realitybasher, is this you?
This image has just been released in the government-issued, hard-bound history, "9-11 Pentagon," which can be ordered here, at the government
bookstore.gpo.gov.
And here's part of another article about your noble "Old Guard" traditions:
Old Guard Honors Battlefield Tradition by Linda D. Kozaryn writing in a
DefenseLink news article on Feb,. 5, 2002
"Gen. John Keane, Army vice chief of staff, was in his office at the Pentagon that day. In mid-January, he talked of the day's terror and courage to a group of reserve officers here.
The soldiers helped sort through the rubble so FBI agents could locate evidence and local search and rescue workers could locate remains. Once found, the Old Guard soldiers carried out body bags containing the remains.
Military mortuary affairs personnel stood by to receive the remains. The Army's 54th Quartermaster Company (Mortuary Affairs), Fort Lee, Va., were first on the scene, followed by the Army Reserve 311th Quartermaster Company (Mortuary Affairs) from Puerto Rico.
"We intended to remove (all the remains) using United States Army soldiers to do it," Keane said. "That's our tradition. That's our custom. So we asked the fire and rescue people to call us when they located (remains) and told them that we would assist them."
The Old Guard's young soldiers, he said, most in their early 20s, some still teen-agers, wore protective garments, respirators, rubber boots and gloves when they went in to recover remains.
All work on the site stopped while they performed the grim mission. Nothing would move except the soldiers, Keane said. They carried the remains to a tent, where there was a short ceremony with the American flag and a chaplain said a prayer.
"We did that outside the view of any camera or reporter," he noted. "We did that because that's who we are and what we stand for. Those are our values.'"
I thought all that body sifting was supposed to be taking place under a tent, to keep the paparazzi from dishonoring the moment with a view, not mucking your way through, across, amid and amongst the remains, and then
publishing it yourselves because you needed the points.
Then I found this:
Slow, Grim Work at the Pentagon, by Steve Twomey and David Cho, writing in the Washington Post on September 13, 2001
As the remains began to emerge with regularity in the hour before nightfall, the workers who had used heavy construction equipment to strip away the rubble paused to watch. "I don't think anything can prepare you to see that," said Gerald Ours, a supervisor with Facchina Construction.
His colleague Mike Crotty described encountering the body of a woman inside an office that had felt the plane's impact. "She was in her chair, leaning back," he said. "It didn't look like she knew what hit her . . . and her face was as if she was shocked."
It seems like a high value is placed on construction workers at the Pentagon, like these guys from "Facchina Construction," who seem to have had the run of the place. But what I'd like to know is--what was the concrete subcontractor for the future rebuilding contract doing on-site on Wednesday, September 12? Polishing the terrazzo?
The article you posted mentions Sgt. Nate Orme. I did an interesting blog about his
rewrite abilities a while back.
There is no honor among thieves and liars. The Old Guard's role at the Pentagon in the aftermath of 9-11--just like the roles of FEMA and USAR and the FBI and the Arlington County Fire Department--was strictly public relations and deep cover, not one iota of truth to be had (plus you're all uniformly bad actors.) The only honor in your unit is in keeping the secret, but this one is going to tear you up inside. Then you come spread your dishonor across the street, sullying the laying to rest of American "heroes." No soldier comes home from Iraq or Afghanistan but comes home diminished, not valorous, and you can keep giving each other medals and awards, it doesn't matter. Lies, all lies.