Airmen in personal effects office take small items to heart

  • Published
  • By Capt. Shannon Collins
  • AF Mortuary Affairs Ops Center Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AFNS) --  Watches, coins, photos, dog tags and necklaces. To many, these are just items carried or worn by military members, even when serving in places like Iraq or Afghanistan. 

For families of the fallen, these simple items may be cherished keepsakes that serve as reminders of their son or daughter who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Something as simple as a watch could be a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation. Necklaces once worn around the neck of a servicemember can again be held close to the hearts of a fallen warrior's loved ones. 

Airmen working on the personal effects team clean these items belonging to fallen servicemembers, and prepare them to be given with dignity to the families of fallen members.

"I could be working on a broken watch for hours, but it may still have the smell of cologne, and I know that I can get it back to the families," said Tech. Sgt. Latersa Frazier, the personal effects supervisor at the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center here. "It could be the one item a child has to remind him of his father or mother. That means everything to me."

Deployed from the mortuary section of the 43rd Force Support Squadron at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., Sergeant Frazier is part of a three-person deployed team whose mission is to process the personal effects of the fallen with as much respect and honor as possible yet efficiently so the escort can return the items to the grieving families.

When a fallen Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine arrives at Dover AFB, he or she is welcomed home to the United States with a dignified transfer. The dignified transfer is led by a general officer and performed by a carry team from the fallen servicemembers' respective branch of service who moves the transfer case to an awaiting vehicle. The vehicle then takes it to the port mortuary for processing. 

During the initial processing, known as triage, the personal effects team takes custody of any personal items and brings them back to their section to be inventoried, photographed and cleaned. If an item cannot be associated with a particular individual, it goes to the Joint Personal Effects Depot at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.

"We'll try our best to clean them the best we can so they can go back with the escort to their families. Our goal is to make them look better than brand new," Sergeant Frazier said.

Whether an item is charred, burned or severely damaged, the Airmen will spend whatever time is needed, sometimes a whole day on one item, scrubbing, buffing and polishing, trying to make it look brand new.

Sergeant Frazier spent a day and a half on a belt buckle.

"It was from a crash and was pretty charred. When I finally finished it, it was a bronze gold color; really beautiful. We still talk about that belt buckle," Sergeant Frazier said.
 
"We put in the extra work when dealing with personal effects because we want to be able to give back to the family just a little something for their loss. If this was my loved one, I would want the person working on my items to do the best job they can," she said.

In the port mortuary, the consensus among the deployed Airmen who work in autopsy, embalming, the uniform section and shipping is that the personal effects section is the most difficult because it's so personal.

"Every case has touched me in some way," said Airman 1st Class Rontera Powell, a personal effects specialist deployed from Pope AFB. "When you work in my section, you stop seeing them as remains, and you start seeing them as people who had personalities. And even though these people are no longer here in body, they're still here in spirit through their effects."

Staff Sgt. John Cabral, a personal effects specialist deployed from the 60th Force Support Squadron at Travis AFB, Calif., finds working in the personal effects section difficult at times as well.

"I remember my first case," Sergeant Cabral said. "He was only 19. When I saw him in triage, he was pretty messed up. Once I started looking through his personal effects to clean them up, I saw photos of him and his girlfriend; pictures of how he looked. It was just very hard for me. It takes a strong person to be able to do the job and put your emotional feelings to the side. It affects you."

Getting the sense of the person behind the items and remains spurs the team toward cleaning the items with perfection and returning the items to the families.

"My motivation is this person who has served our country, who paid the ultimate sacrifice," said Sergeant Frazier. "This is something I can do for them because they sacrificed their lives for us. Just cleaning a simple dog tag, even if I had to stand here half the day to clean it to get it back to the family, I would do that. Not only is the servicemember making that sacrifice, but also the families, the loved ones, and the children. They are as well. Being able to support that person -- that family - it's an amazing feeling."

Though the personal effects effort can be difficult, as the Airmen determine who the effects belong to, the Airmen said they believe in their mission and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Sergeant Frazier is now going to school to become a mortician, and Airman Powell is studying for medical school.

"I've been in 11 years, and though I didn't expect to be working in mortuary affairs, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I feel drawn to it," Sergeant Frazier said. "I just can't see myself doing anything else. It's all about the care, service and support for the families."

Necklaces, dog tags and watches may seem like just personal items, but they can mean the world to a grieving family of a fallen servicemember.

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