don't whine.
I'm just one of the people
Who is doing your time.
I'm harder than nails,
Stronger than any machine.
I'm the immortal soldier,
I'm a U..S. MARINE!
So stand in my shoes,
And leave from your home.
Fight for the people who hate you,
With the protests they've shown.
Fight for the stranger,
Fight for the young.
So they all may have,
The greatest freedom you've won.
Fight for the sick,
Fight for the poor.
Fight for the cripple,
Who lives next door.
But when your time comes,
Do what I've done.
For if you stand up for freedom,
You'll stand when the fight's done
By: Corporal Aaron M. Gilbert , US Marine Corps
USS SAIPAN, PERSIAN GULF
July 23
Hey Dad,
Do me a favor and label this 'The Marine' and send it to everybody on your email list. Even leave this letter in it. I want this rolling all over the US and Canada and The World. I want every home reading it. Every eye seeing it. And every heart to feel it. So can you please send this for me? I would but my email time isn't that long and I don't have much time anyway.
You know what Dad? I wondered what it would be like to truly understand what JFK said in his inaugural speech. 'When the time comes to lay down my life for my country, I do not cower from this responsibility. I welcome it.' Well, now I know. And I do.. Dad, I welcome the opportunity to do what I do. Even though I have left behind a beautiful wife, and I will miss the birth of our first born child, I would do it 70 times over to fight for the place that God has made for my home. I love you all and I miss you very much. I wish I could be there when Sandi has our baby, but tell her that I love her, and Lord willing, I will be coming home soon. Give Mom a great big hug from me and give one to yourself too.
Aaron
Please let this marine (and all our military) know we care by passing his poem onto your friends even if you don't usually take time to forward mail...do it this time!
Thanks,
Let's help Aaron's dad spread the word ....... FREEDOM isn't FREE
Someone pays for you and me.
God bless you!
IN GOD WE TRUST & ONE NATION UNDER GOD
When you believe that everything has been reported that our government has done, then you read this article. How decision was stupid, and a total lack of respect for our troops.
This is a disgrace! Their remains should be respected. Surely the USAF could find other much more appropriate and deserving resting places for our fallen soldiers. WTF
Those trying to turn this into a political thing don't know how things are done in the military. The military does their own thing a lot of the time and while it is NOT right it is definitely possible things went on without Bush knowing. Though I'm not making excuses for him. A good commander in chief should have an excellent knowlege of how the military works and make it their priorty to know what's going on.
As a sister to two OIF vets, I am glad Bush did not allow the filming of bodies coming home. That's something private and personal and I know that if my brothers would have been killed, I would not have wanted them filmed. Because stuff like this happens. People start saying rude things about the soldiers, etc, etc.
By the way, you'd be surprised at how few people there are over there that hate us for coming. There were terror cells in Iraq long before the war. People were being killed for being a Kurd or a Shi'a muslim long before we ever went over there. THAT is terrorism as well not to mention genocide. My brothers actually had friendships with some of the civilians, even in the hotspots like Baghdad. However, it's only those that hate us that get facetime. Do you realize that our troops are fighting people who don't wear a uniform? The terrorists on 9/11 looked like any other muslim that day.
That being said, what the Air Force did is despicable! But that is not a reflection of the ENTIRE military. So to say that everyone in the military should be dragged out and shot, that was ONE branch. My brothers were Army. One of my brothers was injured in an IED attack and lost his leg. The leg was buried in Iraq somewhere outside of the hospital where the final steps of the amputation took place (it hadn't blown completely off, just mostly) and they made sure my brother knew what was happening to his leg. And people say the Army soldiers are the pee-ons of the military. Well at least they let my brother who was living know what they did with his leg. I imagine they let families of the dead know too.
I didn't mean to let this get so long. Just because a soldier fought in what was an unjustly motivated war doesn't make them evil. What was done to the soldiers afterwards is what was evil. And that's on the AF, not the entire military. So please, let's not generalize the entire military off of the actions that happened at one USAF base. This is not to say that what that base did wasn't horrible, it is atrocious. But to generalize the entire military like that? Well, that's probably why deceased troops were not filmed coming home, because this crap happens.
hmmm...this was done between 2003 to 2008...lets look who was in office during this time...Bush...Bush who started the war...Bush who was sending them to die...and for what...OIL...yes i can see how the GOP is a very caring party...
One has to question what was done with the soldiers unidentified body fragments of the civil war, world war I, world war II, The Korean War, Vietnam, The first Iraq war. We may need to dig up a lot of buried Presidents as well to make them answer for this.
Stunned! I just thankful they stopped in 2008. Many other atrocities were commited against survivors for a while as well. We are beginning to learn to respect soldiers and veterans a little now. I served in the Vietnam era.
Its amazing how mixed up and confused this culture has become. We have totally lost all respect for human life thus it shouldn't surprise anyone that we treat are dead in this manner. If we destroy human life in the womb why would we have any regard for lifeless bodies? If we do not make some serious changes to our current moral code we will begin to see even worse atrocities on an even larger scale
I just don't understand why the cremains could not have been scattered about existing military bases in a respectful manner... or ashes spread over the ocean? I can make room in my yard for a couple good men. No NIMBY here.
While ugly as it is, it is the part of life that no one wants to talk about or be responsiblefor. And like anythng else, we the people do not like it, but do not have an answer for something better or offer one.
I wonder who out there understands Triage; the process of determining the priority of patients treatments based on the severity of their condition.
How many of us would like for someone else to go before one of our loves one and getmedical treatment.
Lfe is ugly ands we in this Country have covered it up with right and wrong.
This is inhuman and undeserving of troops familys. I compare this right along with the holocaust.
When you send the Poor, to fight an economic war, the soldier is another resource.
When that resource is used up, it's thrown in dump. That is the agenda, of the our Congress and MiliCorp Extravaganza. Bring your sons and daughters to the show, they never come home, and if they do, they aren't the same people you knew.
They ain't no Senator's Son's and they ain't no Fortunate Ones.
10 years of funding and fighting a war for oil corporations, that's equal to them dumping these Human Beings as so much garbage.
Well, the government and Air Force had better start sifting through the remains and identify those that are in the landfills b/c I guarantee the families will not tolerate this sort of "burial". Funny how the government is caught doing all these evil things and yet here they are passing laws. How ironic is that? There is no excuse for what they're doing, especially when these people served the United States of America. Our government is heartless, greedy, and should be removed of all its current member and replace them with new ones.
Despicable!
take note this is what polaticians think of U.S America!
Recently, here in Canada, the skeletal remains of one of our WW1 dead was finally found in some forgotten forest in France and buried with dignity and honor in the War Cemetery in France for Canadian and Allie soldiers who died overseas. Even after 90 years we left no man behind and we are still looking for more from both wars that are lost.
Why is it so difficult for the American military to consider their own as precious enough to keep track of whether they are shot, killed, blown up or incinerated. They must have a record of each and everyone of these men and women who passed away fighting in Bush's wars. Why are they treated with so little regard. So what if it's just a finger, a toe nail, a piece of hair or even ashes. Each of these soldiers were living breathing human beings at one time, just like that WW1 soldier was. I have seen congressional hearings on how soldiers remains were put in the wrong burial lot, thrown in a dumpster, and I have seen video of families and veterans groups begging the government at the time to please look for their lost soldiers from Vietnam. Begging! Can you believe this? Begging of all things.
No excuses are good enough! I don't care if comments come from former troops that worked in the morgue. The Bush administration enlisted these men and women, they ordered them out, they knew when they were killed, they should make them a high priority. Come on, America. You're always bragging about how high tech you guys are. Why can't you keep track of your fighting men and women? And why do you treat them so badly.
The main parts of the blown up soldier were returned home to the family, or buried at Arlington Cemetery. These were Body fragments that could not be identified even through DNA because they were so damaged. Some of these body parts could be also the talibans, or Al Qeada body Parts from suicide bombers and such that were close to the soldiers who were blown to bits.
Reality: No where in the article does it say that some of these fragments may have belonged to Taliban and Al Qeada. These were strictly remains of U.S. soldiers.
Excuses! Always excuses! No wonder you guys have so much trouble getting anything accomplished in your country. No one wants to take responsiblity for anything. And you, reality, have Al Qeada on the brain.
I'm thinking that the media moron who investigated this and released the story is having a good laugh at all the comments here. He/she has succeeded again in stirring up the emotions of all those who jump at the opportunity to vent about anything. They will find somehow to blame it all on this politician, or that military officer. It's just another day in the media circus where all the trained animals (i.e. the readers) get to jump through all the hoops at the crack of the media whip.
It's only going to get worse as the economy continues to fail. The men and women who die in service to our nation deserve better than this. I think the next congressman/woman or other high ranking government official like someone in the oval office, if they die in office lets dump them in the trash. Only right to do so. On another note, you want to dispose of a crime? Take the human remains to the dump where there are multiple bodies already put there by the government. It will make it a bitch to figure out if a crime was committed and who was the victim. Someone needs to be held accountable for this just as someone needs to be held accountable for the death of Agent Terry, like Holder, Clinton and Obama! I am truly angered by this and the way this country is headed under the government we now have in power. Something's gotta change!!!
It is interesting that the practice stopped as soon as Obama became President.
Gotta correct myself.
It did stop before Obama became President, but it happened on Bush's watch.
These are the actions of govgoons, filled with absolute utter callous disregard for the human dignity and rights of others. So much for all the soundbites and blipverts about how much we care for our armed forces personnel and their families. This should serve as a reminder about the true ulterior motives behind such an obscene war in the first place. Just read GW Bush's lipservice, "he tried to kill my daddy". Profoundly evil.
WTmotherF? fkin chair jockeys always looking for a shortcut
Where did the families think they would be buried? If they were so concerned take care of it themselves.?
They were INCINERATED not in the human state anymore.
AS a combat Marine I was hoping for a dump in AMERICA.
Not only is this sickening, it's stupid to the max as well. With all the money our govt just pisses away, they couldn't think to build a little memorial ("Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers"), dig a hole and put the remains there? No story and everyone's happy. I swear, what does power do to people? Slap them upside the head with the stupid stick?!?