: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 7:27 AM Subject: JPAC admits to phony ceremonies honoring returning remains >> Makes you want to vomit. >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> WASHINGTON - The Department of Defense unit charged with recovering >> servicemembers remains abroad has been holding phony arrival >> ceremonies >> for seven years, with an honor guard carrying flag-draped coffins off >> of a cargo plane as though they held the remains returning that day >> from old battlefields. >> The Pentagon acknowledged Wednesday that no honored dead were in fact >> arriving, and that the planes used in the ceremonies often couldnt >> even fly, and were towed into position. The story was first reported >> on nbcnews. >> The ceremonies at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii are held up >> as a sign of the nations commitment to its fallen warriors. They have >> been attended by veterans and families of MIAs, led to believe that >> they were witnessing the return of Americans killed in World War II, >> Vietnam and Korea. >> In a statement sent to NBC News, the Pentagon wrote: >> Part of the ceremony involves symbolically transferring the recovered >> remains from an aircraft to a vehicle for follow-on transportation to >> the lab. Many times, static aircraft are used for the ceremonies, as >> operational requirements dictate flight schedules and aircraft >> availability. This transfer symbolizes the arrival of our fallen >> servicemembers. >> It is important to note that recovered remains ceremoniously >> transferred from the aircraft to the [bus] have been in the lab >> undergoing forensic analysis to determine identity. When remains first >> arrive in Hawaii, JPAC cannot confirm if the remains are those of an > American servicemember. >> NBC writes that the ceremonies have been known among some of the >> military and civilian staff at the base as The Big Lie. >> The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC, has come under intense >> scrutiny in recent months after two scathing reports were released >> this summer. >> In July, The Associated Press ran a story exposing a 2012 internal >> JPAC report that found the agency to be acutely dysfunctional with >> some missions that amounted to little more than paid vacations for > staffers. >> A second investigation released weeks later by the Government >> Accountability Office found that Pentagon efforts to account for >> fallen troops missing overseas were inefficient and in need of >> overhaul, according to congressional sources. >> In 2010, lawmakers mandated JPAC to reach an annual goal of recovering >> at least 200 fallen troops from overseas battlefields by 2015, but it >> had failed to build the capacity to do so, the GAO found. Currently >> the Hawaii-based command averages less than 70 individuals per year. >> Much of the inefficiency found by the GAO researchers comes down to a >> turf war between JPAC and the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing >> Personnel Office, which shares some of the same responsibilities, >> Congressional sources said. >> The show >> According to the NBC report, heres what the audience was shown: >> A C-17 military transport aircraft was parked, its ramp down, outside >> a hangar at the base. After generals and dignitaries were introduced, >> a military chaplain said a prayer, the audience sang The >> Star-Spangled Banner, and Taps was played. Then an honor guard >> carried flag-draped transfer cases, which look like coffins, down the >> ramp and placed them in the back of blue buses, which were driven away. >> The emcee thanked the audience for welcoming them home. The script >> continued, After removal from the aircraft, the remains will be taken >> to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Commands Central Identification > Laboratory. >> There, JPAC scientists will begin the identification process. >> Citing eyewitnesses and photographs taken behind the scenes, NBC wrote >> that what actually happened is very different: >> Before 6 a.m., the honor guard assembled behind the JPAC headquarters >> on the base. They loaded transfer cases onto the buses and drove to >> the hangar. >> The honor guard loaded the transfer cases into the pre-positioned >> C-17, then rehearsed for the ceremony. They then returned to the >> plane, and waited. >> The public was allowed in for the 9 a.m. ceremony: invited >> politicians, media, families of the missing and veterans. Employees >> from JPAC were bused over to fill out the crowd. >> Then the show began, with tears and salutes as the remains were >> marched to the buses, then driven off to the lab to begin the >> identification process. >> Jesse Baker, an 81-year-old Air Force veteran of World War II and >> Korea living in Honolulu, told NBC News that he has been to more than >> 50 of these ceremonies. He said hes always been under the impression >> that the plane had just arrived carrying recovered remains. >> Baker tried to make sense of why the DOD would work so hard to trick >> him and other veterans. Thats disturbing. I dont know when they >> stopped being honest and switched over to this Mickey Mouse, but >> whoever did it, I hope they find him a new job somewhere.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 17:59:10 +0000
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