Posted on 03/02/2005 2:34:22 PM PST by freebilly
The body of Army Staff Sgt. Jason Hendrix, who was killed in Iraq last month, arrived home to his mother and stepfather on Friday. But Defense Department officials say the body can’t stay.
They’ve granted custody of his remains to his natural father in Oklahoma, according to local relatives, touching off a family feud that has only heightened the unfinished grieving over the 28-year-old Watsonville native.
"It’s extremely unfortunate that Jason’s family should be subjected to this sort of legal wrangling at their time of loss," said Mike Barsi, the attorney for Hendrix’s mother, Renee Amick of Freedom.
A decision on the body looks like it will be made by the courts.
Amick succeeded in obtaining a temporary restraining order Tuesday against her ex-husband — Hendrix’s natural father — Russell Hendrix, Barsi said. The order, issued by Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Art Danner, prevents Hendrix’s natural father from moving or taking possession of the body, at least until a March 23 hearing, Barsi said.
The body is at Mehl’s Colonial Chapel on East Lake Avenue. It was taken there from the Iraqi city of Ramadi, where Hendrix was killed by a roadside bomb.
Hendrix’s natural father appealed the decision by the Department of Defense to send the body to Watsonville, according to Barsi. After reviewing the case, the department sided with Hendrix’s natural father and ordered the body "retransferred" to Oklahoma, Barsi said.
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Russell Hendrix could not be reached to comment.
Amick was notified about the department’s change of heart this weekend, Barsi said.
She was told that since she and Hendrix’s natural father both have legitimate grounds for assuming custody of the body, it would go the senior parent, who is the natural father, Barsi said.
The Department of Defense, in an e-mail to the Sentinel, said it did not know how often it employed its policy of granting custody to the senior parent. Department officials did not comment on the Hendrix case.
Hendrix was born and raised in Watsonville. He attended Salsipuedes Elementary, E.A. Hall and Rolling Hills middle schools, and went to Aptos High School his freshman and sophomore years.
His parents divorced when he was 15, according to Barsi.
At 16, Hendrix moved to Claremore, Okla., about 40 minutes northeast of Tulsa, to be with his father, who works as an airline mechanic at Tulsa International Airport.
Hendrix enlisted in the Army Reserves when he was 17 and died a staff sergeant for the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Hovey, Korea, on Feb. 16.
No will has been found.
Barsi said the Department of Defense has suggested a compromise to end the custody dispute: burying Hendrix at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
Hendrix’s mother, while honored by the proposal, wasn’t ready to weigh in on that possibility yet, Barsi said.
I think they should go with DOD's compromise.
This is so sad.
Yes it is very sad. I've had a will since the day I enlisted in the USAF May 1972. I update it every couple of years no matter what has happened. More frequently when necessary. I would bet this young man would have preferred OK since he went to be with his dad at age 15.
My thought too. What a sad story.
Thank you Jason Hendrix for your ultimate sacrifice.
Hendrix’s mother, while honored by the proposal, wasn’t ready to weigh in on that possibility yet, Barsi said.
Reading between the lines of this article, the mother seems to be the one who appears to be selfish, here....
Very very sad.
"But the legal wrangling has its bright side," continued Barsi. "I'm getting paid!"
Lawyers. The other lawyer is wrangling
It appears so, more like wanting to poke at her ex. Sad, her brave son is not a pawn....he deserves better.
Goodness gracious! Take the spot in Arlington. What an honor!
Either that or the DOD should provide two identical caskets, welded shut. One with the body and one with an identically sized and distributed weight.
No kidding!
When someone enlists into the military, there is a line where they put the name of the person you want your remains delivered to in the event of your death.
There is only one line if I remember correctly, so whoever's name is on that line should get the remains (unless there isn't, then I'm out of ideas).
If the father's name is on that line and the mother's isn't, I don't see how the DOD could act differently, though the court involved is located in Santa Cruz.
This is so unreal.....fighting over your dead sons body!!God rest his soul. On the form DD93 Record Of Emergency Data, that the soldier has to fillout , there is a question they ask when filling it it out, (it is usualy located in block #13)It is in the comments section. Who would you like to designate to recieve the Disposition of Your Death Remains? (That is the acual body)The soldier will then designate someone.That is who they should release the body to and no one else! Because that is who the soldier wanted to receive it. If for some reason, that the soldier did not designate someone then I personally think,that since he has lived with his dad before he joined the military, it should go to him. Then both parents should get together for the service. After all, it is the last thing they can do for their son!
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