Former Manpower and Reserve Affairs personnel visit Center for Families of the Fallen

  • Published
  • By Christin Michaud
  • AFMAO Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Ron Winter, former Secretary of the Air Force, Manpower and Reserve Affairs, and the Honorable Craig W. Deuhring, former Assistant SAF/MR, toured the Center for Families of the Fallen June 25 to see firsthand the support offered to family members coming to witness the dignified transfer of a loved one.

Both gentlemen worked for what Winter called the "people side of the house." Their job is to take care of people, he said.

Both were part of the group deliberating the policy change allowing media to document dignified transfers with the permission of the family.

"They were at the policy element of how to do this," said Col. Robert Edmondson, Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Center commander.

Edmondson relayed what an honor it was to have the gentlemen here.

"These gentlemen retired from the Air Force and they're not just continuing their service, they do what they do because they care," he said. "The fact that they are with us today is a testimony to that continued desire and calling to help."

When Winter attended a dignified transfer before the policy change, he and other senior leaders were located in the distinguished visitor lounge in the passenger terminal and were very removed from families, he explained. After the policy changed, he came again and it was a fundamentally different situation, he said.

The building being used before the CFF wasn't able to accommodate clergymen, counselors, family members and other officials in a comfortable manner. Chairs were lined up in a row, and people would go down the line.

Winter said the old facility being used, "gave the impression of very close, but not a comfortable close. There are too many people and it was cramped," he said.
In his experience at dignified transfers, Winter realized people grieve at different rates and need a suitable place to do so.

He and other senior leaders agreed they need to do all they can to help Dover succeed in supporting Returning American's Fallen with dignity honor and respect and providing care, service and support for families. During their visit, they presented the Friends of the Fallen a donation of $5,000 on behalf of the A.J. and Lynda Scribante Charitable Foundation.

"Public and private dollars are coming to bear to help," Winter said. "This facility has exceeded my expectations."

He added that it is ideal to allow the right relationships to be made between the officials and the people going through grieving.

Deuhring was equally impressed with the set up of the CFF and the separate areas available for privacy or large groups.

"The special room for the children is probably one memory I am going to take back with me and keep with me the longest," said Deuhring. "How do children cope with this sort of tragedy? I don't know, but I do know that they have to express themselves ... children react differently than adults do. What you have done here, to allow them to express themselves in the early hours of dealing with this tragedy, I think is spot on and shows a lot of forethought and a lot of compassion. A lot of understanding went into the design of this building."

In the year and a half since the policy changed, there have been more than 600 war fallen and more than 2,500 family members who have made the journey to Dover to receive the remains of a loved one.

"This is a terrific place for families who are shocked with the grief of losing a loved one to be brought somewhere," said Winter. "Now they have a place that is compassion and people."