Was Soldier's Coffin On Cart With Luggage?
Former Army Reservist Says Flag-Draped Casket Was On Airport Cart With Other Bags
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(AP (file))
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"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."
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.
©MMVI, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 28 CommentsAgnim, I have read quite a few of your posts, I used to think highly of you as some of your posts were quite intellectual, however when you show disrespect toward the dead, that is where I draw the line, get a life........
A former army reservist's comments about the actions she described are more likely the result paying more attention to the handling of a fellow soldier's remains. Her comment was more a plea for respect in the future than simply a complaint about the one act she witnessed. The remains of fallen military men and women are not just cargo or baggage. The national exposure of her comments may insure that the handling she described will not be repeated, even if it means a flight delay(s.)
Many of us disagree with almost everything about the war, but that's not the point here. We should appreciate and respect the warriors, even while hating the war. The men and women in Iraq are honoring the oath to which they swore upon entering the service. Their remains deserve the care that results from their well-earned respect.
It will all come out that she was lying in order to get her essay published. A coffin will NOT fit on a luggage cart. She is one sick B-I-T-C-H.
If you will note, the article stated the casket was on a baggage cart. It did not say that the cart was full of of luggage. Only the dude trying to hide the fault of the airport stated that it wouldn't fit on a "cart full of luggage". Most of us have seen those carts. They would indeed hold a casket!
Some of these guys probably disagreed with the war, but they observed the oath they took when they joined.
There are many posters on this site, like yourself, who give me hope that we can indeed again communicate the unvarnished truth between ourselves.
This is not exactly oral communication but it is very close to the same thing including, being refreshingly open.
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Ever heard of the oral tradition? That has worked for thousands of years to record and codify a people's experience. With America the oldest democracy, it is time we begin one of our own. No tales around the campfire, but an honest witness by example to our children and grandchildren of what we believe-- they are desperate for the counsel.
Bush will suffer the pains of the damned, because-- left to himself-- none is equipped better than he to understand his own failure, especially the loss, pain, injury and death he caused others. As with most of us, his biggest obstacle in that journey back is himself.
Ever the unprincipled opportunist, Bush will try to reinvent himself for the neocons and other opportunists of his party. For the true conservatives he misrepresented and deceived, Bush will remain a pariah for a while-- at least until the hungrier conservatives yearn again for White House power. And then, the old game will start, once again.
As we survivors of this misspent six years attend to our future, we must engage with enemies of America whenever we meet a false or misleading doctrine. This means a relentless effort to make sure democracy thrives in our neighborhoods and cities. If we cannot witness for democracy at home, how can we expect to matter when national events overtake us?
From using the term.. Supporting our troops%u2026 as a weapon against their opponents to castigating medal winning soldiers or even the mother of a fallen soldier or indeed anyone who would dare oppose them%u2026 All this from those who used everything in their power to avoid serving personally.
The enormity and extent of their abuses over the past 6 years have resulted in these things being viewed as normal by the general public
%u2026The greatest threat posed here is that they may never be held accountable. Which in turn makes it almost certain to be repeated in the future by them or others.
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Well said. I might remind you, however, your indignation at poster Agnim falls upon his self-deafened ears, his own attempt at a Triple Monkey Defense (eyes covered, ears covered and mouth covered). Despite his best effort, however, Agnim's figurative mouth fell open at last, revealing the smug cinder of pride which is somehow left to him.
Agnim is a "scientist", and with his science, Agnim has chosen to annihilate his own humanity. If we are confused or even amused at the conceit, that irritates Agnim. After all, his own fierce, professional-grade weltschmertz is what drives him to respond. Some might call this a personal hell of absurdity-- whatever you say about yourself is true, and equally meaningless.
In his misled spirit, Agnim elsewhere attempted a defense of the assassination of Alexandr Litvinenko, on the rationale Litvinenko once had been a peer of his in moral outlook, if nothing else. What agitates Agnim to despair is when others recognize Litvinenko became a symbol for something better than himself, and a courageous, patriotic witness for democratic reform in Russia.
The Authorization for the Use of Military Force--- Take Away the Car Keys
Dead soldiers on the baggage loading ramp? What could explain such casual, off-handed treatment from the same Bush administration which prohibits photos of coffins arriving at Dover AFB? This shocking juxtaposition has nothing to do with official respect-- it has everything to do with an orchestrated effort to keep the cost of the Iraq war as hidden as possible from the American people..
The virtual press blackout of military funerals and severely wounded amputees and burn victims in VA trauma units is an unwitting part of that effort to deceive, because only such graphic and awful coverage brings the Iraq war home in its deeply troubling political cost.
Politicians, above all, realize the power of Hollywood-- of media spin, waving flags, cheering crowds and rousing symbolism. Emotional appeals drive Americans into war as surely as they did Nazi-era Germans. Americans especially love simple wars. They loved Reagan when he invaded Grenada and suffered not even a scratch, and when Bush, Sr., offered an encore, shooting up Panama with righteous indignation, allegedly in search of Noriega. After all, this is the way Hollywood always said wars should be won.
But let Americans discover the lethal and tragic aftermath of six years of politically-misbegotten Bush politics in Washington, and they leap to the warpath. Above all, Americans feel cheated and misled, as the last election brought home to Bush all too well.
The deep malaise at having been misled about Iraq comes from revelations of not only official corruption, but an effort to deceive at the most fundamental level. The tragic drama of Iraq is not over until all the false stage props of official deception are put away for good. Chief among the props is the AUMF (Authorization for the Use of Military Force)-- the celebrated congressional document Bush always cites as the justification for his having waged war on Iraq, but without a declaration of war. That Bush rationale is a brazen fraud and illegal act, but remains within his official reach until the AUMF is withdrawn or tightly redefined by Congress.
The AUMF was passed immediately after 911. That authorization for use of military force was issued against international terrorists, but not against Iraq either literally or figuratively, and Iraq is found nowhere in its text. Yet Bush ran through the AUMF like a political credit card, and lied shamelessly about his authority when he wanted to invade Iraq.
At the risk of another Iraq-- say, an impromptu invasion of Iran-- Congress needs desperately to rein in Bush, the opportunist demagogue who mistrued his authority, pretending the AUMF is a blank check from Congress. The AUMF legislation, written in the white-hot aftermath of 911, is embarrassingly amorphous and all the more open to abuse. The AUMF needs to be abolished, or at least tightly redefined to prevent any president from exceeding his Constitutional war powers, and waging war without full, deliberate consent of Congress.
Congress must be roused to its full responsibility-- ultimately , it was a failure by Congress to rein in the Bush executive which led to Iraq. That failure of due diligence came from GOP dominance of all three branches of government, yet another argument for a truly multiparty political system.
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