Air Force Dumped Remains in Landfill

The Washington Post reports that the Dover Air Force Base mortuary dumped the remains of dead troops in a landfill in Virginia. The mortuary, under investigation for mishandling body parts, is the main entry point for soldiers’ remains, and used the landfill from 2003 to 2008, the Air Force told the Post. Since 2008, remains have been buried at sea. Only body parts that were not identified, or were later found after wars, were disposed of using the process. The parts were reportedly cremated and incinerated, and then sent to the landfill. On Tuesday the Dover mortuary said it had lost a soldier’s ankle and mishandled other body parts. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that there may be more accountability and that there is “no excuse” for an incident like this to occur.