Dignified Transfer

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DUTY, HONOR, COURAGE, RESILIANCE

Talking Proud: Service & Sacrifice

‍Digniﬁed transfer of the Fallen

‍A solemn movement of respect and honor

‍This is not a ceremony and not a media event

‍Introduction

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‍The Iran War is ongoing. We have taken casualties. Perhaps you watched the Dignified Transfer of the Fallen on TV. The Dignified Transfer is far more than you see on TV. That is what this story is about.

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‍The media were not always permitted to observe the Dignified Transfer. In 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates decided to allow the media to cover the return of our combat Fallen, despite many significant others, including the families, opposing this change and recommending against it.

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‍He said he was not always comfortable with the prohibition. He said,

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‍“I have decided that the decision regarding media coverage of the digniﬁed transfer process at Dover (Air Force Base-AFB) should be made by those most directly affected -- on an individual basis -- by the families of the Fallen ... We ought not to presume to make that decision in their place.”

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‍Writing and thinking about the Dignified Transfer is hard. Reading about it might strike a few of your nerves, too.

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‍In my view, watching the Dignified Transfer on TV doesn’t fully capture what it truly signifies, even though it does show the respect and honor we pay to our Fallen.

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‍Officially, the dignified transfer is a process that moves the Fallen from the theater of operations to the US and then to their families via the Mortuary Affairs Operations Center (MOAC) at Dover AFB, Delaware.

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‍I see it as much more than that. For me, the Dignified Transfer begins the moment a comrade is killed in battle and ending, if possible, at the burial at home.

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‍Every military unit engaged in combat is responsible for the dignified transfer of a fallen comrade. This, along with what follows, are the parts we do not see at Dover.

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‍One section of the "Quartermaster Professional Bulletin/Winter 1998,” said,

"US citizens will not tolerate leaving behind deceased military personnel. This is a simple statement of fact."

It goes on to say this,

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“The key to search and recovery on the modern battleﬁeld is not the mortuary affairs team, but rather the responsibility of every unit.

"Unit leadership is responsible for initial search and recovery. When casualties occur, and the tactical situation permits, a unit team should be organized to collect deceased personnel and their effects. The remains and effects are then retrograded to the BSA (Brigade Support Area) where a mortuary affairs team will handle the concurrent return of the remains."

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‍There is then a process to move the Fallen to Dover and burial.

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‍I want to use examples from the Indochina, Iraq, and Afghan Wars to illustrate the process, start to finish. I see all of this as part of the Dignified Transfer of the Fallen. It is important that we understand what happens.

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Click on photos to zoom

The Battlefield

It is the spoken and unspoken vow of all our military personnel in battle: they will leave no one behind. Doing so is not easy, and often comes with considerable danger.

If possible, the Fallen’s comrades will place the Fallen in a body bag. The term “body bag” is a chilling and sharp phrase. It is typically made of vinyl or nylon, usually olive green, and over time, it has become heavier duty and more resilient.

In most cases, ground personnel place the Fallen into a body bag. When possible, a Fallen's comrades will carefully put his remains in a sturdy, specially designed body bag and secure his belongings left on the battlefield with the bag.

The Fallen’s unit is responsible for getting a medevac helicopter to the area of combat. These medevacs often endure heavy fire to get to the evacuation site. The combat unit on the ground provides defensive fire, it often guides the helicopter to the site, and air power above supports the evacuation when it is available.

These medevacs have been called “Dustoffs” since the Indochina War. It came to mean, “That others may live.” MSgt. Stan Hutchson, a Vietnam vet, wrote a poem titled simply, "Dustoff," and it begins like this:

"They come in fast and furious. Sliding in over the top of a tree. A better sight on all this earth. Believe me, you’ll never see.”

Major Charles L. “Combat” Kelly, seen by many as the founder and inspirational leader of the world-renowned "Dust Offs,” had a creed that continues to guide them today.

“No compromise. No rationalization. No Hesitation. Fly the mission. Now!”

The Dustoffs, or helicopters meant for other missions but tasked to go in for the wounded and Fallen, can give stark orders to the troops on the ground, such as,

“Dustoff to strike force. Ready your wounded. ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) 60 seconds from your LZ (landing zone). We’re coming in.”

And come in they did, even under intense hostile fire, often even when told to stay away because of the dangers.

Once on the ground, the combat unit will load the wounded and the Fallen onto the helicopter for evacuation from the combat zone. This is done under enemy fire and during calmer moments.

There have been situations, especially in Indochina, where the Fallen couldn’t be placed in a body bag and had to be loaded into a helicopter as they were.

A lot depends on the situation on the ground. Sometimes the body bags can be carefully loaded, other times they might be thrown into the helicopter, one on top of the other, along with wounded patients and the crew. You might find the helicopter’s floor dripping with blood. In most cases, the helicopter crew works very hard to get everyone out of there intact. Most of the time, they succeed. Sometimes, they do not.

Sebastian Rich once wrote,

"The body bags of the four U.S. military men were gently loaded onto waiting helicopters. The wash of warm air from the chopper’s rotors caused the body bags to move unnervingly as I tried to delicately clamber over the dead and strap myself in for the journey back to Bagram (Afghanistan). The medic sat next to me with hands tightly clenched. He now served no function on this aircraft ... I realized that the two door gunners and the medic were looking anywhere but at the body bags.”

Uploading a Fallen onto transport out of the combat area is one of the very first acts of respect and honor afforded them in the Dignified Transfer, however crude you might think of it. And, it can be the most dangerous for everyone involved.

Harry "Obee" O'Beirne documented his memories of retrieving A1C William Hart “Pits” Pitsenbarger, USAF, a pararescueman who had been lowered to a site with the hope of caring for and rescuing the wounded. He was killed in the process and was later awarded the Medal of Honor. Obee wrote,

"Charlie (Epperson, an Army Ranger) led me about 100 yards or so back into the jungle to where Pits lay with other bodies, covered with ponchos. They had been shot there, not gathered together. I took off the gas mask that Pits was wearing (against tear gas). He had been shot in the center of the forehead, and blood covered his face.

"I took out my handkerchief, and with water from my canteen, I washed his face. It made no difference to Pits, but it made me feel better. Flies were all over him, as with the other dead. Charlie helped me put Pits in a body bag.

“That was when I discovered that Pits had been shot three other times. Due to the blood on the face, (it bled so freely) Pits had to have been shot three times, continued to treat the wounded, before being shot in the center of the forehead.

"Charlie and I carried Pits' body back to the opening in the jungle for evacuation … Pit’s body was evacuated to the Saigon morgue with the rest of the dead, which was standard procedure at that time.”

The first stops after the battlefield

Regardless of the war we’re involved in, the medevac helicopter will transport the Fallen to a designated location. I want to highlight Sgt. Jennifer Wilson, USAF, NCO in charge of the Casualty Liaison Team at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, which was the main air base in the country at that time. The Dignified Transfer continues.

This photo shows Sgt. Wilson standing at a place called "Hero's Highway." Every patient brought by helicopter to the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad passes through Hero's Highway. I want to share some of Wilson's heartfelt comments,

"It's unfortunate that their families can't be here. So I took it upon myself to step in and be that family while they are here. No one asked me to do it; I simply did what I felt was right in my heart. I want them to know they are heroes. I believe that just because they are passing away doesn’t mean they can’t hear or feel someone nearby.

“I talk to them, thanking them for what they have done, telling them they are a hero, they will never be forgotten, and I explain my job to them to help them be at ease knowing the family will be told the truth.

“I am far from an angel. I just do what is in my heart. I guess for me, I think about the family and the closure of knowing the Soldier did not pass away alone. To say I'm a hero ... no. The heroes are my guys who come in (through Hero's Highway). I want the families to know that their service member was a hero. They made the ultimate sacriﬁce, but before they passed on, they received the best medical treatment, and the staff did everything they could -- they were not in pain, and they didn't die alone.”

There were collection points for the Fallen in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The military defined the flow of the Fallen from the battlefield to their home. The individual unit involved in battle is responsible for getting the Fallen's remains to a Mortuary Affairs Collection Point, the MACP.

The MACP receives the remains, processes them, attempts a tentative identification, and evacuates the remains and accompanying personal effects to a Theater Mortuary Evacuation Point (TMEP).

The MACP can also be tasked with conducting search and rescue operations to find and retrieve the Fallen's remains and personal effects. As a result, they must be mobile and capable of supporting maneuver elements, though their main facility remains fixed at strategic points throughout the theater of war.

The TMEP's responsibility is to prepare the Fallen's remains and effects for transport to the main mortuary in the U.S., located at Dover AFB, Delaware. The TMEP functions as a quality assurance team, checking and verifying everything sent by the MACP. It also prepares all necessary shipping documents.

The TMEP is typically based at a major point of embarkation. Tentative identification of the Fallen in the field can range from straightforward to very difficult.

Mortuary members recover as many human remains as possible, along with biological and physical evidence. Information from witnesses, the Fallen’s unit, recovery personnel, as well as medical, dental, and fingerprint records, are crucial in this process.

I learned about a TMEP operating in Anbar Province, Iraq, in 2004. It had detachments elsewhere in Iraq. LCpl. Samuel Bar Valliere, USMC, commented,

"This 20-person unit is full of Marines who seem to have aged a great deal since they ﬂew to the Middle East in February. They are the young men and women who care for their brothers' bodies right after their deaths."

One of the first tasks when receiving a Fallen is to document the condition of their remains and any evidence of their identification, as well as to collect their belongings from the battlefield. They often find letters and photos in the Fallen’s pockets and bags, including ultrasound images of a baby in the wife’s womb back home.

Often, friends of the Fallen will show up, and as they look at things like family photos and listen to stories from his friends and comrades, the atmosphere can become very emotional. People mourning the Fallen often spend time with their friends to help them process their feelings.

Retrieving personal effects from the battlefield can be very challenging, especially during intense fighting. Military personnel sift through debris, searching for personal items, evidence, and identification media.

Mortuary affairs-trained military people ﬁll out forms describing and annotating every wound and marking on the bodies they receive.

MSgt. Ackerman wrote about Mortuary Soldiers performing their mission with respect and reverence. He wrote this,

"The mortuary affairs team processes the remains of American and Coalition forces, contractors and Iraqis who have died in Iraq. They document the condition of the remains at the time of death on an anatomical chart, listing wounds, tattoos, scars, or identification marks.”

In short, they write down everything that is identifiable. Ackerman added,

“One of the worst parts is seeing pictures of the family. It reminds us they had people waiting back home.”

After completing the necessary mortuary procedures, the Fallen is placed in a body bag and then inside an aluminum transfer case filled with ice.

The case is not a casket, and it is incorrect to refer to it as such. It is a specially designed container meant to transfer the remains of our Fallen to the US in the best possible condition. It is officially known as the Human Remains Container, the HRC.

Ackerman has written this about the case,

"The remains are placed in an aluminum transfer case in the condition they were received from the ﬁeld along with a 'case ﬁle' that includes the anatomical chart, personal effects list, and a death certiﬁcate from a medical authority. The remains are sent on a military aircraft to a regional mortuary in Kuwait (in the case of the Iraq War). There, remains are then packed on ice for the journey to Dover AFB, where they are embalmed."

He also commented,

"Although there is no requirement to do so, the team leads a brief ceremony as they load the remains onto the aircraft to pay respect for the individual’s service. They and volunteers carry the ﬂag-draped transfer case onto the aircraft while a small military formation presents a ﬁnal salute."

Prepare to return to the US

Next, the Fallen must be prepared to travel back to the US.

Those responsible for preparing the Fallen for the trip to the US work in teams and operate around the clock. Military personnel assigned this task can be rotated out after six months in the combat zone. The trauma they experience can be overwhelming.

One must understand that they receive the remains in a wide variety of forms, from a single lethal gunshot all the way to burned and exploded bodies and handfuls of badly damaged remains.

I should mention at this point that identiﬁcation work done in the ﬁeld is preliminary. Final identiﬁcation is done at Dover AFB. I will talk to that endeavor later.

For Iraq, the remains were taken to the regional mortuary in Kuwait, near a runway at Kuwait City International Airport. It was called the Theater Mortuary Evacuation Point (TMEP). I am told it is not an easily recognizable facility, which is what the military prefers. Many people during the early days of the war didn't even know it existed.

The purposes of the stop are to prepare the remains for their trip to Dover and to be close enough to a runway that can handle larger transoceanic transport aircraft.

The remains are transferred to refrigerated units and moved into the remains-processing facility. The facility is well-lit and air-conditioned. There is ample ice available to pack the remains in the transfer case. Various signs hang to remind soldiers how to correctly spell difficult words like decapitated and asphyxiation. Great emphasis is placed on spelling everything accurately. The identification data reads, "Believed to be..." underscoring that final identification is done at Dover.

The soldiers working here slept inside their compound and rarely interacted with other soldiers outside, fearing encounters with those about to go into battle. Those heading into battle also feel anxious about meeting mortuary staff. It can be a lonely and anxiety-filled life.

Major, these are my Marines

I want to insert a short story here. Major Zarnik, USAF, was a KC-135R tanker aircraft commander during the Iraq War. He and his crew had just refueld F-16 fighters from Turkey and his orders were abruptly changed. He was instructed to go to Kuwait City and pick up 22 troops who died in the Battle of Fallujah, Iraq and return them to Dover AFB, Delaware.

This was not a usual procedure, the military preferring the C-17 or C5 heavy transports. But Zarnik was in the air, he was available, so a decision was made to use his KC-135 as the most expeditious means to get the Fallen home.

His aircrew was tired from its F-16 refueling mission, and had intended to get some crew rest in Turkey before going on to Kuwait. But the crew voted to go straight to Kuwait because it felt it was important to get these 22 brave Americans back home to their families as soon as possible.

During the flight to Kuwait, Zarnik read the regulations regarding retrieving and caring for “human remains.” He commented,

“I thought that I was prepared for the acceptance of these men until we landed at Kuwait International. I taxied the jet over to a staging area where the honor guard was waiting to load our soldiers. I stopped the jet and the entire crew was required to stay on board. We opened the cargo door, and according to procedure, I had the crew line up in the back of the aircraft in formation and stand at attention.

“As the cargo loader brought up the first pallet of caskets, I ordered the crew to 'Present Arms.' Normally, we would snap a salute at this command, however, when you are dealing with a fallen soldier, the salute is a slow three second pace to position. As I stood there and finally saw the first four of twenty-two caskets draped with the American flags, the reality had hit me. As the Marine Corps honor guard delivered the first pallet on board, I then ordered the crew to 'Order Arms,' where they rendered an equally slow three second return to the attention position. I then commanded the crew to assume an at-ease position and directed them to properly place the pallet. The protocol requires that the caskets are to be loaded so when it comes time to exit the aircraft, they will go head first. We did this same procedure for each and every pallet until we could not fit any more.

“When we were finally loaded, with our precious cargo and fueled for the trip, a Marine Corps colonel came on board our jet in order to talk to us. I gathered the crew to listen to him and his words of wisdom.

“He introduced himself and said that it is the motto of the Marines to leave no man behind and it makes their job easier knowing that there were men like us to help them complete this task. He was very grateful for our help and the strings that we were pulling in order to get this mission done in the most expeditious manner possible. He then said:

"'Major Zarnik, these are My Marines and I am giving them to you. Please take great care of them as I know you will.'

“I responded with telling him that they are my highest priority and that although this was one of the saddest days of my life, we are all up for the challenge and will go above and beyond to take care of your Marines. A smile came on his face.

“We pressed on to Dover where we would meet the receiving Marine Corps honor guard. When we arrived, we applied the same procedures in reverse. The head of each casket was to come out first. This was a sign of respect rather than defeat. As the honor guard carried each and every American flag covered casket off of the jet, they delivered them to awaiting families with military hearses. I was extremely impressed with how diligent the Honor Guard had performed the seemingly endless task of delivering each of the caskets to the families without fail and with precision. There was not a dry eye on our crew or in the crowd.

"I then went out to speak with the families as I felt it was my duty to help console them in this difficult time … I wanted to make sure that they did not feel abandoned and more than that appreciated for their ultimate sacrifice. It was the most difficult thing that I have ever done in my life. I listened to the stories of each and every one that I had come in contact with and they all displayed a sense of pride during an obviously difficult time. The Marine Corps had obviously prepared their families well for this potential outcome.

"So, why do I write this story to you all? I just wanted to put a little personal attention to the numbers that you hear about and see in the media. It is almost like we are desensitized by the ‘numbers’ of our fallen comrades coming out of Iraq. I heard one commentator say that ‘it is just a number.’ Are you kidding me? These are our American Soldiers not numbers! It is truly a sad situation that I hope will end soon. Please hug and embrace your loved ones a little closer and know that there are men out there that are defending you and trying to make this a better world. Please pray for their families and when you hear the latest statistics and numbers of our soldiers killed in combat, please remember this story. It is the only way that I know to more personalize these figures and have them truly mean something to us all.”

This, in my book, was all part of the Dignified Transfer of the Fallen.

Mortuary Affairs Operation Center

The Air Force operates an Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operation Center (MOAC) at Dover AFB, known as the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs. The Carson Center opened in October 2003, replacing a facility from 1948.

I’ll take a closer look at it in a moment. At a high level, its role is to receive the remains of a fallen service member, identify those remains, prepare them, and transport them to their final destination.

Under most circumstances, a family member directs the disposition of the remains. Identification of these family members follows a priority order; for example, the surviving spouse if not divorced, then children over 18, then father or mother if not divorced, and so on.

I want to talk about the MAOC and address the Dignified Transfer process. I should say up front that officially, the Dignified Transfer process occurs only at Dover. Unofficially, so far as I am concerned, the process of removing a Fallen from the battlefield or hospital through the system is a dignified transfer start to finish.

I should present the Air Force's description of what the official Dignified Transfer process entails.

"A dignified transfer is the process by which, upon the return from the theater of operations to the United States, the remains of Fallen military members are transferred from the aircraft to a waiting vehicle and then to the port mortuary. The dignified transfer is not a ceremony; rather, it is a solemn movement of the transfer case by a carry team of military personnel from the Fallen member's respective service. A dignified transfer is conducted for every U.S. military member who dies in the theater of operation while in the service of their country. A senior ranking officer of the Fallen member's service presides over each dignified transfer.

"The sequence of the dignified transfer starts with the Fallen being returned to Dover by the most expedient means possible, which may mean a direct flight from theater, or a flight to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and then to Dover. It is the Department of Defense's policy, and AFMAO's mission, to return America's Fallen to their loved ones as quickly as possible. Once the aircraft lands at Dover, service-specific carry teams remove the transfer cases individually from the aircraft and move them to a waiting mortuary transport vehicle. Once all of the transfer cases have been taken to the transport vehicles, they are then taken to the port mortuary."

Let's take a closer look at the Dover MAOC. The Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs is a 70,000 square foot facility. It is a joint military facility, with people from all services working there, often from the Reserves and Guard. It’s mission is this:

“It is the center's mission and privilege to fulfill the nation's sacred commitment of ensuring dignity, honor, and respect to the Fallen and care, service, and support to their families.”

You can see the MAOC is a substantial facility. You can note the driveway straight to the taxiway, a location where transport aircraft carrying the Fallen can park for the Dignified Transfer.

I will show mpore of the facilty. First I’ll reconstruct events as they take place when “Angel Flight” carrying the Fallen arrives at Dover AFB.

“Angel Flight”has landed

Army soldiers and AF crew guard the Fallen

Carry Team with white gloves march aboard

Senior Ranking Officer of Fallen’s Svc board

Carry team picks up the Fallen

Carry team departs Angel Flight aircraft

Carry team loads the Fallen on Carry Truck

Doors are closed on the Carry Truck

Carry Team salutes adieu

Next I will show you some of MAOC inside.

Fingerprinting area

Full body X-ray

Autopsy stations. there are 23.

Dressing station

Examine, clean personal effects

CT scan of skull

Polish decorations

Create biological profile

Select proper uniform

Steam clean uniform

Iron uniform

Lay uniform in casket, remains are in a bag

The number one task at the MAOC, among many, is to be sure they have a 100 percent positive identification of the remains. They employ DNA, dental and fingerprint analysis and autopsy the remains to determine the cause of death. They then prepare the Fallen member for transport to the family.

The famous "dog tags" are important to the identification process, but there is sufficient concern about how they were issued and worn that they alone do not do the job. The military member does not always wear them, either forgetting or deliberately leaving them behind because of an exceedingly dangerous mission. Some soldiers exchange their tags before a mission --- why is hard to ascertain. There have been times when the enemy has exchanged them to confuse us, or to be simply mean. Finally, the tags must be found on the Fallen and must remain with them through the process for them to carry any validity. While a bit gruesome, one must recognize that the tags are often pushed into the body as the result of an explosion or the like. Sometimes, they are hard to find, they are missed, or they are destroyed beyond recognition.

Hollywood often shows men tearing the tags off their Fallen --- they are not to do this for reasons outlined above.

Wallets, photos, keys, rings, watches and other such items also help the identification process.

The skull and jaw are among the most important means of identification.

This is a CT scan of a skull showing multiple skull and facial bone fractures resulting from fatal blunt trauma to the head. In this case, it was a car collision, but you get the idea.

Dental and facial features provide good leads.

Often, when a Fallen's body is beaten up badly, the morticians will layout the bones to create a "biological profile" which can help identify sex, age, race, and manner of death. Sometimes, the mortician will find duplicates, which then says he-she is dealing with two individuals.

If the Fallen is recovered by his comrades and medevacs quickly after battle, the flesh will probably be in tact and fingerprints can be taken. This can be a very complicated process. I do not know whether the Dover people use FBI technology, though I do know it is state-of-the-art. New technologies are employed for identification purposes. This happens to be a spectral imaging technology that uses infrared spectral responses plotted over an area to produce images. On the left you see the fingerprint. Photo B is an expanded area of one portion of the fingerprint. Photo C is a spectra of the components.

Finally, lately DNA analysis has been of great value. Both nuclear and mitochondrial analyses are used.

It should be said that the data base of identifications along with the empirical and analyses supporting those identifications have played an important role. The mortuary team can do a lot of crosschecking in more complicated cases. Furthermore, many advanced computer technologies are now available to help in the broad spectrum of identification approaches employed.

The identification process is often as certain as certain can be. That said, mistakes are made. Families have the right to challenge the findings. Most often, an explanation of the process alleviates their fears. Sometimes not.

You will recall that the remains were transferred in a body bag that was placed in an ice lined transfer case. The body bag and body are removed from the transfer case. The body is removed from the bag and placed on a metal table and digitally photographed and archived. If the Fallen arrives in parts, each is barcoded.

The Personal Effects Team takes custody of any personal items. This team takes the personal effects to their section and inventories, photographs, barcodes each item, and cleans them. If an item cannot be pinned down to the Fallen member, it goes to the Joint Personal Effects Depot at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.

The cleaning process is very important. They clean all the items, and prepare them to be returned to the family. TSgt. Latersa Frazier was a personal effects supervisor and has said:

"We'll try our best to clean them the best we can so they can go back with the escort to their families. Our goal is to make them look better than brand new ... I could be working on a broken watch for hours, but it may still have the smell of cologne, and I know that I can get it back to the families. It could be the one item a child has to remind him of his father or mother. That means everything to me."

Frazier said she spent a day and a half on a belt buckle:

"It was from a crash and was pretty charred. When I finally finished it, it was a bronze gold color; really beautiful. We still talk about that belt buckle ... We put in the extra work when dealing with personal effects because we want to be able to give back to the family just a little something for their loss. If this was my loved one, I would want the person working on my items to do the best job they can ... My motivation is this is a person who has served our country, who paid the ultimate sacrifice. This is something I can do for them because they sacrificed their lives for us. Just cleaning a simple dog tag, even if I had to stand here half the day to clean it to get it back to the family, I would do that. Not only is the service member making that sacrifice, but also the families, the loved ones, and the children. They are as well. Being able to support that person -- that family - it's an amazing feeling."

A1C Rontera Powell works was a personal effects specialist. She has said:

"Every case has touched me in some way. When you work in my section, you stop seeing them as remains, and you start seeing them as people who had personalities. And even though these people are no longer here in body, they're still here in spirit through their effects."

Another personal effects specialist, SSgt. John Cabral, said this:

"I remember my first case. He was only 19. When I saw him in triage, he was pretty messed up. Once I started looking through his personal effects to clean them up, I saw photos of him and his girlfriend; pictures of how he looked. It was just very hard for me. It takes a strong person to be able to do the job and put your emotional feelings to the side. It affects you."

As soon as the Fallen member arrives at the mortuary, the men and women from the uniforms section are there. SFC Jimmy Toro, USA, said their job is to take measurements:

"We get sizes as soon as (the Fallen heroes) arrive in the building. We put together their uniforms and take (the items) to the alterations shop, getting the patches and stripes sewn on the uniform. We verify the proper awards and decorations for that (service member), and we put it together."

These uniforms are meant to be the final uniform the Fallen member will wear.

SSgt. Charles Anthony Bell was a mortuary technician with the center. He has said:

"I want everything to be as perfect as possible. Even though the shirts are covered by the jackets, we still take the time to clip the strings on all of the buttons, around the collars and the pockets, making sure there are no strings. We polish the devices on the ribbons, making sure they're equally nice and shiny. We check every detail, making sure the uniform is 100 percent correct."

PO2 Danielle Van Orden is a hospital corpsman and adds:

"Everybody, everybody is treated with respect, dignity and honor. We know that when the uniform leaves here, it has our stamp of approval, our name on it. We know that people are going to be viewing their loved ones at funerals. When they open that casket, they see the military creases; they see that we took our time."

I should comment here that the mortuary works as hard to get their work done as professionally and quickly as possible. There is no time to dally about. Teams often work around the clock.

LCpl. Adam Knebler, USMC, has commented this way:

"Everyone is taken care of here to the 100 percent-level of everyone's ability. Sometimes I'm here 12 to 14 hours. I don't want to leave until the mission's accomplished. I stay until the mission's done. The mission is first here for everybody."

Toro adds:

"This is an honor for me, having this opportunity to serve those (service members) who have given their lives in combat. That's my satisfaction. I will do it for as long as I can. It's the best job I've ever had in the Army, serving these past two years at Dover. I feel I'm doing something for service members and their families who await the return of their Fallen heroes back home."

Spc. Xavier Gonzales felt the same, even though he had only been at the mortuary for four months when he said this:

"I'm here for a reason, for the mission. This mission is the most respectful thing I can do for a service member who's died in combat. It's an honor. I've got to do something for the United States; they always do something for us in Puerto Rico; it's important for Puerto Rico. Most importantly, it's important for the families of the Fallen."

Once the measurements are taken, the alterations made, the ribbon racks assembled correctly, everything ironed and steamed, the team then dresses the Fallen.

Of course, the morticians must prepare the remains prior to putting on the uniform.

Among their most important tasks is to prepare the American flag.

They remove the flag from its packaging, unfold them, and feed them through an industrial steamer to be pressed. The flags are 5x9 ft. The machine has been designed to be sure the flag never touches the ground in the process. They then drape the flags over a rack until needed.

SamuelsStar

SSgt. Star Samuel's, shown here hanging up a freshly pressed flag, has said:

“We're taking care of someone's child, mother, father, husband, wife. They passed away protecting this country; we try to make everything perfect to give them and their families the utmost respect ... I have so much respect for my Fallen heroes. These heroes have families, loved ones, who could've talked to them just a couple of hours ago. Just one mistake, one trip down the road, anything can happen. I take nothing for granted."

Once a casket is ready for the flag, each airman stands on either side of the casket, they slowly pull the flag off the rack and onto the casket. One airman stands at the foot, the other at the head. They work silently but in harmony, coordinating through eye contact, to drape the flag over the casket. They work slowly and in silent synchronization. They watch everything on the casket to be sure the flag is draped over it correctly.

They draw the flag taut. The Fallen is ready for burial and transportation home.

TSgt. Willard Rico, USAF, shown above with SSgt. Samuels placing the flag over a casket, has said:

"These men and women who gave their lives for their country for the sake of freedom deserve the utmost dignity, honor and respect ... We're here for the families. I'm privileged to be working here, giving dignity, honor and respect to the Fallen for their families. It's the most rewarding job I've ever done so far in my career."

Both Rico and Samuels are shipping specialists, their Air Force specialty code descriptor. But they are far more than people working in a freight and shipping center. They are part of the final process for Fallen military prior to their beginning their trip home. Mortuary staff prepare the remains. People such as Rico and Samuels inspect the caskets, and perform the final checks to be sure the dog tags, ribbons and flag are correct and up to standards. They get the final look before sending the deceased home. Samuels has commented:

"We make sure everything is perfect. Our mission is to send them out the way they're remembered, not how they came in."

The 2007 National Defense Appropriations Act directed the Office of the Secretary of Defense to provide military or military-contracted air transport for all military people who die in a combat theater of operations. This means the US has taken responsibility for transporting the Fallen directly from Dover AFB to the nearest airport of the Fallen’s final destination.

This law also requires that an honor guard escort the Fallen to their final resting place. A family can ask that the honor guard be excused from this duty, and can request commercial air. This might be done when the closest airport to the family is a small one where USAF aircraft cannot go.

The military requires that each coffin has an honor cover, a reinforced cardboard cover that fits on top of the airline industry’s standard air tray for coffins. The cover is embossed with an American flag and the Defense Department seal at both ends. These covers are used only once. They are treated to be waterproof.

I’ll refrain from showing photos of the Families meeting their Fallen.