Report: 274 soldiers' ashes in landfill

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Military records show the ashes of body parts from at least 274 members of the U.S. military were dumped in a landfill, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

The Air Force had previously said it was impossible to determine the extent of the dumping. The practice at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware was ended three years ago but only became public last month through a Post report.

The families had authorized the disposal of body parts recovered in Iraq and Afghanistan -- not complete bodies -- but were not told the ashes would be given to a contractor. They are now disposed of through sea burial.

Military officials said they did not plan to let families know what had happened to their relatives.

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., said he was trying to get information on behalf of a constituent who had lost her husband in Iraq. He said he had received a letter from the Pentagon talking of the "massive effort" it would require to search the records.

Holt was angry in a phone interview with the Post: "What the hell? We spent millions, tens of millions, to find any trace of soldiers killed, and they're concerned about a 'massive' effort to go back and pull out the files and find out how many soldiers were disrespected this way? They just don't want to ask questions or look very hard."