[typoon]

Why is this guy getting Miltary honors when he wasn't even in the Military?

http://drudgereport.com/dean9.htm

**Exclusive**

Active duty soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines are upset over being forced take part in a military repatriation ceremony today for remains believed to be those of the none-military brother of presidential candidate Howard Dean, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

"His brother will receive full military honors...flag over the coffin and all!" fumes one soldier, who asked not to be named.

Governor Dean is set to visit to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and the repatriation of his brother to Hickam AFB, Hawaii.

The brother's remains were recovered in Laos by a JPAC recovery team this past month. JPAC's mission is to search, recover, and identify remains of US service members who were killed in previous wars.

During the Vietnam War, Dean's brother and an Australian friend treked into Laos as civilians -- and were captured by the Vietcong and killed.

JPAC was pressured to not only recover his brother's remains, but to bump Dean's recovery over numerous other MIA's who actually died fighting for their country, a well-placed military source tells the DRUDGE REPORT.

Additionally, JPAC is being pressured to push up Dean's brother's identification ahead of approximately a hundred other service members remains, it is claimed.

Says one source: "These service members were recovered from all US wars, whose families are waiting to finally get word that their loved one, who gave his life for his country has been identified and is finally coming home. It usually take 2 years plus for an identification. Apparently, this 'rush job' will be done in 4-6 months. That's not all, we are repatriating his Australian friend, with military honors, and pushing his identification ahead our service members also."

The military source continues: "We feel it is not only a slap in the face to the servicemembers who gave their lives for our great country, but also the men and women who are currently in harms way"

In the past, JPAC has recovered remains of civilians [specifically contract civilians working for the military], but never with military honors!

In fact, one time, JPAC team members conducting the recovery had to actually pay the postage to FEDEX the remains back to the family because the government would not pay for it.

Developing...

[petehammer]

The only legimate/reliable sources I can find state the following:

And check it out, I used the Fox News AP release for all you neo-cons!

Likely remains of Howard Dean's brother released
DANIEL LOVERING
Associated Press

VIENTIANE, Laos - A 12-year search for the missing brother of presidential candidate Howard Dean came close to an end Monday when Laos handed over to U.S. authorities what are believed to be his and his Australian friend's remains.

The remains of two U.S. soldiers who went missing during the Vietnam War were also returned at a ceremony at the Vientiane airport.

"I am pleased to hand over to you the remains ... Without the cooperation of the local people they would not have been able to find the remains," Laotian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Phongsavath Boupha said in a speech.

He called the ceremony "a symbolic victory" in relations between the two countries.

The likely remains of Charles Dean and Australian Neil Sharman were exhumed earlier this month in central Laos following a tip by a Laotian villager. The other two sets of remains were excavated from other sites in northeastern Laos.

Howard Dean, who is seeking the Democratic nomination in next year's U.S. presidential election, said last week his family is convinced the remains belong to his brother. He said they include bones, a sock, a pair of shoes and a bracelet his brother had with him.

The four sets of remains were transferred to aluminum caskets brought by a U.S. military C-130 cargo plane. An honor guard draped one casket in an Australian flag and the other three in U.S. flags before loading them on the plane, which flew to Hawaii where a forensic lab will positively identify the remains.

"Today marks another special day for repatriation of remains from the Indochina war," said U.S. Ambassador to Laos Douglas A. Hartwick.

"This cooperation is a key element in bilateral relations," he said.

Charles Dean went missing in 1974, when the 24-year-old University of North Carolina graduate was traveling through Southeast Asia with Sharman. Both are believed to have been imprisoned and killed by communist insurgents who took control of Laos in 1975.

An investigation into their disappearance began in 1991, and the first of two joint U.S.-Laotian excavation teams began digging in August.

A Laotian villager led the investigators to a site near a boulder in a rice paddy near the town of Lakxao, about 25 miles west of the Vietnamese border in Bolikhamxai province.

The site was pocked with bomb craters and had to be cleared of Vietnam War-era ordnance, excavation team leader Elizabeth Martinson said Sunday. She would not give any other information about the villager or the remains.

The remains of 182 Americans have been recovered in Laos since U.S.-sponsored recovery teams began operating in the country in 1992. Some 387 Americans are still missing in Laos from the Vietnam War era.

Phongsavath, the Laotian minister, expressed the hope that the handover would persuade the U.S. Congress to establish normal trade relations with Laos.

The United States has diplomatic ties but no trade links with Laos because of concerns about the communist government's human rights record.

"We hope that this will help the American people and the Congress to understand that we have also shown our goodwill to cooperate" on the issue of missing Americans, Phongsavath said.

So, who knows or cares? Grasping at straws.

[BRussell]

What a bunch of ninnies. Who cares if the military brings him back home?

Oh, let me guess, it's because he's the brother of a Democrat?

But what I want to know is what in the world were they doing vacationing in Laos in 1974? Maybe they stayed at the Holiday Inn Cambodia on their travels?

[Spheric Harlot]

The United States has diplomatic ties but no trade links with Laos because of concerns about the communist government's human rights record.

Subtle irony.

[BlackGriffen]

My understanding is that the CIA will neither confirm nor deny whether Charly (Dean's brother) was working for them. If he were, then there would be less reason to complain.

BG

[davesimondotcom]

Originally posted by BRussell:
What a bunch of ninnies. Who cares if the military brings him back home?

Oh, let me guess, it's because he's the brother of a Democrat?

No, I think there issue is that he, as far as they know, was not a member of the military. Therefore, military honors would not be proper.

If, however, he was CIA, there is some gray area.

[Mister Elf]

For him to buried with full honors is Third Class ****. Most military personnel have to serve 20-some odd years for that, but this asshole never serves and gets military honors? 

[thunderous_funker]

So far, the only person reporting "full military honors" is Drudge.