General: Ashes from service members' remains went to landfill

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General: Ashes from service members' remains went to landfill

(CNN) -- The ashes of cremated body parts from some of the nation's war dead were dumped in landfills until 2008, unbeknownst to their survivors, an Air Force general acknowledged Wednesday.
The practice was stopped, and remains from cremated body parts now are disposed of at sea, Air Force Chief of Public Affairs Brig. Gen. Les Kodlick said.
The landfill disposal of the ashes was first reported in The Washington Post.
Kodlick issued a statement describing instances prior to 2008 when families had authorized portions of remains to be disposed of. Another Air Force official, speaking on background, emphasized that these situations did not involve bodies but "parts of bone and other DNA material."

Military escorts accompanied the remains to a crematorium near Dover Air Force Base Mortuary, which processes remains of service members killed overseas, the statement said.

After cremation, the ashes were escorted back to Dover, Kodlick said, and then turned over to a contractor "for further incineration and disposition in accordance with medical disposition."

"The common practice was that any residual matter remaining after incineration was disposed of by the contractor in a landfill," Kodlick said.
"We could have done it better," he said.
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Source: General: Ashes from service members' remains went to landfill - CNN.com

Unbelievable.
 
Golly. :shock: This is as bad as the TRI-State Crematory scandal a few years ago.
 
That's a real shame. :mad:
 
Another Legacy of the Bush Administration
 
TheWriteAlex said:
Another Legacy of the Bush Administration
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It shows how much respect the government had for the soldiers. It's insulting that the politicians get health and pension benefits for life while the soldiers get peanuts or nothing at all. The soldiers did much more for the country than the politicians ever will.

The politicians don't have to make sacrifices.
 
have they no shame?
 
It's hard to comprehend something like this. How could they do this to their own people? Disposed of as if they are no more than garbage?

Disgraceful.
 
I don't know what standard practice in the medical field is. But If I had a damaged kidney removed and authorized disposal of it. I don't know that I would be all that upset if the ashes ended up in a medical waste landfill.

I'm going to have to think about this a bit more.

If a soldier's arm or leg is amputated; what happens to the bone and tissue that is removed? I bet not too many people worry about this. But I can see how this tissue should be treated with respect. Burial at sea seems to be pretty much accepted across the various religions. I would suspect a generic military medical waste burial might also be acceptable. But burial in a community landfill next to yesterday's lunch just looks bad in so many ways.

I always thought that medical waste was required to be incinerated and buried separately. This is something to think about the next time I go in for surgery.
 
TheWriteAlex said:
Another Legacy of the Bush Administration
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I don't think that is a fair statement. Sorry.

I am very sad for those that gave everything for our freedom, only to be treated like old vegetables, rotten meat, or last week's Sunday paper. Very shameful.
 
saywhatkid said:
I don't think that is a fair statement. Sorry.

I am very sad for those that gave everything for our freedom, only to be treated like old vegetables, rotten meat, or last week's Sunday paper. Very shameful.
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Not fair? Why not?

I didn't blame it directly on George W. Bush (I doubt he knew about it). I'm blaming it on his administration and those souless ghouls like Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney. How do you dispute that this is not of their doing? The secretary of Defense is directly in charge of stuff like this. You do understand that, right?

If I were to blame this specifically on one person, I would probably say Donald Rumsfeld. In fact, he probably directly approved the contractor that carried out this disgusting practice. Wouldn't doubt if the contractor has connections to Rumsfeld et al. Wouldn't be the first time Rumsfeld screwed over the the men in uniform.
 
TheWriteAlex said:
Not fair? Why not?

I didn't blame it directly on George W. Bush (I doubt he knew about it). I'm blaming it on his administration and those souless ghouls like Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney. How do you dispute that this is not of their doing? The secretary of Defense is directly in charge of stuff like this. You do understand that, right?

If I were to blame this specifically on one person, I would probably say Donald Rumsfeld. In fact, he probably directly approved the contractor that carried out this disgusting practice. Wouldn't doubt if the contractor has connections to Rumsfeld et al. Wouldn't be the first time Rumsfeld screwed over the the men in uniform.
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Since you are "in the cornfield" right now, I will simply say this:
  • I agree that Iraq was a bad decision
  • I thought Rumsfeld had a face perfect for a pie to be smashed into
  • I didn't like Bush (the second one)

Anyhow, I want to keep the focus aimed squarely on the people that are directly responsible for this decision. Trying to keep the GOP and the DEMS out of the story here; it is about something else. Lots of other places we can bash the right and left.

Hurry back from your "vacation" soon!
 
Cheetah said:
If a soldier's arm or leg is amputated; what happens to the bone and tissue that is removed?
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I know when hospitals amputate a limb from a patient that it's treated as hazardous medical waste, and disposed of accordingly. Of course, the patient is alive when that surgery happens. I don't know what happens if the patient dies during or immediately after surgery.

The remains that are mentioned in the article are from deceased military members. That's a different situation. Often those scraps are all that are identifiable and all that's left of a loved one.

In an amputation situation, when the patient lives, the loved ones still have the person with them.
 
saywhatkid said:
Since you are "in the cornfield" right now, I will simply say this:
  • I agree that Iraq was a bad decision
  • I thought Rumsfeld had a face perfect for a pie to be smashed into
  • I didn't like Bush (the second one)

Anyhow, I want to keep the focus aimed squarely on the people that are directly responsible for this decision. Trying to keep the GOP and the DEMS out of the story here; it is about something else. Lots of other places we can bash the right and left.

Hurry back from your "vacation" soon!
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I don't like cornfields much. Lived in one for three years. Good to be back out. :)

So, my response:

My logic is that the Secretary of Defense and/or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had authority in deciding what to do with the remains of our war dead. I suppose we don't really know for sure, at the moment, who approved this policy, but because it involves working with a contractor, I am fairly certain it was brokered by some high-level bureaucratic positions in the Department of Defense. The thing about these bureaucratic positions is that they are all by-appointment. The Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs are appointed by the president. Beneath the SOD, there are many, many positions to be filled, like "assistant secretary of reserve affairs" and so on and so on--all of which are usually appointed by the secretary himself or his advisers. It all boils down to the fact that this is all part of the the Presidential Administration's spoils system.

While I have no doubt that Bush is not directly responsible for this disgraceful practice, I am 100% certain his administration is.

Your shot.
 
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I think some may not realize the OP post is about "parts of bone and other DNA material" not bodies.
 
TheWriteAlex said:
I don't like cornfields much. Lived in one for three years. Good to be back out. :)

So, my response:

My logic is that the Secretary of Defense and/or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had authority in deciding what to do with the remains of our war dead. I suppose we don't really know for sure, at the moment, who approved this policy, but because it involves working with a contractor, I am fairly certain it was brokered by some high-level bureaucratic positions in the Department of Defense. The thing about these bureaucratic positions is that they are all by-appointment. The Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs are appointed by the president. Beneath the SOD, there are many, many positions to be filled, like "assistant secretary of reserve affairs" and so on and so on--all of which are usually appointed by the secretary himself or his advisers. It all boils down to the fact that this is all part of the the Presidential Administration's spoils system.

While I have no doubt that Bush is not directly responsible for this disgraceful practice, I am 100% certain his administration is.

Your shot.
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Welcome back from the Twilight Zone...

I don't really know what to say here. It just goes against human nature to think of someone hollering out "Grab that hopper of arms and legs, and toss them into the furnace." I try to give the benefit of doubt to people. Problem is, this did happen. Someone called the shots. "Hey, what are we supposed to do with these things?"

I consider it possible that Rumsfelt had an idea this was going on. He was a true military kind of guy in his rationalization that war = death and injury and dismemberment. Cheney seemed to have a masterful way of finding a profit in this war. It would be foolish to not consider it possible they knew. It would not change my views of either of them. I felt they were callous men with a lack of compassion. Maybe Cheney would have found a way to make a profit off of this. "Cheney opens a Sloppy Joe restaurant in Miami."
 
Banjo said:
It's hard to comprehend something like this. How could they do this to their own people? Disposed of as if they are no more than garbage?

Disgraceful.
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I heard on the news that someone sawed an arm off a body so it would be easier to put the uniform on it!! The arm was badly wounded and not easy to bend so it just cut off!! can you imagine how the troops fighting in wars are going feel when they heard about this. They're risking their life and treated like trash when they dies. I think every troop should be send home and let the fat cats fight their own war.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
I heard on the news that someone sawed an arm off a body so it would be easier to put the uniform on it!! The arm was badly wounded and not easy to bend so it just cut off!! can you imagine how the troops fighting in wars are going feel when they heard about this. They're risking their life and treated like trash when they dies. I think every troop should be send home and let the fat cats fight their own war.
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This is very disturbing indeed. I think a top to bottom review needs to be done. Clarify who is responsible and identify a clear chain of command so the community can review the process and see that it respect the soldiers and their families.
 
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