thedrifter
02-14-06, 11:51 AM
February 20, 2006
Parents agree to burial plan for son’s remains
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer
The divorced parents of a lance corporal killed in Iraq more than a year ago have finally reached a tentative agreement on where to bury their son, possibly ending a months-long battle over which parent decides the son’s final resting place.
The remains of 34-year-old Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, one of 31 members of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, killed in a Jan. 26, 2005, helicopter crash near the Iraq-Jordan border, have been in a mausoleum since they were returned to his parents in Michigan four days after his death.
His mother wanted him buried at a national cemetery in Holly, Mich.
His father wanted his final resting place to be near the family farm in Croswell, Mich., about 90 miles from Holly.
After eight months of court proceedings, attorneys for both sides on Feb. 8 confirmed that Klein’s parents, Rae Oldaugh and Manfred Klein, had reached a tentative accord to bury him on “a mutually agreed upon plot of land which is a place that both parties know Allan loved.”
The actual location hasn’t been disclosed.
The Marine’s long-divorced parents have battled over his resting place in and out of Michigan’s Macomb County Court since April 20, when a fight erupted as the two took stock of their son’s personal effects shipped back to them from Iraq.
At the heart of the dispute: which parent has legal custody of Klein’s remains and can determine where he should be buried.
Two Marine casualty-assistance calls officers were sent to notify Klein’s parents of his death simultaneously — one to his mother, one to his father, and both with the understanding that the fallen Marine had identified his mother as his primary next of kin prior to deploying.
Gunnery Sgt. Jeffrey Hankins, the casualty-assistance officer who arrived on the doorstep of Klein’s mother in Roseville, Mich., said he had Oldaugh complete all the paperwork to take custody of her son’s remains under the assumption that the Casualty Branch of Marine Corps headquarters had correctly identified her as the parent with authority to decide what to do with his remains.
The casualty branch was wrong.
“Nobody caught this mistake. Not me, not headquarters, nobody,” Hankins said. “[I was told] I had gotten the wrong person to sign the paperwork.”
Hankins learned that it didn’t matter who Klein had identified as next of kin because Defense Department policy states that “authority to determine disposition of remains” defaults to the older parent, regardless of which is listed by the Marine as primary next of kin.
Oldaugh filed suit last June and won an injunction that prevented her son’s burial until a trial determined which parent would make the decision.
By press time, neither parent had returned phone calls seeking comment on why they had initially chosen different burial locations.
Macomb County Judge Diane Druzinski ordered the parents to reach an out-of-court resolution by Feb. 14.
According to the press release announcing the agreement, “The parties will be working to conclude this process over the coming months. The Court has agreed to give the parties time to do so, and accordingly, has adjourned the trial until April 4.”
Three months after Klein’s mother filed suit, the Corps on Sept. 16 published MarAdmin message 421/05, which gave Marines the ability to designate the “person with authority to direct disposition of remains,” regardless of who is older.
Ellie
Parents agree to burial plan for son’s remains
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer
The divorced parents of a lance corporal killed in Iraq more than a year ago have finally reached a tentative agreement on where to bury their son, possibly ending a months-long battle over which parent decides the son’s final resting place.
The remains of 34-year-old Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, one of 31 members of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, killed in a Jan. 26, 2005, helicopter crash near the Iraq-Jordan border, have been in a mausoleum since they were returned to his parents in Michigan four days after his death.
His mother wanted him buried at a national cemetery in Holly, Mich.
His father wanted his final resting place to be near the family farm in Croswell, Mich., about 90 miles from Holly.
After eight months of court proceedings, attorneys for both sides on Feb. 8 confirmed that Klein’s parents, Rae Oldaugh and Manfred Klein, had reached a tentative accord to bury him on “a mutually agreed upon plot of land which is a place that both parties know Allan loved.”
The actual location hasn’t been disclosed.
The Marine’s long-divorced parents have battled over his resting place in and out of Michigan’s Macomb County Court since April 20, when a fight erupted as the two took stock of their son’s personal effects shipped back to them from Iraq.
At the heart of the dispute: which parent has legal custody of Klein’s remains and can determine where he should be buried.
Two Marine casualty-assistance calls officers were sent to notify Klein’s parents of his death simultaneously — one to his mother, one to his father, and both with the understanding that the fallen Marine had identified his mother as his primary next of kin prior to deploying.
Gunnery Sgt. Jeffrey Hankins, the casualty-assistance officer who arrived on the doorstep of Klein’s mother in Roseville, Mich., said he had Oldaugh complete all the paperwork to take custody of her son’s remains under the assumption that the Casualty Branch of Marine Corps headquarters had correctly identified her as the parent with authority to decide what to do with his remains.
The casualty branch was wrong.
“Nobody caught this mistake. Not me, not headquarters, nobody,” Hankins said. “[I was told] I had gotten the wrong person to sign the paperwork.”
Hankins learned that it didn’t matter who Klein had identified as next of kin because Defense Department policy states that “authority to determine disposition of remains” defaults to the older parent, regardless of which is listed by the Marine as primary next of kin.
Oldaugh filed suit last June and won an injunction that prevented her son’s burial until a trial determined which parent would make the decision.
By press time, neither parent had returned phone calls seeking comment on why they had initially chosen different burial locations.
Macomb County Judge Diane Druzinski ordered the parents to reach an out-of-court resolution by Feb. 14.
According to the press release announcing the agreement, “The parties will be working to conclude this process over the coming months. The Court has agreed to give the parties time to do so, and accordingly, has adjourned the trial until April 4.”
Three months after Klein’s mother filed suit, the Corps on Sept. 16 published MarAdmin message 421/05, which gave Marines the ability to designate the “person with authority to direct disposition of remains,” regardless of who is older.
Ellie