Dignified transfer

[1] US military officials do not designate the dignified transfer as a ceremony so that loved ones of the deceased do not feel obliged to attend.

[1] A dignified transfer is conducted for every U.S. military member who dies in a theater of operation while in the service of their country.

Per Department of Defense policy, the remains are returned to the deceased's loved ones as quickly as possible, either by direct flight to Dover from the field, or via Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

[1] On August 9, 2011, President Barack Obama, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, among other leaders, attended the dignified transfer for 38 U.S. and Afghan personnel killed aboard a helicopter shot down in Afghanistan three days earlier.

[4] Biden was subsequently criticized by surviving family members of the deceased for insensitive behavior during the transfer.