International Picture of the Year

First Place:

When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as so powerful: "See the people in the windows? They sat right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You have gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They will remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should.


Second Place:

The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted.


I just thought these were so amazing. First and Second place were taken of the same family. This past week I was in Philadelphia for the National Funeral Directors Association convention and I took a seminar put on by Dover Air Force Base's mortuary team. I was shocked to know that not only is EVERY soldier, that is KIA, escorted home to the USA but they are escorted all the way to their final resting place. It didn't matter if it was at a government cemetery or a private cemetery. Not only do they send an escort with every soldier but they also send one with every piece of every soldier. That may sound morbid but to them if they find an arm 6 months after it is detached from its 'owner' it is treated just like a body and embalmed and escorted to the grave and buried just like if it were a full body. Even more astonishing is that the escort could be ANYONE. If someone dies in Iraq they are escorted home to Dover by a member of our military and then the family can designate someone to escort the person the rest of the way. At no cost to the family the military will fly them to Dover and they will be able to accompany their loved one all the way home. They said it has been more prevalent in the last year to see husbands escort home their fallen wives and wives escorting home their fallen husbands. These pictures just hit home for me and I thought the rest of you may want to know a little bit about them.