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Posted by Jay D. Wilcox, Jr.
on 11/18/2007, 4:55 pm
76.185.48.68
I have sent copies of this story to The Air Force Times, VFW, Senitors and Congressmam who are also Military Brats, The Stars and Stripes and to Overseas Brats. The only response I have received has been from Overseas Brats, saying there would be a followup story in their December Issue.
I thought that someone from Wheelus should also read this story.
MILITARY BRATS LEFT BEHIND AND FORGOTTEN
The article in the May 2007 issue of “OVERSEAS BRATS” about thirty children, who had been buried in a cemetery at Wheelus U. S. Air Force Base, Tripoli, Libya, made me feel sad.
The U.S. and Libya were in the process of normalizing their relationship, after 40 years, when Libyans informed the U.S. authorities: “There is a cemetery here with 30 of your kids. Please remove them. We want the land back!”
When I received the August 2007 issue of “OVERSEAS BRATS”, there was a follow up to this story. The U.S. Air Force had gone to Libya, and brought home the remains to Dover Air Force Base, DE, but now there were 70 children and 2 adults.
All my life I heard the old military slogan, “NO MAN LEFT BEHIND.” These children were not military men or women, they were their CHILDREN. They should have been even more precious to the United States Government. Why didn’t the remains of these children get returned to the U.S. when Wheelus was closed, in 1970?
It seems that at the time these children died, most of which were infants, service members did not receive entitlements to have the remains of their loved ones flown back to the U.S. for burial. There was a cemetery run by the Italian Military near by, and Italians offered the Americans a free plot and marker for their loved ones. So these children were laid to rest in Hammangi Cemetery, Libya.
When the remains of these children arrived at Dover Air Force Base, DE, every effort was made to contact their family members. The families of 18 of these children elected to have them interred in various locations. Air Force officials were present for each of those interments. The remaining 54 were laid to rest in a solemn ceremony at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Millsboro, Delaware, August 24, 2007. Now they may finally rest in peace, in American soil, with an American Flag flying over their graves.
I would like to thank each and every airman and civilian who participated in this endeavor. This had to be a very difficult job, knowing that these were the remains of the children of fellow airman. By the Grace of God, it was not their child they were bringing home.
Does anyone know how many more “Military Brats” have been left behind, as other military installations have been closed around the world? If someone thought there were 30 children in Libya, and it was really 70 children and 2 adults, there could be hundreds of “Forgotten Military Brats” waiting to be brought home.
Military Brats, by no choice of their own, have served their nation along side their parent since the first Army of this nation was formed. They serve the only way they can, giving support. There is a tremendous strain of the members of a military family. Never knowing when or where they might be deployed. They do whatever it takes to keep the family together. These families pick up and move half way around the world with very little notice. Some Military Brats have attended as many as ten to twenty or more different schools in twelve years. Their immediate family is the only coherency they have. Military Brats have to make new friends with every new assignment, not knowing how long this friendship will last. Only a Military Brat can know what it is like being one, and whenever they meet one another after long separations, it’s like they have found a long lost friend, or family member. Theirs is a bond that can never be broken. They also have a bond with Military Brats they have never met. I feel this bond with these “Forgotten Military Brats”. I have a need to speak on their behalf.
If there is not a policy today, to bury the dependents of active duty military personnel in an Overseas American, or a National Cemetery, there needs to be one. These dependents serve their country just as their parent does. They should be buried in American soil, with an American flag flying over them, not forgotten in some foreign land.
The story does not end here. We need to find all “Military Brats” that have been left behind and bring them home also.
Jay D. Wilcox, Jr.
Concerned Military Brat
Burtonwood, England 56'-59' ('61)
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