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Finding remains of copter's crew, cause of crash important for closure

By Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, March 3, 2002

Not having a body to bury has been difficult for some families of the victims of last week’s Chinook helicopter crash.

"Only thing is, there’s no body to bring home," said Bobby Foshee, father of Army Sgt. Jeremy Foshee, a 25-year-old crew chief on the helicopter that crashed in the Philippines.

Three of the 10 bodies have been recovered. Foshee said last week that Army officials told him it would take a week to know whether they might recover other bodies.

"We’re just waiting," Foshee said. "That’s all we can do, is wait and pray."

Jessica Ridout, sister of Air Force Staff Sgt. Juan Ridout, said her family also is hoping a body is recovered.

"It’s difficult to have any closure on this thing if the body isn’t found," she said.

Not having her son’s body back is hard to accept, said Penny Owens Taylor, the mother of Capt. Bartt Owens. The family will hold a memorial service in Middletown, Ohio, Friday or Saturday with or without the body.

Owens’ mother lost her husband to a heart attack nearly 20 years ago. A few years later, her eldest son committed suicide. Now she is struggling with the death of her last remaining son.

"No mother should have to face this," she said during a telephone interview from Middletown.

Although proud of her son, Taylor said she initially lost her patriotic fervor after notification of the death. The sight of an American flag made her wince, she said.

But a memorial service that the Army hosted at Fort Campbell, Ky., last Tuesday, with roughly 2,000 people in attendance, helped sooth some emotional wounds, she said.

"If that ceremony couldn’t restore my faith in the military, nothing could," Taylor said. "They treated us so well. They couldn’t have done more for us than they did."

Penny Owens Taylor, Bobby Foshee and Jessica Ridout said they have been told none of the three recovered bodies found were their family members.

Military officials say they will do what they can to find the remains.

"Every reasonable effort will be made to recover the bodies of the deceased," said Navy Cmdr. John Fleming, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii.

But he said danger to salvage-and-recovery crews also has to be considered.

Not leaving anyone behind — dead or alive — is a longstanding military tradition, especially among special operations forces.

Recovering bodies always is a priority, said Army Brig. Gen. Ronald Mangum, commander of U.S. special operations in South Korea.

"Every American servicemember knows that if they are wounded, if they are isolated, if they are in harm’s way, and if they die, that their comrades will make every human effort possible to recover them, to recover their remains, and bring those remains home to their loved ones," Mangum said.