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ODE TO THE MORTUARY AFFAIRS SPECIALIST - 92M

Written by - Director, Mortuary Affairs Center Ft. Lee, VA.

They go where others fear to go. They do things that others will not do. The sights, sounds and smells of what they do, others avoid. They surround themselves with sorrow, tragedy and grief, and call it their job. They do it willingly, - "not for themselves, but for their country." The words dignity, reverence and respect are more than just words, they are their creed.

They are guardians of the sacred trust that the American public has in the U.S. Armed Forces. America trusts them to care for their loved ones who give their lives in the defense of their nation, to treat them with dignity, reverence and respect and lay them down gently in fields of honor. They are the 92M, Mortuary Affairs Specialist.

For over 200 years, they or others like them have cared for America's fallen heroes. They were among the first to land at Normandy, immediately opening cemeteries to care for the fallen. Among chaos, they established order and laid their brothers down. They were there again in Korea, presiding over Operation Glory, and returning America's sons to their families. For almost a decade, they served in Vietnam providing the ultimate care for over 50,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines. They were there in Jonestown, Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Oklahoma City, Somalia, and Bosnia. Whenever their country has called, they have been there.

If you ask a 92M who they work for, you probably will hear "we work for the families." The family may not be their rater, but that is who they think about when they are doing the tedious identification tasks. That's whom they think about when making difficult recoveries. That's who they think about when serving with the Central Identification Laboratory - Hawaii (CILHI), in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam, recovering the fallen of that war.

They serve the families that they will probably never meet, but because of a 92M, there are many families who do not have to wonder about the fate of their loved one. Because of the 92M, families may know, with certainty, that the honored dead in their cemetery plot, is in fact their loved one. That is all the reward they will ever ask for, and probably the only reward they will ever get….that they have served the family, and served them well.

It is the 92M whom you do not have to remind to remove their headgear in respect for the dead. It is the 92M who works with professional silence and respect on their fallen comrades. They are loyal to their mission, those they serve, and the United States Army. They provide dignity in an undignified situation. They revere and respect those honored dead for whom it is due.

Their service is selfless, "not for themselves but for their country". It is their honor to perform this sacred duty. Their integrity is unquestioned, as it must be - they are the preservers of the sacred trust. They have the personal courage to tackle tough jobs and to even step into harms way for those they serve. They are proud to be called 92Ms.

They probably won't correct you if in good humor you refer to them as "diggers". They are used to the nervous humor so often used by others to cope with their own mortality. They have a sense of humor too, but don't ever make the mistake of dishonoring the dead. Those fallen are entrusted to them and they take it personally.

92M's are often thought of as cold and unemotional. They are human though, with feelings and emotions like everyone else, but they can't die with each remains they handle. Often they hide their true feelings, just to get through the day. Inside are scars and wounds, invisible to the eye, silent grief to be dealt with on a personal level on another day. These wounds often go untreated because it isn't macho to say it bothers them. Caregivers need care also.

Commanders of these Mortuary Affairs Specialists, take note. Due to the wartime nature of their specialty, 92Ms find it hard to stay trained in peacetime. They often find themselves assigned out of their specialty, serving as detail personnel. They find it hard to stay motivated when raking leaves. 92M's must train as does any other MOS. Use these professionals in training exercises. Let them do their jobs. Let them educate you about what they do. They will plan and conduct their own training if you will support them.

Mortuary Affairs Specialists are volunteers. They do their job because they asked to do it. They do their job because they must. America will accept nothing less. They do their job in honor to the fallen. They do their job so that never again will white markers rise from green fields of honor with the inscription "Here rests in honored glory, a comrade known but to God." Not or for themselves, but for their country.

The Mortuary Affairs Center, located at Ft. Lee, Virginia, serves as a center of excellence and as the Department of Defense training and doctrine integrating center for all services. They provide resident training to over 250 Armed Forces officers and enlisted personnel annually.

No More Unknown Soldiers

The importance of mortuary affairs on the modern battlefield is evident. The US citizens expect a fallen soldier to be brought back home. The basis of mortuary affairs is found in the training of soldiers, search and recovery procedures, identification of fallen comrades, and appropriate burial that includes the performance of military rites for the deceased. The bottom line in today's Army is that soldiers train to find, recover, identify and bring home all fallen comrades. The goal is no more unknown soldiers.

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

www.quartermaster.army.mil/mac/
www.quartermaster.army.mil/mac/ode.htm
www.cilhi.army.mil

Marine Corps Detachment, Fort Lee, Virginia

The Marine Corps works hand in hand with the Army, the executive agent for the the Joint Mortuary Affairs Program by maintaining a staff at the US Army Mortuary Affairs Center, Fort Lee, Virginia. This ensures the needs and concerns of Marines are addressed in the development of doctrine, procedures, training materials and policies for mortuary affairs tasks. Courses offered by the Center are available for all Marines, enlisted and officer, who require an understanding of Mortuary Affairs policies and techniques.

United States Air Force

A future thread will profile the DoD's only mortuary in the continental US at Dover AFB.

Excerpt:

Those who work at the Department of Defense’s only mortuary in the continental United States see firsthand a grim reality of war. The solemn task of identifying and preparing the remains of military casualties belongs to a group of dedicated volunteers, most of whom are Air Force reservists.

Here we are today. Though we've been known to go back to previous threads for months.;)
One piece of history ties with another and we are all over the place.

Welcome to the FReeper Foxhole.

Let SAM or I know if you have any questions or thread ideas you'd like to see covered please make yourself at home.

We enjoyed all the good conversation yesterday and your input.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on November 07:
994 Muhammad ibn Hazm historian/jurist/writer of Islamic Spain
1096 Herbert R O'Connor Baltimore MD, (Sen-MD)/TV narrator (Crime Syndicated)
1598 Francisco de Zurbaran Spain, Baroque painter (baptized)
1832 Andrew Dickson White educator/1st President of Cornell
1856 Semyon Zonovyevich Alapin Vilna, tied for chess 1st place (1878)
1867 Madame Marie Sklodowska Curie discovered radium (Nobel 1903, 1911)
1876 Culbert Olson Fillmore UT, (Gov-D-Cal)
1879 Leon Trotsky Russian Communist theorist, Bolshevik
1883 Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux Newport News VA, TV preacher
1888 Sir Chandrasekhara Raman India, physicist (Nobel 1930)
1900 Efrem Kurtz St Petersburg Russia, conductor (Houston Symphony 1948-54)
1902 Jesus Maria Sanrom Carolina PR, pianist (Boston Symphony)
1903 Dean Jagger Lima Ohio, actor (Albert Vane-Mr Novak, Elmer Gantry)
1903 Konrad Lorenz zoologist/ethologist/writer (Nobel 1973)
1913 Albert Camus Algeria, novelist/director (The Just-Nobel 1957)
1916 Joe Bushkin NYC, jazz pianist (A Couple of Joes)
1918 Billy Graham Charlotte NC, evangelist (Crusades)
1922 Al Hirt New Orleans LA, jazz trumpeter (Greatest Horn in the World)
1926 Joan Sutherland Sydney Australia, operatic soprano (Met Opera)
1930 Rudy Boschwitz (Sen-R-MN)
1936 Barry Newman Boston MA, actor (Amy, Deadline, Petrocelli)
1936 Gwyneth Jones Pontnewyndd Wales, soprano (Die Walkyre)
1938 Dee Clark Arkansas, singer (Hambone, Nobody But You)
1938 James Katt pitcher/sportscaster (NY Yankees, Minnesota Twins)
1942 Johnny Rivers singer (Secret Agent Man)
1943 Joni Mitchell Alberta Canada, singer (Clouds)
1943 Judith Frost British Columbia
1944 Jim Watkins Philadelphia PA, actor (Jerry-Magician)
1944 Joe Niekro baseball knuckler (NY Yankees)
1949 Judy Tenuda comedienne (Spotlight Cafe)
1951 Nick Guilder singer (Hot Child in the City)
1957 Dr Jonathan Palmer formula-1 racer
1957 Kathy McMillan long jumper (1976 Olympics silver)
1961 Mintcho Pachov Bulgaria, 67.5kg weightlifter (Olympic-bronze-1980)
1963 Todd McKee actor (Ted-Santa Barbara, Bold & Beautiful)
1964 Dana Plato Maywood CA, actress (Kimberly-Diff'rent Strokes)
1964 Liam O'Maonlai rocker (Hothouse Flowers-Don't Go)
1972 Christopher Daniel Barnes actor (Ross-Day by Day, As World Turns)
1972 Clive B. Barnes Portland Me, actor (Scott Hayden-Starman)

Deaths which occurred on November 07:
1225 Engelbert I, the Saint, archbishop of Cologne, murdered at 40
1573 Solomon Luria (Maharshal) talmudic author (Yam Shel Shelomo), dies
1796 Catharina II, "the Great", tsarina of Russia (1762-96), dies at 67
1837 Elijah P Lovejoy publisher, murdered by proslavery mob
1962 Eleanor Roosevelt Former 1st Lady, dies at 78 in NYC
1978 Gene Tunney former heavyweight boxing champ, dies at 80
1980 Steve McQueen Slater MO, actor, dies at 50
1981 Will Durant, US author (story of civilization), dies at 96
1992 Alexander Dubcek, premier Czechoslovakia (1968-69), dies at 70

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 DIEHL WILLIAM CALVIN---BARTLESVILLE OK.
[03/06/74 REMAINS RETURNED]
1967 ELLIS LEON F.---COMMERCE GA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 FISHER KENNETH---BRONX NY.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1972 BROWN ROBERT M.---PORTSMOUTH VA.
1972 CARROLL JOHN L.---DECATUR GA.
1972 MORRISSEY ROBERT D.---ALBUQUERQUE NM.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied
by the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
680 3rd Council of Constantinople (6th ecumenical council) opens
1631 Pierre Gassendi observes transit of Mercury predicted by Kepler
1775 Lord Dunmore, promises freedom to male slaves who join British army
1805 Lewis & Clark 1st sight Pacific Ocean
1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, gave Harrison a presidential slogan
1814 Andrew Jackson attacks and captures Pensacola, Florida, defeating the Spanish and driving out a British force.
1837 Abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy murdered by mob at Alton, Ill
1865 London Gazette, oldest surviving journal, is founded
1872 Mary Celeste sails from NY to Genoa; found abandoned 4 weeks later
1874 1st cartoon depicting elephant as Republican Party symbol, by Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist for "Harper’s Weekly", created a satirical drawing of an elephant about to fall into a giant hole. The elephant represented the Republican party and lampooned Ulysses S. Grant’s (R) possible bid for a third term.
1875 Verney Cameron is 1st European to cross equatorial Africa
1876 Edward Bouchet, is 1st black to receive a PhD in US college (Yale)
1876 Meharry Medical College established at Central Tennessee College
1876 President Rutherford B Hayes & Samuel J Tilden claim presidential victory
1885 Canadian Pacific Railway completed at Craigellachie
1907 Dynamite explodes on locomotive kills engineer Jesus Garcia in Mexico
1909 Knights & Ladies of St Peter Claver organizes in Mobile Alabama
1916 Jeannette Rankin (Mont-R-Rep) 1st woman Representative
1916 Woodrow Wilson (D) re-elected President
1917 British capture Gaza Palestine from the Turks
1917 Russia's October (Bolshevik) Revolution continued as forces led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin overthrew the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky.
1918 Goddard demonstrates tube-launched solid propellant rockets
1918 United Press erroneously reports WW I armistice had been signed
1921 Benito Mussolini declares himself to be leader of the National Fascist Party in Italy.
1933 Pennsylvania voters overturn blue law, by permitting Sunday sports
1934 Arthur L Mitchell, becomes 1st black Democratic congressman (Ill)
1940 Tacoma Narrows (Galloping Gertie) Bridge collapses, Wash
1942 1st US President to broadcast in a foreign language-FDR in French
1943 Detroit Lions 0, NY Giants 0; last scoreless tie in NFL
1944 FDR wins 4th term in office, defeating Thomas E Dewey (R)
1951 Constitution of Jordan passed
1955 Supreme Court of Baltimore bans segregation in public recreational areas
1962 Glenn Hall set NHL record of 503 consecutive games as goalie
1962 Richard Nixon quits politics-You won't have Nixon to kick around
1963 1st black AL MVP-Elston Howard, NY Yankees
1964 NL keeps Braves in Milwaukee in 1965, can move to Atlanta in 1966
1966 Lunar Orbiter 2 launched by US
1967 Carl B Stokes elected 1st black mayor of a major city-Cleveland, Ohio
1967 LBJ signs a bill establishing Corporation for Public Broadcasting
1967 Richard G Hatcher elected mayor of Gary Indiana
1969 John & Yoko release their 2nd album "Wedding Album" in UK
1970 Race riots in Daytona Beach Florida
1972 President Nixon (R) re-elected defeating George McGovern (D)
1973 NJ becomes 1st state to allow girls into the little league
1976 "Gone With the Wind" televised
1982 Liz Taylor's 7th divorce (John Warner)
1983 Ali Haji-Sheikh kicks his 2nd NY Giant record 56 yard field goal
1983 Bomb explodes in US Capitol, causing heavy damage but no injuries
1984 STS 51-A launch scrubbed because of high shear winds
1985 Colombian troops end 27-hr siege of Bogota's Palace of Justice
1988 MLB all stars beat Japan 16-8 (Game 3 of 7)
1988 Sugar Ray Leonard KO's Donnie LaLonde
1989 Douglas Wilder elected 1st US black governor (D-Va)
1989 NYC elects its 1st black mayor (Dinkins) & female comp (Holtzman)
1991 Magic Johnson announces he has HIV virus & retires from Lakers
1991 Pro- and anti-Communist rallies took place in Moscow on the 74th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution.
2000 Americans went to the polls for an election that would result in indecision for George W. Bush and Al Gore, with Florida's disputed electoral votes emerging as critical.
2000 Hillary Rodham Clinton became the first first lady to win public office, defeating Republican Rick Lazio for a U.S. Senate seat from New York.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Mexico : National Railway Memorial Day (1907)
USSR, Bulgaria, Hungary, Mongolia : October Revolution Day (1917)
Virgin Islands : Liberty Day (Monday)
Liberia : Thanksgiving Day (Thursday)
World : World Community Day (1945) (pray for peace) (Friday)
Denmark : Esbjerg Cup-World's largest ice skating championship (Saturday)
US : PMS Stress Day
International Doll Collectors Month

Religious Observances
Christian : World Community Day (pray for peace)
RC, Ang : Com of St Willibrord, archbishop of Utrecht, Missionary to Frisia
Luth : Commemoration of John Heyer, missionary to India

Religious History
1637 Controversial colonial religious leader Anne Hutchinson, 46, was convicted of spreading heresy and banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Mrs. Hutchinson afterward relocated in Rhode Island with her family and friends.
1793 During the French Revolution, "Christianity" was abolished on this date. Reason was deified, and as many as 2,000 churches were afterward destroyed throughout France.
1828 Birth of American biblical lexicographer Joseph Henry Thayer. A Congregationalist pastor, Thayer's main interest was New Testament language and in 1886 he published his definitive "Greek_English Lexicon of the New Testament."
1837 American Presbyterian abolitionist and newspaper editor Elijah P. Lovejoy, 35, was murdered. Forced earlier to move his business from St. Louis to Alton, Illinois, Lovejoy was shot during the night by an anti_abolitionist mob while defending his presses.
1847 Birth of Will L. Thompson, American songwriter. With a major interest in sacred music, Thompson's pen has left the Church two enduring hymns: "Jesus is All the World to Me" and "Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling."

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Ice hockey is a form of disorderly conduct in which the score is kept."

Question of the day...
Why is it that rain drops but snow falls?

Murphys Law of the day...(Military Police Law)
Don't stand, if you can sit - don't sit, if you can lay down - if you can lay down, you might as well take a nap.

Incredibly astounding fact # 629,863,992...
Aztec emperor Montezuma had a nephew, Cuitlahac, whose name meant "plenty of excrement."

I do not envy them their jobs.
The dead aren't exactly talkative, and do not give up their secrets easily.
That, and it's a morbid job by nature.

Thanks for the tribute to soldiers who hardly get any notice, much less credit.

I like the mission of no more unknowns. With DNA technology, that's a real possibility.