Owens 'disgusted' with mistreatment of 9/11 remains

U.S. Rep. Bill Owens says he's disgusted with the mistreatment of the remains of some Sept. 11 victims.

A report issued Tuesday found that some cremated remains of victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks were dumped in a landfill. This from the Associated Press:

Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, told a group of reporters that the actions taken by the mortuary at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware were based on written guidance issued in March 2002 by David Chu, who was the Pentagon personnel chief under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Chu did not specifically mention dumping incinerated residue of 9/11 remains in a landfill, but his words might have been interpreted to allow that final step.

The Pentagon released a copy of the Chu memo, which was addressed to Thomas White, the Army’s top civilian official at the time. The Army oversaw the Air Force’s mortuary activities at Dover and elsewhere.

Schwartz said he only became aware on Tuesday of the fact that some portions of those remains were dumped in a landfill.

Owens said in a press release he was astonished that the remains were treated with "such recklessness and dishonor."

"The Pentagon has a responsibility to uncover who is responsible for this unacceptable breakdown in protocol to ensure guilty parties are punished for their action and all efforts are taken to ensure America’s fallen heroes, both military and civilian, are properly honored moving forward," he said. "We will never forget the courage New York’s first responders displayed that morning or the grief that still lives on for the families of those who died. Loved ones that were lost will be forever kept in our memory, and deserve the highest honor and respect we can afford them."