http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MILITARY_BODIES?SITE=3DAP&SECTION=3D= HOME&TEMPLATE=3DDEFAULT&CTIME=3D2007-04-06-18-59-19=0A=0AFallen of War Fly = Home With More Dignity =0ABy BILL POOVEY =0AAssociated Press Writer=0A=0AAP= Photo/Mark Gilliland=0A=0AU.S. Video=0A=0A=0A=0A=0AAdvertisement=0A=0A=0A = =0A=0AAudio Slideshow=0AHonoring the Fallen=0A=0A=0ADatabase=0A=0A Search t= he DOD Surplus Database =0A=0ADocument=0AGAO Report on Military Recruiting = =0A=0ALatest News=0AFriendly Fire Scenario Roils GI's Father =0ABush Salute= s Navy With Football Trophy =0ALogistics Problems Slow Iraqi Forces =0AMari= ne Unit Ordered Out of Afghanistan =0AArmy: Industry Slow to Replace Aircra= ft =0ASex Assault Reports Rise in Military =0AGates Sidesteps Question on P= ace Apology =0AHouse to Push Ban on F-14 Parts Sale =0AGeneral: U.S. Still = Wary of North Korea =0AArmy Officers to Visit Care Centers =0A=0A=0ABuy AP = Photo Reprints=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0A=0AIn an about-face by the U.S. governme= nt four years into the war in Iraq, America's fallen troops are being broug= ht back to their families aboard charter jets instead of ordinary commercia= l flights, and the caskets are being met by honor guards in white gloves in= stead of baggage handlers with forklifts.=0AThat change - which took effect= quietly in January and applies to members of the U.S. military killed in A= fghanistan, too - came after a campaign waged by a father who was aghast to= learn that his son's body was going to be unloaded like so much luggage.= =0AJohn Holley said an airline executive told him that was the "most expedi= tious" way to get the body home.=0A"I said, `That's not going to happen wit= h my son. That's not how my son is coming home,'" said Holley, an Army vete= ran from San Diego whose son, Spc. Matthew Holley, was killed by a roadside= bomb in Iraq in 2005. "If it was `expeditious' to deliver them in garbage = trucks, would you do that?"=0AKalitta Charters of Ypsilanti, Mich., won the= Pentagon contract to bring the war dead home, and has returned 143 bodies = since Jan. 1.=0AMore than 3,500 Americans have been killed in Iraq and Afgh= anistan. Before the new law was passed by Congress, the dead that arrived f= rom overseas at the military mortuary in Dover, Del., were then typically f= lown to the commercial airport nearest their families.=0ASome were met by s= martly uniformed military honor guards. But in other cases, the flag-draped= caskets were unceremoniously taken off the plane by ordinary ground crew m= embers and handed over to the family at a warehouse in a cargo area.=0ANow,= the military is flying the dead into smaller regional airports closer to t= heir hometowns, so that they can be met by their families and, in some case= s, receive community tributes. And the caskets are being borne from the pla= ne by an honor guard.=0ALast year, the U.S. military spent about $1.2 milli= on to bring home the dead on commercial flights. Switching to charter fligh= ts will cost far more: The six-month Kalitta contract is worth up to $11 mi= llion.=0A"It's so much more dignified, so much more a respectable way of ge= tting them home," said Tom Bellisario, a Kalitta pilot who has flown more t= han 30 of the missions.=0A"It's definitely an honor for all of us," Bellisa= rio said. "You figure the last time they saw that person they were alive. A= s soon as we pull the flag-draped casket into the doorway you hear the cryi= ng. You can sense it in the air."=0AJohn Holley said he believed his 21-yea= r-old son deserved a more dignified return than the Pentagon was planning, = and complained to his congressman, then-House Armed Services Committee Chai= rman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. He also got help from Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Ca= lif.=0AThey made sure an honor guard from Holley's unit based at Fort Campb= ell, Ky., was sent to Lindbergh Field in San Diego for the arrival of the b= ody. Holley said the ceremony was dignified and fitting.=0AThen he turned h= is attention to other U.S. soldiers.=0A"What about all these other parents?= " Holley said. "This is one of the last memories. I don't want it to be in = a warehouse on a forklift."=0AMilitary officials have said commercial airli= ners were used previously because that was the fastest way to return the de= ad to their families.=0AHunter wrote a letter to then-Defense Secretary Don= ald Rumsfeld in December 2005, calling for more appropriate military honors= . Speaking from the House floor in May, Hunter said: "The extreme respect t= hat should be afforded those fallen heroes ... has in some cases, been lack= ing."=0APersuaded by Hunter and others, Congress passed a law that requires= the remains to be flown on a military or military-contracted aircraft. The= re must be an escort and an honor guard. Commercial airliners are used only= if requested by families, or in cases where remains are sent outside the U= nited States.=0A"We are happy with what this has been able to provide the f= amilies and the relatives," said Pentagon spokesman Maj. Stewart Upton. "Re= gardless of what the reality was, there was a perception there that the pro= per respect was not being provided to those who made the ultimate sacrifice= . That is no longer a question."=0AKalitta's manager for the project, Steve= Greene, said the sight of a forklift unloading a casket proved too much fo= r military families.=0A"You just don't do that," he said. "And doing that w= ith a family watching it, they don't want to see their son's casket being u= nloaded with a forklift or a belt loader, and this is what Congress saw."= =0AKalitta brought home the body of Army Staff Sgt. Terry William Prater, o= f Speedwell, Tenn., on March 23. Prater, 25, was killed by a roadside bomb = in Baghdad.=0AMichael Patton, a police sergeant from New Tazewell, Tenn., a= ttended the arrival ceremony at the Knoxville airport. He said he was impre= ssed by the military escort and the precision color guard.=0AThe ceremony w= as held in a shaded, general aviation section of the suburban airport. The = jet rolled to within 50 feet of a waiting hearse, offering the privacy the = family requested.=0A"It showed more respect than him being on a plane with = the rest of the luggage," Patton said.=0A---=0Ahttp://www.kalittacharters.c= om =0A=A9 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may= not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about = our Privacy Policy.=0A Purchase this AP story for reprint.=0ASponsored Link= s=0AMortgage Rates at 3.0% - Save Thousands=0A$150,000 loan for $391/month = - refinance, home equity and purchase. refinance.leadsteps.com=0A$310,000 f= or $999/Mo=0ASee today's mortgage rates. Think you pay too much? Find a low= er rate!refinance.lowermybills.com=0ARefinance as Low as 3.9% - Free Quotes= =0AReceive up to 4 free quotes and select the best rate! No obligations.www= .refinancetrust.com=0AGet listed here=0A=0A=0A=0AAdvertisement <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".