Parents end long fight over Marine's remains

updated 8:36 a.m. ET May 23, 2006

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. - The feuding parents of a Marine killed in Iraq 16 months ago have reached an agreement on how to dispose of his remains.

Marine Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, 34, died Jan. 26, 2005, along with 29 other Marine infantrymen and a medic, in a helicopter crash near the Jordanian border.

Shortly after, his parents, who are divorced, could not agree on a cemetery. His mother, Rae Oldaugh of Roseville, sought to have him buried at the Great Lakes National Cemetery, while his father, Manfred Klein of Monroe County, wanted him buried near a family farm.

A Defense Department rule gives the older of two parents of an unmarried service member the power to choose the burial site. But Allan Klein had designated Oldaugh, the younger of his parents, as next of kin. She sued, saying she had the right to select the burial site.

Under the agreement, Klein's body will be cremated, with most of his ashes being spread at the farm and the rest going to his mother. The remains have been in a crypt in Roseville. A monument to Klein will go up at the military cemetery.

"We had put this offer out there in the spirit of compromise and they chose to accept it," Daniel Shemke, Oldaugh's brother and lawyer, told The Detroit News. "The primary goal that I had was to get some sort of marker at Great Lakes."

He said Klein's lawyer called him last week to settle the case.

A message seeking comment was left before business hours Tuesday seeking comment from the father's lawyer, Derek Wilczynski.

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