New DOD mortuary opens at Dover

  • Published
  • By K.L. Vantran
  • American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  Military officials opened a new $30 million mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, Del., on Oct. 27. The Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs, which replaced a 48-year-old facility, is the Defense Department's only stateside mortuary.

Since 1955, the remains of more than 50,000 servicemembers have arrived at Dover for identification and funeral preparations. The mortuary staff prepares the remains of fallen U.S. servicemembers, as well as government officials and their families stationed abroad in Europe and Southwest Asia.

"The new building is state-of-the art," said Meg Falk, director of the Defense Department's family policy office.

The 70,000-square-foot facility was built in little more than a year, said Falk, who likened the project to the Pentagon's Phoenix Project, which took one year to rebuild the portion of the Pentagon destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.

"It was built with that same kind of spirit and dedication," she said.

The people at Dover have a very difficult job, Falk said, adding she is glad they now have a new, brighter facility to work in. The center features a foyer with a reflecting pool where the staff can sit and contemplate if they need to collect themselves.

"This peaceful space is a wonderful aspect of the new mortuary," Falk said. "There's also a break area complete with computer labs, a place where people ‘can remove themselves a little -- relax, regroup a bit.’"

New computers tie into the Services Casualty System and speed up the process for obtaining data on servicemembers, such as awards they are entitled to and where their families live.

The loss of a loved one is the worst thing a family has to deal with, Falk said, and the Defense Department's goal is to respect the privacy and wishes of servicemembers' families.

"It's a time of grief, of loss. The families are in shock, in disbelief," she said. "Over the years, the families have told us that their privacy is very important. They don't want to see on (television) a casket that might contain their loved one's remains before they've had a chance to grieve."

Out of respect for families' privacy, defense officials do not allow media coverage at the Dover center, or any other site where remains are transferred. It is inappropriate for media to be at a mortuary, Falk said.

"The mission of a mortuary is to prepare remains with dignity, care and respect," she said. "If we expose that process to the media we lose that."

Falk said she has great respect for the scientists and staff at Dover.

"They are so careful to ensure they are absolutely positive that they have 100-percent identification," she said.

The center is named after Charles C. Carson who served as the Dover mortuary director for 26 years. He retired in 1996 and died in 2002.