Probe opens into claim of ‘ peek’ offer to see remains of John Glenn
CINCINNATI The Air Force is investigating allegations that a mortuary employee offered to show the remains of Sen. John Glenn to Pentagon inspectors at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, officials said Friday.
Col. Pat Ryder, an Air Force spokesman, said the inspectors declined to view Glenn’s remains, but the offer alone was enough to launch an investigation into misconduct.
Glenn, who served as a Marine pilot in World War II and the Korean War before becoming the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, died Dec. 8, 2016, at the age of 95.
Before his internment at Arlington National Cemetery last month, Glenn’s remains traveled to Ohio, his home state, which he represented for 24 years as a Democratic U. S. senator.
Glenn’s family has been notified about the investigation, Dale Butland, a longtime spokesman, told the USA TODAY Network on Friday.
Military Times first reported the incident Thursday, saying a “senior mortuary employee” offered “horrified inspectors a peek at American icon John Glenn’s dead body while the famed astronaut awaited burial earlier this year.”
However, the military mortuary chief says Glenn’s remains were treated with “impeccable care.”
William Zwicharowski said Friday in a text message to The Associated Press that he’s proud of the job he and his staff did in caring for Glenn’s remains during the months between his death in December and his burial in April.
It is not the first time Zwicharowski has been a figure in an investigation of potential mismanagement of remains at the Dover base.
Zwicharowski and two other Dover mortuary workers were honored by the independent Office of Special Council in 2012 for their role as whistle- blowers in a scandal over undocumented and missing military servicemember body parts at the mortuary. In 2009, Zwicharoski was told by a subordinate that some human remains were missing. An investigation ensued and Zwicharowski told the Air Force Inspector General that the inquiry had been mishandled. Ultimately, an Office of Special Council investigation found a pattern of retaliation by leadership at the base against Zwicharowski and other mortuary workers over their statements to investigators.