FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 27, 2006

Chambliss, Isakson Introduce Measure
to Improve Military Policy Regarding Fallen Soldiers
Effort inspired by Sgt. Paul Saylor of Bremen, Georgia

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., are leading an effort to ensure that the U.S. Department of Defense takes action to improve the way fallen soldiers are cared for and how their survivors are notified and kept informed.   

The measure would require the Secretary of Defense to conduct and submit to Congress a comprehensive review regarding its current mortuary affairs policies, specifically to review how it utilizes refrigeration in combat theaters in order to enhance preservation of remains, timelines for transferring remains from their combat units back to the United States, and the feasibility of locating autopsy and embalming operations in theater as opposed to in the U.S. 

Additionally, it would ensure that the most qualified Department personnel brief survivors, that the briefings are done as soon as possible, that those briefings include the most complete and accurate information possible, and would include procedures for survivors to receive updates or supplemental information upon their request. 

Chambliss and Isakson will offer the proposal as an amendment to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, a bill currently being considered by the U.S. Senate that funds continued operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas of the ongoing global war on terrorism.  

The Georgia Senators were inspired by the story of Sgt. Paul Saylor of Bremen, Georgia, who served as a member of the Georgia National Guard’s 48^th Brigade Combat Team and was killed in Iraq in 2005.  Because Sgt. Saylor’s body was in an advanced state of decomposition, his family was not able to have an open casket funeral, which would have helped provide closure to the Saylor family at a very sorrowful time.  

“The unimaginable grief and sorrow that a family experiences when their soldier makes the ultimate sacrifice should not be made even more distressing by not allowing the family an opportunity to say their final goodbye,” said Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  “Our heroes deserve nothing less than a respectable and appropriate farewell.  I commend Patti Saylor for her courage and strength in sharing her family’s experience with us so we can work to ensure that other military families do not go through the same thing.”   

“Our servicemen and women and their families have made immeasurable sacrifices for our nation and the chance for freedom to take root abroad,” Isakson said. “All of our fallen heroes must be given the highest honors and respect for their great sacrifice. I am grateful to the Saylor family for bringing this to our attention, and I hope this measure will help ensure the treatment of a fallen soldier is the absolute best our nation can provide.”  

Commander Robert A. Pollard of the American Legion Department of Georgia, which supports the effort, said, “The members of our organization know the importance of a family’s opportunity to view the deceased.  All means possible should be taken to ensure the proper care of our deceased personnel and their timely return to their families. The Department of Defense must ensure each survivor is notified and is given the most accurate information as soon as possible.”                                      

The National Military Family Association (NMFA) said, “Families tell NMFA that they want accurate information about the circumstances surrounding their service member’s death.  NMFA believes this process is improving but thanks the sponsors of this amendment for recognizing that more may need to be done to ensure that surviving families’ needs are addressed.” 

The National Military Family Association is the only national organization whose sole focus is the military family and whose goal is to influence the development and implementation of policies that will improve the lives of our military families.

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