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I was on a plane once and the pilot announced we are carrying the body of Lt ------. to his home of wherever.
Let's have a minute of silence in his memory.
When we landed, they asked us to stay seated till his body was removed. We could see his family waiting and them taking his body off the plane, casket wrapped in a flag.
No one said a word, no phone calls, very quiet with some people crying including me. This must of been about 2003.
I was on a plane once and the pilot announced we are carrying the body of Lt ------. to his home of wherever.
Let's have a minute of silence in his memory.
When we landed, they asked us to stay seated till his body was removed. We could see his family waiting and them taking his body off the plane, casket wrapped in a flag.
No one said a word, no phone calls, very quiet with some people crying including me. This must of been about 2003.
2003 was an interesting time in my life. 28 years in uniform and my first combat zone mission. My wife stopped watching the news but got a letter from me almost everyday. To this day she still has 3 shoe boxes filled with my letters home. We were there for a year.
I lost one friend there oddly enough to non-combat accident. We brought all our soldiers home safe but I remember that entire year vividly as if it were a foggy dream now.
Oh thank you foundapeanut for the story. I have been on several flights with returning service members being taken home for the last time. It is in my mind one of the most solemn moments I can ever think of.
This brings me to another point about some lady who went on to FB to moan about being too much of a coward to stand up and sing the national anthem as a service member's casket was either brought on or off the flight she was on. A lot of my friends thought this was so important to send to me to make this video go viral.
To me this is not only unnecessary but too much over the top. What should happen each time this occurs is that passengers should stand quietly and reverently as this is going on. No one should be singing or reciting the "Pledge". A salute by current and former military members is good but honestly folks let the solemn occasion pass without bringing attention to yourself if you are not NOK. Even the service members tasked with the duty, do it with the utmost respect and reverence.
There is no reason to spend the money to return bodies. It would be far less expensive to dispose of them as close as possible to place of death. Cremation is the cheapest and easiest. People could be notified of this when they enlist.
There is no reason to spend the money to return bodies. It would be far less expensive to dispose of them as close as possible to place of death. Cremation is the cheapest and easiest. People could be notified of this when they enlist.
Corpses are dead.
Disagree. Family members want a proper burial, perhaps in a national cemetery with the option of visiting the burial site for years to come.
There is no reason to spend the money to return bodies. It would be far less expensive to dispose of them as close as possible to place of death. Cremation is the cheapest and easiest. People could be notified of this when they enlist.
Corpses are dead.
Pretty cold and calculating aren't you? As a practical matter it would be cheaper. However it goes against our better nature. It goes against our creed as soldiers and marines to leave a fallen comrade behind. It may have been done in centuries past but it has not been done in mass since WWII. At the time it would have been quite a site to see how many of our loved ones died on the shore of Normandy. I think having all of those bodies brought home might have changed the outcome of the war.
No one wants to die for their country. But we are willing to in order to protect and defend our country. With advances in how we fight and how we treat soldiers on the battle field losses such as we had in WWII probably will be avoided. In fact it was Korea that began the change in how the wounded and dead were picked up and treated.
There is no reason to spend the money to return bodies. It would be far less expensive to dispose of them as close as possible to place of death. Cremation is the cheapest and easiest. People could be notified of this when they enlist.
Corpses are dead.
With all the money the DoD spends, returning bodies is a pittance. It pays off, however, in increased psychological acceptability of military service and risk.
There is no reason to spend the money to return bodies. It would be far less expensive to dispose of them as close as possible to place of death. Cremation is the cheapest and easiest. People could be notified of this when they enlist.
Corpses are dead.
Remember the care taken after Osama bin Laden's body was positively identified? We also recruit from communities whose surviving family members also care about the treatment of remains and just as we give pensions we do try our best not to throw out the concerns of those surviving family of the one who made the greatest sacrifice for us.
2003 was an interesting time in my life. 28 years in uniform and my first combat zone mission. My wife stopped watching the news but got a letter from me almost everyday. To this day she still has 3 shoe boxes filled with my letters home. We were there for a year.
I lost one friend there oddly enough to non-combat accident. We brought all our soldiers home safe but I remember that entire year vividly as if it were a foggy dream now.
Oh thank you foundapeanut for the story. I have been on several flights with returning service members being taken home for the last time. It is in my mind one of the most solemn moments I can ever think of.
I have to say there was a different feel to the flight. Sort of took the wind out of all on board. Kept thinking he's probably someone's husband and some kid's dad. Kept thinking about him being in the cargo hold and he deserved better than being with our suitcases. Sure enough a young woman, 2 sets of parents and a couple of kids were waiting for him.
I never met the man but I will never forget him now.
There is no reason to spend the money to return bodies. It would be far less expensive to dispose of them as close as possible to place of death. Cremation is the cheapest and easiest. People could be notified of this when they enlist.
Corpses are dead.
I beg to differ. I think there is so much waste in the military budget(Pentagon has a budget of $600B with a BILLION) and the amount spent on bringing those who served the country would be minimal.
That said, do you know the cost to bring a casket? Does military publish those figures?
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