This is an exchange of emails on 
the subject of the 
"RETURN OF DECEASED US SERVICE
PERSONNEL FROM IRAQ"

-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin McKinley [mailto:]
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 9:26 PM
To:
Subject: RETURN OF DECEASED US SERVICE MEN FROM IRAQ

To Whom it may concern,

My Name is Kevin McKinley and I am trying to get this piece of information out so that someone that might know someone can start asking the right questions. Below is an email that I sent to the VFW in DC. I do not know if that was the right place to send it but I felt strongly enough about this to try some way to get this done right. I am just a simple working Joe but I know when something isn't being done right and dog gone it this is not right. If you can assist in any way please feel free to do so.

Thank You

Kevin McKinley

SUBJECT - RETURN OF DECEASED US SERVICE MEN FROM IRAQ

To Whom it may concern,

I work for a civilian air cargo carrier that provides civilian lift capability for the Air Mobility Command. As such we operate many flights to and from Kuwait to Ramstein Germany and the United States.

There is a situation that is greatly disturbing to me regarding these flights. On occasion we carry Human Remains (HR) on board our aircraft from Ramstein to Dover AFB. I know that this is happening because we have a requirement to notify Dover three hours prior to arrival to advise when we have HR onboard the aircraft. While I am quite proud to work for a carrier that provides direct support to our troops I also find it quite disgraceful that we as a country provide the transport of the remains of our sons and daughters that lost their lives onboard a general cargo civilian aircraft. When we as a country can not provide these men and women who paid the most highest price to protect our country a military transport aircraft to return their remains to the country they chose to serve and protect we should hang our heads in shame. I know that there is probably some "financial justification" for this however I strongly believe that this is not only an outrage but also a tremendous travesty of honor that their remains are shipped in this matter. Is the military ashamed to provide these men, women and their families the honor that they truly deserve. Yes I am sure that they provide the proper military honors upon the arrival of the aircraft in Dover but come on, why not a military aircraft instead of a civilian contracted flight. It just is not the same to me nor should it be to anyone that believes in the honor that these men and women justly deserve.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. I do ask that you keep my name anonymous as disclosing this information could cause me my position with my company. I will say that my company is only one of many that provides civilian lift capability for AMC. If we have done this on our flights how many of the other carriers have done so also.

Respectfully
Kevin McKinley

----- Original Message -----

From: Albert R. Renteria < >
To: 'Kevin McKinley' < >
Cc:
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 1:34 AM

Subject: RE: RETURN OF DECEASED US SERVICE MEN FROM IRAQ

Kevin,

I was forwarded this email to offer my perspective. Your concern is genuine, but I ask you to consider military resources to weigh in your thoughts.

It would seemingly appear that a cargo plane has less value than a military cargo plane, but in reality, it is an American plane. When you consider military resources, charter flights are not allowed in the hostile zone.

The department of defense is working towards outsourcing services that reduces the impact on military resources so our military stays in the zone they operate. There are many service occupations that call for a logistical demand and this may be the reason for this outsourcing. As a country, having the military consider this approach adds to the economy and at the same time preserves our military resources to carry out tasks that support the mission.

I served 26 years with the Marines and I am honored to learn of your position, it is quite honorable and the core of our nation, Americans concerned about the handling of our heroes that died for our freedoms.

There is no easy solution to balance the strength of our fighting forces except to educate America to reduce the logistical tail that weighs down a fighting force. I hope this makes sense. In your line of business, it is about logistics and how to leverage manpower and equipment.

I don't disagree with you, but I am aware of the weight of a logistical
tail and the manpower to man it. This delivery by an American company is an honorable one as our nation trusts your organization with the precious cargo. You should be proud to have won this trust and be proud of your service to our nation in a civilian capacity. I am proud of what you do and honored by your concerns.

Al

Service never ends for a Marine! Semper Fi,
Albert R. Renteria, CWO4 USMC (Ret)
President
Pacific Southwest Region
Navy League of the United States
www.navyleague.org
Founder
Operation Interdependence
www.oidelivers.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin McKinley [mailto:]
Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2003 7:33 PM
To:
Cc:; Kevin/Home; David
Subject: Re: RETURN OF DECEASED US SERVICE MEN FROM IRAQ

Thank you for you reply to my concern. Please let me make it clear that I do understand the requirement to conserve and make the best use of military resources. I also feel a great pride and honor to be involved in a  area that directly supplies support both through the transportation of required materials for our military to support to respond to the mission that they have been tasked with and, if not more so the honorable return of the remains of those men and women who paid the ultimate price for all that I and my family hold dearest to our hearts. I will repeat myself I do understand the requirement to leverage the manpower and resources of our
military forces.

With that said I must now address the moral issues of this great country. Sometimes the price we pay dollar wise is not and should not be part of the equation. Let me share with you a story from my own life. My children and I were in a situation where I had to make a decision regarding their welfare. I had two choices. One was to allow things to remain as they were, and the second was to make the financial sacrifice to create a situation that was the right and honorable thing to do. While their personal safety was not in jeopardy I had to weight what was right for them. I have paid a very dear price financially for that for the last 3 years and will probably continue to do so for at least 2 more years. The important thing was not the price I paid financially but rather what was right. When we as a country can not, and will not, provide the resources that allow us as a nation to provide the deserved honor of putting all our resources and effort to providing what I, and many people I work with, believe to be the honor that every man and woman within the military deserves for the continued protection of our freedoms, we as a nation should be 100% ashamed.

I know that this is a very strong stance and position on my part but to repeat myself "dog gone it this is not right". 

From the moment these men women and their families enter military service we should provide them with the utmost honor and dignity that they deserve and have earned. In my mind that means that we do not "count the financial cost" to return their remains to this country by choosing to return them home on a general cargo aircraft but rather decide that we as a nation return them to this country, and their families, in a military aircraft to signify our belief and respect for the duty and price that they have paid. I feel even more strongly about this because each and EVERY one of our military are in the service because of an individual and conscious decision to serve our country.

There comes a time where honor and right is more important then a financial cost.

I know that I am probably tilting at windmills but I strongly feel that we as a nation must not only talk the talk but walk the walk. We are saving money by bring our service men and women back to the first port of landing in the USA and require them to pay their own airfares to return to their own families. We transport many Senators, Congressmen, high ranking officers and other assorted public servants on "fact finding missions" and "goodwill trips". We operate many "repositioning flights" and "training flights" between Kuwait, Germany and the United States (which by the way none of these are in a hostile zone). I would ask this. Couldn't the funds saved by or spent on these type of things be used to provide the transport of the remains of our truly deserving military men and women back home with 100% fully military to support this highly important honor? When it comes to doing right you find a way to get it done and don't justify why it shouldn't be done right. My Daddy always told me "When people start justifying something they are trying to poopoo off doing what is right".

Please understand that I do not have a "dog in this fight". I have not served in the military.  I am just an average Joe that respects and honors the freedoms and rights we have. I know where they have come from and who paid the price to insure that these rights and freedoms remain.

I hope and pray that you do not take this as a personal attack. I know, and truly believe, that your heart is in the right place but there comes a time when the questions must be asked. I can not make things right by myself but I know that only through the power of many can things be changed. I ask only your assistance regarding this matter.

Respectfully
Kevin McKinley

From: "Albert R. Renteria" < >
Reply-To: < >
To: "'Kevin McKinley'" < >
CC: <" < >
Subject: RE: RETURN OF DECEASED US SERVICE MEN FROM IRAQ
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 22:42:21 -0800

Kevin,

I commend you for your incredible support of our nation. I am honored that you share these views with me.

My duties for 26 years in the Corps was personnel and logistics. Military planes are tasked various missions with planes on recall in an event of unannounced missions. This cycle is demanding and every plane is vital.

Your support allows our military resources in the zone they are needed. There is no easy solution to this. My humble thought is our nation is strong, because we have great Americans as you.

This is not a matter of saving money, but a matter of managing resources to ensure we have the battlefield supported. Al

Service never ends for a Marine! Semper Fi,
Albert R. Renteria, CWO4 USMC (Ret)
President
Pacific Southwest Region
Navy League of the United States
www.navyleague.org
Founder
Operation Interdependence
www.oidelivers.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin McKinley [mailto:]
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 11:16 AM
To:
Cc:
Subject: RE: RETURN OF DECEASED US SERVICE MEN FROM IRAQ

Thank you once again for your reply,

Since I last wrote to you I have had conversations with several people regarding this matter. Needless to say I have heard many interesting and diverse viewpoints regarding this issue. I think though that I heard the best viewpoint, which by the way stopped me dead in my tracks, from a very near and dear, and wouldn't you know it female, friend. She asked me one question.

"If it was my child is there a chance that I would have to wait even 1 extra day for a military aircraft to have their remains returned to me?"

I replied that yes that was a strong possibility and she said "I wouldn't care what type of transport they used I would want my baby home to my family by the fastest means possible."

As I said, this stopped me in my tracks and help me realize the subtle issues involved with this situation.

While I will always believe that we as a nation should not spare any expense to be able to perform this duty with our military aircraft I also know that there are some things the civilian arena does better. Establishing a flight schedule and operating that flight consistently on time just happens to be one of them. This, I am sure, is a great assistance in allowing our military to assign the return of the remains of our deceased military personnel back to their families by on the very first available flight with a strong assurance that the mission will be completed as designed.

With that said I would ask your forgiveness and understanding of my seemingly harsh stance in my previous messages. I am, as any one who knows me will tell you, a very passionate person when it comes to some issues. The honor and respect of our men and women serving our country is one of those. If I am at a parade and the honor guard comes by and the people around me don't stand, remove their hats and show the proper respect for our flag I remind them of the respect that should and must be shown. I am proud to say that there have been times that my children have beat me to the punch and believe me when my daughter gets in their face about it they by golly listen snap to and listen (I told her she should become a DI when she grows up). We live in a nation that seems to have forgotten the price that has been, is being paid and will continue to be paid to insure the protection of our rights and freedoms. Neither I nor my family will every forget the price that has been paid and most importantly who paid that price. Because of the strength of my feelings about this issue my passion sometimes overpowers my common sense. Thankfully I have good friends that have the capability to bring me back to earth and help me see parts of the picture that I may have
overlooked. I once again ask your forgiveness for my earlier harsh stance on this matter.

I would like to thank you for the service you, and your family, have provided for this country and my family. We are honored and proud to live in a country where men such as yourself have been, and continue to be, willing to protect all that we are blessed with in this country.

Respectfully
Kevin McKinley

P.S. My 15-year-old son has been following my correspondence on this issue. He has found opportunity to bring this up in several of his classes. Some of the conversations became so in-depth that several of the teachers mentioned to me yesterday the conversations with my son as well as the entire class have had. My son would start the conversations by asking what they thought about this issue and before you know it others would get involved in the discussion. By asking the right questions education can still be served in this country.