Face of Defense: Mortuary NCO Ensures Dignified Transfer of Fallen

By Army Spc. Elisebet Freeburg

Special to American Forces Press Service

Troops bow their heads during a chaplain’s prayer during transfer of a fallen comrade at a ramp ceremony on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ashleigh Bryant

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, July 20, 2009 – Many people have trouble viewing the deceased or coping with the emotions of witnessing the transfer of a fallen comrade. For Army Staff Sgt. John A. Rosado, it is an honor to ensure fallen heroes are returned home in a timely and dignified manner.

It is a regular part of Rosado’s job to attend ramp ceremonies here, where U.S. and coalition forces stand in formation behind an open aircraft while the casket of a fallen hero is carried up the walkway. Paying their last respects to the one who gave all, troops salute the hero. The pallbearers, his former comrades, shoulder their heavy burden with somber faces as they slowly march past the long rows of servicemembers to the waiting plane. “The purpose of a ramp ceremony is to give a final farewell to our comrades, especially for the unit who’s suffering the loss,” said Rosado, a reservist from Clermont, Fla. “It’s to pay respect to the person who paid the ultimate sacrifice.” A soldier since 1993 and a civilian corrections officer for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Rosado has worked in mortuary affairs since 2000 and is the Joint Sustainment Command Afghanistan mortuary affairs noncommissioned officer in charge. “Our job is to make sure to expedite our fallen comrades back to loved ones in a timely manner,” he said. The mortuary affairs collection point here, one of two for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, serves regional commands South and West, and is managed by the NATO Maintenance and Supply Association. The collection point at Bagram Airfield serves regional commands North and East. Rosado became a mortuary affairs specialist after a six-week course at Fort Lee, Va., that included working at a morgue, taking fingerprints of remains and assisting technicians in autopsies. Rosado helps to prepare fallen heroes for transfer to Dover Air Force Base, Del., where each receives a dignified transfer to the Dover Port Mortuary for final preparations of the remains. When Rosado receives notification of a fallen comrade, he first alerts personnel to stand by while he collects information about the arrival of the remains. “In a respectful manner, with the unit escorts, we’ll unload the remains from the plane,” he said. The mortuary affairs personnel and the unit escorts proceed to the mortuary collection point, where remains are screened for unexploded ordnance, ammunition and sensitive weapons. “Once they’re screened, they enter a holding area,” Rosado said. “A chaplain will do a small, informal prayer over the remains with the unit representatives.” After the fallen troop’s comrades leave, mortuary personnel remove personal effects from the remains. Dover personnel later will cleanse the remains and conduct an autopsy. Once the belongings have been inventoried and paperwork is completed, the remains will be stored in ice inside transfer cases in refrigerated vans. Rosado then contacts the movement control team at the airfield to receive a transportation control number, scans the documents and sends them to the mobility section to book a flight. Rosado’s final duty is the ramp ceremony, organized through the 649th Regional Support Group. Rosado and mortuary personnel prepare by tying a U.S. flag over the transfer case. “It’s so when the pallbearers load the case on the plane, the flag is already folded properly,” he explained. They then transport the flag-draped case to the flightline, where U.S. and coalition servicemembers line up in formation. The mortuary affairs specialists then bring the van forward to send the servicemember home. “Not many people can [handle seeing] a deceased person, or the cause of death, in this state,” Rosado said. “It’s a privilege and an honor. It helps give the family closure.”

(Army Spc. Elisebet Freeburg serves with the Joint Sustainment Command Afghanistan.)

Lt. Brian Bradshaw

Relatives of Soldier Killed in Afghanistan Decry Lack of Coverage Amid Jackson Spectacle

July 7, 2009

Fox News

By Joshua Rhett Miller

A day before New York Rep. Peter King called Michael Jackson a "pervert" unworthy of nonstop media coverage, the aunt of a U.S. Soldier killed in Afghanistan on the same day Jackson died asked why her nephew's death went virtually unnoticed while the King of Pop got memorial shrines across the country.

"Mr. Jackson received days of wall-to-wall coverage in the media," martha Gillis wrote to the Washington Post. "Where was the coverae of my nephew or the other Soldiers who died that week?"

Gillis' nephew, Lt. Brian Bradshaw, 24, died in Kheyl, Afganistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Bradshaw, of Steilacoom, Wash., was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry division in Fort Richardson, Alaska. He was one of at least 13 U.S. Soldiers to die in Afghanistan since Jackson's death on June 25.

Bradshaw's mother, Mary, said she agreed with Gillis, saying the nonstop coverage of Jackson's death has become "totally ridiculous" and laughable.

"I can watch the news many nights and there's no mention on what's going on in Afghanistan or Iraq and there's boys dying over there," Bradshaw told FOXNews.com. "Oh God, I can't talk."

Gillis, of Springfield, Va., cound not be reached for comment. In her letter to the Washington Post, she described Bradshaw as a "thoroughly decent person with a wry sendse of humor" who loved history, particularly the Civil War.

"He had old-fashioned values and believed that military service was patriotic and that actions counted more than talk," Gillis wrote. "He wasnt much for talking, although he could communicate volumes with a raised eyebrow."

Bradshaw, who graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, was the product of a military family. His father, Paul, is a retired National Guard helicopter pilot, and his mother is a retired Army nurse. Bradshaw was buried Monday following a service at St. John's Bosco Church in Lakewood, Wash.

"He was a search-and-rescue volunteer, an alter boy, a camp counselor," Gillis' letter continued. "He carried the hopes and dreams of his parents willingly on his shoulders. What more than that did Michael Jackson do or represent that earned him memorial 'shrines,' while this Soldier's death goes unheralded?"

Gillis said the only media outlets that covered Bradshaw's death were in his hometown of Steilacoom, Wash., and those where he was stationed before his deployment in March.

Gillis' sentiments echoes that of King, the Long Island, N.Y., congressman who called on society to stop "glorifying" Jackson in a YouTube video posted on Monday.

King said Jackson had been excessively praised in the days after his death while society ignored the efforts of teachers, police officers and veterans. In the two-minute video, King called the "day in and day out" coverage of Jackson's death "too politically correct."

"Lets knock ou the psychobabble," he said in the video, which was taped outside an American Legion Hall in his district. "He was a pervert, a child molester; he was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country? I just think we're too politically correct."

King, who is among the possible Republican contenders to run against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, acknowledged that Jackson "may have been a good singer" and "did some dancing,' but he blasted the King of Pop as someone who could not be trusted around children.

"There's nothing good to say about this guy," King continued. "But the bottom line is, would you let your child or grandchild be in the same room as Michael Jackson?"

The deaths of seven U. S. Soldiers killed in Afghanistan on Monday recieved just 1/20th of the network television news coverage devoted to Jackson, according to an analysis by the Media Research Center, A Virginia-based news analysis organization.

The seven deaths garnered less than one minute of coverage on ABC, CBS and NBS evening newcasts combined, including just 13 seconds on CBS, compared to more than 13 minutes of Jackson-related news. That's a 60-to-1 disparity, the analysis found.

"This is a prime example of why network television news audiences are disappearig before our eyes," Media Research Center President Brent Bozell said. "There is no justification for determining that the death of a celebrity over a week ago merits 20 times more news coverage than the tragic deaths of American Soldiers in Afghanistan.

{Please go see Sarge for more on this story}

Sgt. Patch Update.

First let me say thank you to everyone that has been calling and sending me emails concerning Sky and his family.
I have been informed this morning that the State of Illinois will be cutting the family a check this month.
I have not talked with Julie this morning but as soon as I do, I will be able to give a more complete update.


Thank you,
aam

Please help correct this injustice.

On Monday I read this post on GAP and was immediately sick to my stomach and heartbroken
that this could be happening. I contacted Julie and she gave me permission to post this here:

As many of you know Schuyler Patch who was KIA on 02/24/09 was from my family. When Sky's mom called the VA to inquire about his death benefits from the state (he was National Guard, Illinois) she was told the State of Illinois does not have the money to pay right now, maybe next fiscal year!! This is totally unacceptable and I am asking everyone to write the Governor to see that this is taken care of. Following is the link to the Governors page where you can email him or send a letter. There is also a link to the White House and Our President.
I have also attached the letter I wrote, so feel free to copy and paste, or write your own. I know Sky's family is not the only family going through this horrible loss, then compounded by Government disrespect and errors. I am asking anyone who reads this to send a letter and pass it on to family and friends. We need to make sure that no Soldiers family be put through this after their child gave their life!!

Thanks

Governor Site

White House

Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
phone: 217-782-0244

Dear Governor Quinn,

On March 7th of this year you attended the funeral of Sergeant Schuyler Patch, in Kewanee, Illinois. In your speech you spoke of him being a hero and his honorable service to The United States and the Illinois National Guard. Schuyler died in Afghanistan while serving in the National Guard from Kewanee, Illinois, and now his parents are being told by the VA that due to the budget crisis in Illinois that the death benefits for the parents of the Solider Killed in Action are not being paid now, but they will be issued an IOU!
This is a complete disregard to not only Schuylers' memory, but to any Soldier who has Volunteered to serve their country in a time of war. How dare the State of Illinois tell grieving parents, "Sorry you Soldier was killed in action, but we can't pay for the sacrifice of your Son/Daughter."

On behalf of the family of Sgt. Schuyler Patch and any other Soldier who has or will givetheir life for their country we insist that this insult and complete lack of respect to all Soldiers be rectified immediately, In addition an apology to the families who have been denied death benefits should be issued without delay.

I certainly hope to hear that this is given a priority status and that the State of Illinois is remorseful for causing heartbroken parents more agony in addition to the loss of their Soldier.

"He heard freedom's call," Army Chaplain (Capt.) Jon Prain told more than 1,000 mourners who filled a school gym for Patch's funeral in Kewanee, Ill. "He paid freedom's price. Sgt. Patch could have stayed home. Instead, once again, he volunteered to go."

This having been said it is a small price for the State of Illinois to give parents death benefits when their child paid the ultimate price of their life. This is not about money which will never bring Schuyler home again, but about doing the right thing!!

Sincerely,

Julie Nelson
Proud Mom of a U.S. Army Soldier