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Dover Air Force Base mortuary chief disputes mistreating John Glenn's remains

Xerxes Wilson and Cameron Knight
USA Today Network
Dover Air Force Base mortuary employee Bill Zwicharowski during an interview with The Associated Press in 2011.

The Air Force is investigating allegations that an official at Dover Air Force Base offered to show the remains of Sen. John Glenn to Pentagon inspectors at the base's mortuary, officials said Friday.

Col. Pat Ryder, an Air Force spokesman, said in a statement the inspectors declined to view Glenn's remains, but the offer alone was enough to launch an investigation into misconduct.

“The Air Force takes extremely seriously its responsibility to fulfill the nation's sacred commitment of ensuring dignity, honor and respect to the fallen and care, service and support to their families,” Ryder said.

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 at the age of 95.

STORY: Middletown teachers saw Glenn's last takeoff to space

Before his interment at Arlington National Cemetry last month, Glenn's remains traveled to Ohio, his home state, which he represented for 24 years as a Democratic U.S. senator. The Dover mortuary was caring for Glenn's remains before he was buried at Arlington.

Glenn’s family has been notified about the investigation, Dale Butland, a longtime spokesman, told the USA Today Network.

“The family was contacted by the office of the secretary of the Air Force yesterday, who assured them that they were doing an investigation and they would take full responsibility for the investigation,” Butland said.

The Military Times first reported the incident Thursday, quoting a "senior mortuary employee" who said the airman twice 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 last 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 whistleblowers in a scandal over undocumented and missing military service member body parts at the mortuary.

In 2009, Zwicharoski was told by a subordinate that some human remains were missing. An investigation ensued, and Zwicharowski subsequently told the Air Force inspector general that the inquiry had been mishandled.

Ultimately, an Office of Special Council investigation found that there had been a pattern of retaliation by leadership at the base against Zwicharowski and other mortuary workers over their statements to investigators.

Speaking to The News Journal about the scandal in 2013, he said problems at the mortuary were in the past.

"I want to guarantee the families of our fallen, in the past and in the future, that they're treated with honor, dignity and respect here at Dover."

The investigation into the handling of Glenn's remains is being conducted by the Air Force Inspector General's Office.

“At the conclusion of the investigation, the Air Force will determine what further corrective actions, if any, may be necessary and appropriate. If any allegations of misconduct are substantiated, those involved will be held accountable,” Ryder said.

The story includes information from the Associated Press.