Dover Air Force Base Mortuary Under Investigation

Retired Army General John P. Abizaid led an investigation of the Dover Air Force Base Mortuary. Abizaid found that some portions of unidentified remains from the Pentagon and Shanksville after 9/11 were cremated and mixed with biomedical waste before being incinerated and dumped in a landfill. Memos from July and August 2002 directing that certain remains be incinerated supported the General’s report. Abizaid noted that his main charge was to look forward, not to fully investigate what happened in the past.

Members of Congress however, requested more information on how the victims’ remains were handled because these heroes gave their lives for our nations. And anyone responsible for so carelessly disposing of the victims’ remains should be held accountable. On February 6, New Jersey Representative, Rush D. Holt wrote a letter to the Pentagon requesting confirmation that no 9/11 victims’ remains were sent to a landfill. The Pentagon has yet to respond, and seem to have indicated that they are not concerned about answering that inquiry and are just focused on fixing problems at the mortuary for the future.

Last November, the Washington Post reported that the Dover mortuary had been disposing of unidentified or unclaimed body parts from troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in a Virginia landfill. Later, the Air Force admitted that it had disposed of at least 270 service members in the same fashion from 2003-2008. In 2008, they finally started burying ashes at sea according to a new policy.  The Dover mortuary has been under investigation for several other cases of mismanagement, mishandled body parts, or botched cases in the recent past as well.

See Craig Whitlock, Portions of 9/11 Victims’ Remains Taken to Landfill, Report Says, The Washington Post, Feb. 28, 2012.