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April 7, 2007, 3:32PM It's a matter of dignity A father felt his son's sacrifice deserved more than a commercial flight and a forklift
By BILL POOVEY Associated Press
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RESOURCES related links Audio slideshow: Talking with father John Holley In an about-face by the U.S. government four years into the war in Iraq, America's fallen troops are being brought back to their families aboard charter jets instead of ordinary commercial flights, and the caskets are being met by honor guards in white gloves instead of baggage handlers with forklifts.
That change — which took effect quietly in January and applies to members of the U.S. military killed in Afghanistan, too — came after a campaign waged by a father who was aghast to learn that his son's body was going to be unloaded like so much luggage.
John Holley, an Army veteran from San Diego, said an airline executive told him that was the "most expeditious" way to get the body home.
"I said, 'That's not going to happen with my son. That's not how my son is coming home,'" said Holley, whose son, Spc. Matthew Holley, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2005. "If it was 'expeditious' to deliver them in garbage trucks, would you do that?"
Kalitta Charters of Ypsilanti, Mich., won the Pentagon contract to bring the war dead home, and has returned 143 bodies since Jan. 1.
About 3,500 Americans have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Before the new law was passed by Congress, the dead that arrived from overseas at the military mortuary in Dover, Del., were then typically flown to the commercial airport nearest their families.
Some were met by smartly uniformed military honor guards. But in other cases, the flag-draped caskets were just taken off the plane by ordinary ground crew members and handed over to the family at a warehouse in a cargo area.
Now, the military is flying the dead into smaller regional airports closer to their hometowns, so that they can be met by their families and, in some cases, receive community tributes. And the caskets are being borne from the plane by an honor guard.
The human touch Soldiers personally handled the coffin of Pfc. Cory C. Kosters, of The Woodlands, said his brother, Kevin.
"It does mean a lot," said Kevin Kosters. "It's more personal. It's nice to know soldiers are handling them instead of machines or tools."
Cory Kosters, 19, died in March along with five other soldiers in his unit when an improvised explosive device detonated near them during combat operations in Samarra.
The soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C.
Last year, the military spent about $1.2 million to bring home the dead on commercial flights. Switching to charter flights will cost far more: The six-month Kalitta contract is worth up to $11 million.
"It's so much more dignified, so much more a respectable way of getting them home," said Tom Bellisario, a Kalitta pilot who has flown more than 30 of the missions.
"It's definitely an honor for all of us," Bellisario said. "You figure the last time they saw that person they were alive. As soon as we pull the flag-draped casket into the doorway you hear the crying."
John Holley said he believed his 21-year-old son deserved a more dignified return than the Pentagon was planning, and complained to his congressman, then-House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. He also got help from Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
They made sure an honor guard from Holley's unit based at Fort Campbell, Ky., was sent to Lindbergh Field in San Diego for the arrival of the body. Holley said the ceremony was dignified and fitting.
Then he turned his attention to other U.S. soldiers.
"What about all these other parents?" Holley said. "This is one of the last memories. I don't want it to be in a warehouse on a forklift."
Military officials have said commercial airliners were used previously because that was the fastest way to return the dead to their families.
Perception was reality Rep. Hunter wrote a letter to then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in December 2005, calling for more appropriate military honors. Speaking from the House floor in May, Hunter said: "The extreme respect that should be afforded those fallen heroes ... has, in some cases, been lacking."
Persuaded by Hunter and others, Congress passed a law that requires the remains to be flown on a military or military-contracted aircraft. There must be an escort and an honor guard. Commercial airliners are used only if requested by families, or when remains are sent outside the United States.
"We are happy with what this has been able to provide the families and the relatives," said Pentagon spokesman Maj. Stewart Upton.
"Regardless of what the reality was, there was a perception there that the proper respect was not being provided to those who made the ultimate sacrifice," Upton said. "That is no longer a question."
The Houston Chronicle staff contributed to this report.
Posts: 6008 | From: phoenix az | Registered: Mar 2005
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I'm surprised the Administration ever brought any home. The secrecy with which they handle things is an insult to the Nation.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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