Msixty Posted December 10, 2006 Posted December 10, 2006 Soldier's Casket on Baggage Cart 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. "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. May the opinions on this present themselves.... do we feel this is wrong? right? is she making it up? Quote Your stupidity is My weapon WARNING! my mood and mental state are strongly influenced by music and T.V./movies..... i may seem the slightest bit insane.. just don't let me watch my favorite show and or listen to my music and it will all be alright.
rizzo Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 I doubt it was put with other luggage, but a baggage cart makes the most sense if the casket is switching flights. Why would they bring a hearse out on the tarmac to move the casket to another plane? It was accompanied by a soldier, and I don't think a full battalion was needed to transfer the casket to another plane. They didn't fire the casket on the ground, or treat it with any disrepsect. Some people just need something to bitch about so they can make a "stand" and feel they are "supporting the troops". Quote
phreakwars Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 She is making it up. I don't think the casket would fit... and even if it did fit... BIG DEAL !!! It's not like the military can/should round up 6 fucking pallbearers just to transfer a casket. I say the bitch is just complaining and should be fucking killed and transported to fucking Zimbabwe RIDING FUCKING COACH WITH ALL THE OTHER ANIMALS... . . Quote https://www.facebook.com/phreakwars
snafu Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 If you can get the chain carts opened all the way it might fit. But get the solider home any way you can. You don't need a hearse to move a casket from one plane to the next. I would've been honored to have seen the casket in transit. Quote "You can't stop insane people from doing insane things by passing insane laws. That's just insane!" Penn & Teller NEVER FORGOTTEN
Msixty Posted December 11, 2006 Author Posted December 11, 2006 Okay, now for some info.... They do fit, it is standard procedure for flight to flight transit, the main objection was that the soldier was being carried on the same cart as luggage, hence a disrespect to him/her. In my opinion, it's kinda sad, but we do need to get them home somehow, a dedicated military fallen soldier transit (they have plenty of prop jobs and C130's open and not in use) would be better in my opinion, believe it or not there are some real fucking assholes in the airlines that make comments like "what do we do with the stiff" or handle them like luggage when the escort soldier is not paying attention... so i say, start up the "green hearse" and give them some respect on the way home! Quote Your stupidity is My weapon WARNING! my mood and mental state are strongly influenced by music and T.V./movies..... i may seem the slightest bit insane.. just don't let me watch my favorite show and or listen to my music and it will all be alright.
ParasiteGod Posted December 11, 2006 Posted December 11, 2006 I say the bitch is just complaining and should be fucking killed and transported to fucking Zimbabwe RIDING FUCKING COACH WITH ALL THE OTHER ANIMALS... . . Nono send her alive and let her get dracunculiasis and/or ebola. Quote I want to report a double murder. If you go one mile east on Columbus Parkway to the public park, you will find kids in a brown car. They were shot with a 9mm Luger. I also killed those kids last year. Good bye Brooks, I like you. Now get out of here. Go home.
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