Letter to the Editor Sparks Furor Over Transportation of Fallen Soldiers

By: Anna Crane After witnessing an unpleasant sight with friends at the Greater Rochester International Airport, Cynthia Hoag of Dansville, New York wrote a passionate letter to the editor of the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle.

"As we talked and laughed, we watched airport personnel unloading luggage from a plane. And we were surprised to see a soldier in uniform standing by the airplane looking things over..." she wrote in the Tuesday op-ed. "... as I looked down, a box with the American flag draped over it came down the belt ... I saw the casket of a fallen soldier, saluted by a lone soldier, and then placed in the baggage cart. Baggage."

Joseph Spector, a political reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle, followed up on the story in Wednesday's paper, explaining why Hoag's account was so noteworthy. The military procedure for the transportation of a fallen soldier requires a military escort for flights, whether domestic or military, and when the coffin arrives at the home airport, it is to be met by a two-person honor guard. Hoag claimed in her letter that not only was the casket met by just one soldier, but carried away in a cart with other luggage. "At the very least, couldn't there have been a hearse to transport the fallen soldier?" wrote Hoag.

Democrat and Chronicle Managing Editor Neill Borowski told E&P today that although there have been denials and disputes in regards to Hoag's claims, the paper had enough for a credible story. "It was enough for the county executive to call on the federal government to look into its procedures," said Borowski.

According to Spector's story, the fallen soldier was likely Army Sgt. 1st Class Tony Knier of Sabinsville, Pa. No official record was given, he wrote, but a Pennsylvania funeral director confirmed that it was him. Knier was killed in Iraq on October 21. Officials in Monroe County (the home of Rochester Airport) said his body was being transported to his home in Pennsylvania.

In Spector's report, doubts are raised as to whether Hoag actually saw what she claims to have seen. There is no video footage available of the transport, and Airport Director David Damelio told him that the Defense Department and airports have always taken great care of soldiers' coffins -- not to mention the fact that he says a coffin would not even fit into a luggage cart.

Even so, a local official is taking the claims from Hoag's story very seriously. Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks has already written a letter to Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, urging changes to the procedures for transporting a deceased soldier. Currently, wrote Spector, the military is not required to alert an airport when a fallen soldier is going to be transported, although special arrangements are often made by the Defense Department and airports when requested by family members.

Since its publication today, the story has been getting a lot of press, he says. It has been linked on several other sites, he says, and attracted attention in a press conference given by Brooks today asking again that the government reconsider its policies on the transportation of fallen soldiers.