‘That’s not going to happen with my son’

They made sure an honor guard from Holley's unit based at Fort Campbell, Ky., was sent to Lindbergh Field in San Diego for the arrival of the body. Holley said the ceremony was dignified and fitting.

Then he turned his attention to other U.S. soldiers.

"What about all these other parents?" Holley said. "This is one of the last memories. I don't want it to be in a warehouse on a forklift."

Military officials have said commercial airliners were used previously because that was the fastest way to return the dead to their families.

Hunter presses the issue
Hunter wrote a letter to then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in December 2005, calling for more appropriate military honors. Speaking from the House floor in May, Hunter said: "The extreme respect that should be afforded those fallen heroes ... has in some cases, been lacking."

Persuaded by Hunter and others, Congress passed a law that requires the remains to be flown on a military or military-contracted aircraft. There must be an escort and an honor guard. Commercial airliners are used only if requested by families, or in cases where remains are sent outside the United States.

"We are happy with what this has been able to provide the families and the relatives," said Pentagon spokesman Maj. Stewart Upton. "Regardless of what the reality was, there was a perception there that the proper respect was not being provided to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. That is no longer a question."

‘You just don’t do that’
Kalitta's manager for the project, Steve Greene, said the sight of a forklift unloading a casket proved too much for military families.

"You just don't do that," he said. "And doing that with a family watching it, they don't want to see their son's casket being unloaded with a forklift or a belt loader, and this is what Congress saw."

Kalitta brought home the body of Army Staff Sgt. Terry William Prater, of Speedwell, Tenn., on March 23. Prater, 25, was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

Michael Patton, a police sergeant from New Tazewell, Tenn., attended the arrival ceremony at the Knoxville airport. He said he was impressed by the military escort and the precision color guard.

The ceremony was held in a shaded, general aviation section of the suburban airport. The jet rolled to within 50 feet of a waiting hearse, offering the privacy the family requested.

"It showed more respect than him being on a plane with the rest of the luggage," Patton said.

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