The Biden administration declined to pay for the transportation of the remains of a fallen U.S. soldier, leaving the family with a massive bill, according to a House member.
Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee was killed in Afghanistan in 2021. Her remains were initially flown to her hometown of Roseville, California for a ceremony, but because of a technicality under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) the Pentagon refused to pay to transport her to Arlington National Cemetery for burial.
An amendment to last year’s NDAA states that the Secretary of Defense is able to provide a fallen service member’s next of kin “a commercial air travel use waiver for the transportation of deceased remains of [a] military member who dies inside a theater of combat operations,” as Fox News Digital reported.
One of the 13 Gold Star families who lost their daughter in Afghanistan was forced to pay to ship her body back — until nonprofit stepped in to pay $60,000 to move Marine Corps Sgt Nicole Gee's remains to Arlington National Cemeteryhttps://t.co/4YvFm2Pcs5
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) July 26, 2023
Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) spoke with Fox and said that he learned of the situation last week during a meeting with 13 Gold Star families.
“Typically, our fallen heroes are flown back home for a solemn service and then laid to a final rest at Arlington Cemetery with the utmost respect and honor,” Mills said. “It is an egregious injustice that grieving families were burdened to shoulder the financial strain of honoring their loved ones. This is an unacceptable situation that demands immediate rectification.”
Ultimately, the family was able to secure funding to transport Gee to Arlington National Cemetery, which came to “a staggering $60,000,” Mills said.
Honoring Our Fallen, a nonprofit that is dedicated to providing support to families of fallen service members, covered the cost and helped move Gee to Virginia via private jet.
“At no time should our Gold Star families be financially responsible for burying their loved ones and American heroes,” Mills said in a brief statement posted to the social media platform X, formerly called Twitter.
At no time should our Gold Star families be financially responsible for burying their loved ones and American heroes. https://t.co/T4ldDFK3Hc
— Rep. Cory Mills 🇺🇸 (@RepMillsPress) July 25, 2023
The 13 service members were killed in an attack that was carried out just days before the U.S.’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Among the fallen were 11 Marines, one Army soldier, and one Navy member.
