November 28, 2003
This Will Teach Me To Move A Little Slower
Recently I wrote a post about Howard Dean's brother receiving military honors that he did not receive. While he still received those honors which he still has not earned, it turns out that the honor guard was present with the remains for a reason:
Though Charlie Dean and his friend were civilians, they were given military honors, officials said, on the chance that the remains include those of service members missing in the Vietnam War.
"We don't know who we have until the lab says who we have," said Lt. Col. Gerald O'Hara, a spokesman for the Joint P.O.W./M.I.A. Accounting Command, which runs the international recovery missions and the forensic laboratory here. "Ninety-eight percent of the missing from this war were service members. We're treating everyone as if they could be a service member."
I feel bad for jumping to a conclusion before taking the time to learn the entire story. While I still find it suspicious that the identification of these particular remains are being "fast tracked," as stated in the article I previously quoted from, it is clear that something is going on here that is not being reported. I would like to make clear that at this time I do not feel that Howard Dean had anything to do with the way his brother's remains were handled. I am also going to refrain from further comment about this topic until more information arises.
Its not easy for me to admit a mistake, but when I make one I want it known that I will admit to it and take full responsibility.
http://sayanything.typepad.com/sayanything/2003/11/this_will_teach.htmlHi and welcome to Free Republic. From the New York Times:
Asked by The Quad-City Times, which is based in Davenport, Iowa, to complete the sentence "My closest living relative in the armed services is," Dr. Dean wrote in August, "My brother is a POW/MIA in Laos, but is almost certainly dead."
Dean lied and your spin doesn't wash, his brother wasn't in the armed services.