Editorial Page by  the Editor of                        November 11,2011

   "DOVER AFB MORTUARY LAPSES are despicable, loathsome and dishonor our fallen.

"There are no words to describe……."  How many times in our lives have we heard that phrase describing the utmost rage and reprehensible act of another person or persons?

The Mortuary Lapses at Dover AFB fall deep into this category in my mind. To even consider that the people caring for our fallen warriors---the heroes that have given their all--their lives for this country and people would --in turn--be treated like so much trash and their remains thrown into a landfill, is beyond my comprehension. My thoughts are clouded with rage and anger.

How can a multitude of people, those given the responsibility to honor our fallen, be so uncaring and crass? So despicable as to treat these remains or parts thereof like so much useless waste? The people that are placed in these positions should consider their positions the same as those dedicated military that guard the Arlington unknown--as a job of honor and privilege to pay respect to the fallen.

Yet, some are not emotionally concerned with this obligation to our warriors that have given their all. These immoral ingrates do their eight hours working at the mortuary and return to their comfortable homes and never give a thought to the responsibility entrusted to them. They are the thoughtless, inconsiderate mistakes of humanity. The unemotional,  disrespectful decay of our civilization and this nation are the characteristics of these individuals and should never be considered for a position of honor with our fallen. Which leads me to thinking of the process in which these idiots obtained a job at Dover AFB.

Not being familiar with the job descriptions of Trevor Dean or Quinton Keel, the two supervisors that were re-assigned" and given a cut in pay for their irresponsibility--I cannot imagine what their educational backgrounds might be. I do know that the human resources person that hired these two individuals is lacking in insight and observation of required skills. These individuals have got to be the bottom of the gene pool and medical employment availability. They should have had a psychological  exam to see if they were emotionally capable of handling the remains of our deceased. They obviously became --or were already hardened to the environment of being close to the deceased on a daily basis, therefore any disregard for honor to these personnel came easily and without emotion.

Veterans of the United States are outraged at this incident and especially the fact that it has been occurring for several years without disclosure.

Discovery of the remains of our fallen should be treated as we have with our heroes remains that have subsequently been discovered in foreign lands many years after the incident of death. We recover, we honor and we bury the remains with ceremony  as we have so often with our MIA from Korea,Viet Nam and other conflict areas. To do otherwise, is despicable and  without description.

By;  William A. Gast,  Editor

William A. Gast  USN (ret) DAV, CRSC

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