Dean witnesses return of brother's remains

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Flanked by his mother and two brothers, a stoic Howard Dean put his campaign for president aside for a few moments today to witness the repatriation of remains believed to be his brother Charlie, who was killed by communists in Laos nearly 29 years ago.

Presidential candidate Howard Dean, third from left, stands with members of his family during today’s ceremony. Jeff Widener • Special to The Advertiser

Also returned today were the remains of two Air Force personnel.

Each case, draped in the national flag of the individual's country, was carried slowly off the jet by a white-gloved military honor guard. There was solemnity with every movement, from carrying the remains down a cargo ramp to closing the door of the blue school bus where they were placed.

Howard Dean stood with his right hand over his heart during much of the 20-minute ceremony. He said nothing to the nearly 100 military personnel and civilians who attended but made a brief statement to reporters before the ceremony.

"My brother was an extraordinary person," Dean said. "He was a person of deep principle."

Charlie Dean and Sharman were tourists in Southeast Asia when they were detained by the communist Pathet Lao on Sept. 4, 1974, during a trip down the Mekong River in Laos. They apparently were suspected of being spies, although the U.S. and Australian governments said they were tourists and protested their detention.

The two men were held in a remote prison camp for three months before they were believed to have been executed on Dec. 14 while driving toward Vietnam with their captors.

The remains were recovered by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. Search teams have conducted seven investigations since 1994. The remains were found in a rice paddy about 120 feet north of a site where another team searched in August and September. That team might have found the two men but were hampered by monsoon rains.

Dean said his family is extremely grateful for the work done by the military. By all accounts he was extremely close to Charlie who was just 16 months younger than himself. He was joined on the tarmac today by brothers Jim and Bill and their mother, Andree.

"We are deeply comforted that this operation has allowed us to repatriate his remains and hopefully bring him home," Dean said.

A joint honor guard carries a flag-draped coffin containing the possible remains of Charlie Dean to a hearse at Hickam Air Force Base. Jeff Widener • Special to The Advertiser

"Charlie was a great brother and he touched the lives of everyone who knew him," Howard Dean said. "I miss him every single day and I'll never stop being inspired by his passion and idealism."

After the ceremony, the Dean family met privately with members of the recovery team. They then left Hickam to return to the Mainland.

Sharman's brother, Ian, also attended the ceremony. He called it "overwhelming."

"He wanted nothing more than to enjoy life to the max," Ian said of his brother.

Charles Dean graduated from North Carolina in 1972 and went to work on the anti-war campaign of Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern. After McGovern lost in a landslide to President Nixon, Charles Dean decided to travel around the world. He left New York for Seattle by car with a friend in the spring of 1973 and then traveled by freighter from Seattle to Japan. He later went on to Australia, where he lived on a ranch before he and Sharman traveled to Laos.

Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara, a spokes man for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawai'i, said identification can take as long as several years, but he expects this case could be resolved in four to eight months. because a "good quantity of remains" were recovered.

"We have an encouraging amount of remains and personal effects," O'Hara said. "That may make this a quick identification but it could still take several months."