The Air Force dumped the incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops in a Virginia landfill, far more than the military had acknowledged, before halting the secretive practice three years ago, records show. The landfill dumping was concealed from families who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a dignified and respectful manner, Air Force officials said. There are no plans, they said, to alert those families now.

Think about that for a long moment.

This is a nation with a big, fat, fancy, shiny, appealing opinion of itself. The mythology of American Exceptionalism perseveres, even unto this dark and dilapidated day. We are not as others are. We are different. We are better. We honor and fete our soldiers, our veterans, our war heroes. We make movies about their bravery and their deeds, we throw parades for them annually, and when it suits us politically, we attack our political rivals for "not supporting" those who carry our banner in the field of combat.

We take care of our own, right? That's who we are, as Americans, right?

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/william-rivers-pitt/40100/the-final-indignity-the-last-insult-the-real-america

not much to take care of in death

but I understand the sensitive nature for some ,,,,

This is where I'll disagree......to me the body is only a vessel for the soul or whatever it is....once the soul leaves the body (after death) it's no more than an empty shell. What someone does with it after death is inconsequential.

I find some agreement with the two previous posters. There is financial cost in dealing with a dead body and a monetary death benefit is extended should the family want to take responsibility for the body of their loved one.

I'm not at all opposed to the idea that some part of our government revenues (our taxes) are used for that purpose.

However, there are many who are not religious, many who prefer cremation, and many who simply don't care what happens to their body after they are dead.

There is also a greater financial cost to our government (us), to maintain burial sites.

So if responsibility for disposing of dead bodies is given to the government, then I'm in favor of disposing of those bodies with the most efficiant, inexpensive, and environmentally safe ways possible.