The Dignified Transfer

A stillness lingered under a cloudy sky as a team of Army soldiers slowly emerged from the large gray C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft. They walked in step at a smooth and steady pace. Their eyes remained forward.

The flag-draped transfer cases were held level with the weight distributed evenly among the six service members conducting what is often referred to as a “no-fail mission.”

President Biden stood with a solemn expression on his face alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The American commander in chief, who often concludes his speeches with “may God protect our troops,” had now witnessed the second dignified transfer of his presidency.

Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett were killed at a remote U.S. outpost in Jordan on Sunday in what the Pentagon said was a drone attack by an Iranian-backed militia.

I’ve witnessed scores of dignified transfers as a former Air Force autopsy photographer assigned to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The process is purposefully methodic, but it never becomes easier for anyone, especially the fallen service members’ families. At the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq when I was stationed there, we handled several dignified transfers a week. These three Army Reserve soldiers were the first U.S. casualties of the current conflict in the Middle East.

After the flag-draped transfer cases were ceremonially removed from the plane, they were driven to the medical examiner’s unit for a full autopsy to confirm the cause and manner of death. Items that the fallen service members had with them when they died are gathered, organized and photographed. These often include things like uniforms, dog tags, wallet-size photos, wedding rings and letters from loved ones.

After the autopsy, the service members’ remains are transferred to another location and prepared for burial. All service members who die while on active duty have the option of being buried at Arlington National Cemetery, but the decision is up to their family members.

Before they were moved into position to witness the transfer on the tarmac, family members of the deceased soldiers met with Mr. Biden in a private room — an area intended to be a more intimate setting, closed off to the news media and the public, where they could mourn together.