'Glenn's remains disrespected?'

An interesting yet troubling story hit the wires today, regarding the late U.S. Senator and iconic astronaut John Glenn.  The story alleges that some folks were offered a 'peek' at his body before services and burial could be made at Arlington... I'm sure an investigation will now take place... and we'll see  where it goes.... here is the story from USA today;

CINCINNATI — The Air Force is investigating allegations that an airman offered to show the remains of Sen. John Glenn to Pentagon inspectors at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, officials said Friday.  

Col. Pat Ryder, an Air Force spokesman, said in a statement the inspectors declined to view Glenn's remains, but the offer alone was enough to launch an investigation into misconduct.

“The Air Force takes extremely seriously its responsibility to fulfill the nation's sacred commitment of ensuring dignity, honor and respect to the fallen and care, service and support to their families,” said Ryder.

Glenn, who served as a Marine pilot in World War II and the Korean War before becoming the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, died Dec. 8, 2016, at the age of 95.

Before his internment at Arlington National Cemetery last month, Glenn's remains traveled to Ohio, his home state, which he represented for 24 years as a Democratic U.S. senator.

Glenn’s family has been notified about the investigation, Dale Butland, a longtime spokesman, told the USA TODAY Network on Friday.

'Remembering'....

It's a good weekend to stop and give pause, and to
remember all those that gave their lives for us.

There are service members, men and women,
literally buried in silent graves around the
planet who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Maybe you had a member of your family, or
two or more who served, and for that,
everyone of us in indebted.

Take a stroll through a cemetery this week...
read a few headstones...lay a wreath...
say a prayer... and say thank you.

We've seen some horrific things in our
history.. and I'm afraid, probably more yet
to come...let's resolve that it was all worth it..
and that the sacrifices were an investment in
our children's future.

Remembering... it's something we do too little of..

any day is a good day for it... it's a ritual we
should teach to all of our kids and grand kids.

'Long last identified'....

A most fascinating story about a young girl who passed away
in the late 1800's. Last year her casket found beneath a home that was undergoing renovation. After months and months of
investigation, and some remarkable DNA work, she was
identified and reburied. Here is the story from the
Associated Press.......

The 19th-century body of a girl found last year inside a small metal casket under a San Francisco home has been identified, researchers announced Tuesday.

The child was 2-year-old Edith Howard Cook, who died on Oct. 13, 1876, six weeks short of her third birthday, the nonprofit Garden of Innocence said.

The girl's remains, found by construction workers last May, were apparently left behind when about 30,000 people originally buried in San Francisco's Odd Fellows Cemetery in the Richmond District were moved in the 1920s to Greenlawn Memorial Park in Colma.

Elissa Davey, a genealogist and founder of the Garden of Innocence Project, organized the girl's reburial in Colma last year and began her quest to identify the remains.

After hundreds of hours trying to find Edith's identity, researchers caught a break when they found a map of the old cemetery at a University of California, Berkeley library and matched it to a plot where her parents, Horatio Cook and Edith Scooffy, were once buried.

Once they had the family name, researchers looked for living descendants, one of whom volunteered his DNA for testing.

Marin County resident Peter Cook — Edith's grandnephew — was a match for DNA taken from strands of her hair.

UC Davis Professor Jelmer Eerkens, who helped with the DNA testing, told San Francisco television station KTVU that Edith died of marasmus, which is severe undernourishment.

"It's likely she was sick with some disease and at some point her immune system couldn't combat the disease and probably went into coma and passed away," he said.

The girl's well-off family gave her an ornate burial. She was clothed in a white christening dress and ankle-high boots. Tiny purple flowers were woven into her hair and she held a purple Nightshade flower in her right hand. Roses, eucalyptus leaves and baby's breath were placed inside the coffin, according to the Garden of Innocence report.

Edith's father was a businessman, the report said. Her maternal grandfather was an original member of the Society of California Pioneers, which is an organization founded by California residents who arrived before 1850.