New Remains Identified - Fouty and Jimenez

Additional remains of two soldiers who were kidnapped and killed in Iraq have been located and identified. Remains of both soldiers were previously buried back in July 2008.

New remains of Lawrence soldier going to Arlington
February 1, 2009, Associated Press

Newly identified remains of a soldier from Lawrence will be buried with those of a comrade from his unit, who were both kidnapped and killed in Iraq.

The Army says the remains of Staff Sergeant Alex Jimenez and Specialist Byron Fouty of Waterford, Mich., will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Feb. 17 with full military honors.

Update: Fouty and Jimenez remains were discovered buried together in a shallow grave. The remains were separated and sent as requested to their families for burial. But a number of other additional materials, including some part of a uniform and weapon was not easily separated. It's from this group of materials that a second set of remains were finally identified as belonging to Fouty and Jimenez.

The newly identified remains were buried co-mingled in a single casket at Arlington Cemetary in a ceremony with full military honors. According to news reports, only 10% of all those eligible for burial at Arlington accept as the general preference is to bury loved ones near the homes of family.

There was a description of the actual process of laying the remains in the casket for burial - an Army blanket is placed in the casket on top of which is laid cotton. The remains are placed on the cotton and then covered with a white sheet. The blanket is folded over and a replica dress uniform of Jimenez, who held higher rank, is placed on top of the blanket.

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Remains of Two Missing Soldiers Identified
July 13, 2008