I had burial detail twice in 3 years in Hawaii. Casket crew both times. Yeah Cyg, folding "Ol Glory" in dress gloves is not easy.
One soldier we took to rest was just feet away from the resting place of Ellison Onizuka.(sp)
Veterans' Thread
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Walkinghairball
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I was on sea burial detail. Not as high-profile as other branches, but interesting just the same.Walkinghairball wrote:I had burial detail twice in 3 years in Hawaii. Casket crew both times. Yeah Cyg, folding "Ol Glory" in dress gloves is not easy.
One soldier we took to rest was just feet away from the resting place of Ellison Onizuka.(sp)
Don't start none...won't be none.
This was recently posted on www.Military.com
Soldier's Casket on Baggage Cart
Associated Press | December 01, 2006
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - 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.
Cyg's Note: Nice. Helluva way for a fallen hero to come home.
"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?
"It was a very sobering, sad experience for all of us," wrote Hoag, who said she witnessed the episode from a terminal window while waiting for a flight along with her sister-in-law and two friends. "Please don't let this happen again to any Soldier. Let's not treat our fallen troops like baggage."
Cyg's Note: AMEN Lady. The Army needs to tighten up and get squared away. No WAY that would happen in the USMC or Navy. I hope the talking heads read this. What a disgrace.
Her account prompted Monroe County's executive, Maggie Brooks, to write a letter of her own to the Pentagon, asking it to change the policy for transporting the coffins of war casualties.
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Cynthia Smith, said Hoag's description doesn't correlate with military procedure.
Remains of Soldiers killed in Iraq are taken to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, then usually flown to a Soldier's home, Smith said. Military escorts accompany each flight and when a casket reaches the home area, it is met by an honor guard of two people and then transported to a funeral home, she said.
Airport director David Damelio disputed Hoag's claims, saying a coffin wouldn't fit into a cart loaded with luggage.
Calls to Hoag's home in Dansville, 50 miles south of Rochester, went unanswered Thursday.
Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion.
Soldier's Casket on Baggage Cart
Associated Press | December 01, 2006
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - 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.
Cyg's Note: Nice. Helluva way for a fallen hero to come home.
"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?
"It was a very sobering, sad experience for all of us," wrote Hoag, who said she witnessed the episode from a terminal window while waiting for a flight along with her sister-in-law and two friends. "Please don't let this happen again to any Soldier. Let's not treat our fallen troops like baggage."
Cyg's Note: AMEN Lady. The Army needs to tighten up and get squared away. No WAY that would happen in the USMC or Navy. I hope the talking heads read this. What a disgrace.
Her account prompted Monroe County's executive, Maggie Brooks, to write a letter of her own to the Pentagon, asking it to change the policy for transporting the coffins of war casualties.
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Cynthia Smith, said Hoag's description doesn't correlate with military procedure.
Remains of Soldiers killed in Iraq are taken to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, then usually flown to a Soldier's home, Smith said. Military escorts accompany each flight and when a casket reaches the home area, it is met by an honor guard of two people and then transported to a funeral home, she said.
Airport director David Damelio disputed Hoag's claims, saying a coffin wouldn't fit into a cart loaded with luggage.
Calls to Hoag's home in Dansville, 50 miles south of Rochester, went unanswered Thursday.
Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion.
Don't start none...won't be none.
CygnusX1 wrote:
was it a USMC Honor Guard? Man, those guys/gals do it right. They snapped the flag around during final inspection before "present arms".
How they do that with parade gloves on is beyond me.
My condolences t. I thank him for his service to our country.
Thanks, Siggs. I wasn't really close to this man, but our family knew him well enough that we wanted to "say goodbye."
These guys were Navy. One thing I like is that you don't have to be a big whig in the military to be given such respect at your funeral. This guy was just an ordinary 4-year man, but still the Navy sent people to honor him in his death.
Onward and Upward!
*siiiiiiiiiiiiigh*CygnusX1 wrote:This was recently posted on www.Military.com
Soldier's Casket on Baggage Cart
Associated Press | December 01, 2006
Onward and Upward!
Must be awful what these vets have experienced over there in Iraq and stuff...I recently saw a program about it on TV here...It was about folks who came home wounded, earlier...It still bugs me that there is so little aftercare for them when they come home. This is the same here, they ask you to go, for the good cause and stuff...and you will be a hero when you come back! uh-uh...no sir!
It isn't that way for all our guys who come back though. Programs like that focus on all the things gone bad, but do they tell you about the old vietnam era woman who is getting total care still to this day? No. Stories like that don't charge people up and make them angry. Do they talk about the vet who learns how to paint with his a brush held in his teeth and show his art work that he learned to do only after his arms were blown off? No. If they showed that, then they would be showing both sides of the story and they are only showing one.
Onward and Upward!
What I was wondering about the most though...every single of them, wounded, permanently damaged or not...they all wanted to go back...some for revenge, some for the reason that they would do as they were told etc. etc. I guess it has much to do with the fact that the army and all the circumstances around it, has became a significant part of their life...it almost seemed like they couldn't fit in this non army world anymore...odd eh?
Or maybe because they belive in the mission they were on when they were injured?DutchRush wrote:What I was wondering about the most though...every single of them, wounded, permanently damaged or not...they all wanted to go back...some for revenge, some for the reason that they would do as they were told etc. etc. I guess it has much to do with the fact that the army and all the circumstances around it, has became a significant part of their life...it almost seemed like they couldn't fit in this non army world anymore...odd eh?
Onward and Upward!