MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — The divorced parents of a Marine killed in the U.S. military’s deadliest air crash of the Iraq war are fighting in court over where to bury their son.
The Detroit-area judge who will decide the case has scheduled a July 15 hearing.
The parents are arguing over the choice of cemeteries — a new national cemetery that has yet to open or the Marine’s father’s family plot.
Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, 34, died in January along with 29 other troops in a helicopter crash.
“We should be talking about the wonderful things he did for his country, his family and friends instead of … where we’re going to bury him,” Judge Diane Druzinski said.
Cpl. Klein’s mother, Rae Oldaugh, 58, wants her son buried in the new Great Lakes National Cemetery. Groundbreaking was held in October, but the cemetery is not expected to be ready for burials until August at the earliest.
Cpl. Klein’s father, Manfred Klein, 65, apparently also wanted his son buried there but became frustrated by delays. The Klein family now wants to bury the Marine in a private cemetery where one of his paternal grandparents is interred.
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