Originally Posted by
megan
wrench, your post
During the Vietnam conflict the Oz government decided they would not repatriate bodies, but inter them in a Malaysian War Grave cemetery. Families objected and had policy overturned, so bodies were returned to the home town and interred with full military protocol, church service, gun carriage, band, firing party etc As someone whose brother was a recipient of such recognition I can only endorse the thrust of your post.
Megan, I fully understand your comments and I'm very happy at the outcome but, with respect, I would suggest there is a difference between repatriating bodies already recovered versus risking the lives of several people to recover remains from a dangerous environment that will, with certainty, become less dangerous in a reasonable time. Similarly with Wrench and remains from a historical conflict - although with the other operation you mention it is not clear from where you were recovering the bodies? I have also repatriated bodies, but not from dangerous locations (well, they proved dangerous for the individuals concerned, of course!). If my desire to bury a loved one now, rather than in 6-8 weeks, resulted in the deaths of 6 soldiers, the creation of 6 new widows and maybe a dozen fatherless kids I'd probably feel pretty bad about it! It's an emotive topic that does not always bear logical scrutiny.