16.3 |
Military fatalities and the bereaved
•
use of
archive footage by the media which featured the deceased as
though
they were
still alive, causing confusion about what was the
truth.
86.
The
experiences shared with the Inquiry suggest that the creation of
the JCCC led
to an
improvement in the quality of the notification
process.
87.
There was also
considerable variation in families’ experience of the
support
provided by
Visiting Officers (VOs). In some cases, an enduring and positive
relationship
resulted.
In others:
•
The VO was
changed without warning, in some instances more than
once.
•
The VO was
badly briefed and lacked knowledge of procedures.
•
Insensitive
language and behaviour caused distress.
•
Contact was
sporadic.
88.
The Inquiry
also heard about a number of distressing incidents which,
although
they do not
form part of a wider pattern, are illustrative of how a lack of
care can have
a
significant impact. They were:
•
Following
an air crash in which several Service Personnel died, a
number
of body
parts remained unidentified. Families of those who had died
were
not told
about the existence of those unidentified body parts, and many
had
already
held funerals by the time identification was complete, making
a second
ceremony
necessary.
•
One family
discovered that photographs of their son’s body had been
used,
without
permission being sought, in a training seminar.
•
One family
member accepted military advice not to view their son’s body
based
on the
impact of the injuries suffered. But facial reconstruction had
taken place
and there
had already been a viewing for another family member.
89.
Anyone serving
in the Armed Forces is asked to designate one person as
their
official
next of kin. When a fatality occurs, the CNO contacts the next of
kin, and they
are the
ongoing point of contact for a VO.
90.
Parents who
lost children in Op TELIC told the Inquiry that one consequence
of
this
arrangement was a disparity between the information and support
provided to the
partner of
the deceased, usually the person named as next of kin, and to
parents.
As one
father told the Inquiry, being a bereaved parent can be a very
lonely business.
91.
The need for
greater support to a wider family than just the next of kin
was
recognised
by the Government in July 2008:
“We
recognise that the loss of a Service person affects the whole of
the bereaved
family, not
just the next of kin or nominated emergency contacts, on whom
we
93