Australian soldiers' bodies heading home

The bodies of three Australian soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan
are on their way home as the condition of two injured mates worsens.
A sombre ramp ceremony was held at the Tarin Kowt base in Oruzgan Province on
Thursday to honour privates Ben Chuck, Tim Aplin and Scott Palmer ahead of their
homecoming.
Just hours later, the Department of Defence announced US military medicos have
downgraded the condition of two of the seven Australians injured in the crash in
northern Kandahar province on Monday.
The flag-draped coffins of the three fallen soldiers were loaded onto a RAAF C130J
plane at Tarin Kowt for a flight to the Al Minhad Base in the United Arab Emirates
on Thursday night.
From there they will be flown to Australia.
The deaths and injuries had deeply affected their comrades, Australian commander
Major-General John Cantwell said.
"Tim, Ben and Scott were consummate professionals," he said.
"Their deaths have hit us all hard but we must remember that they died doing exactly
what they wanted to be doing."
General Cantwell said the three soldiers had been given a "true warrior's farewell
in the finest traditions".
"Our focus is now on ensuring that their families are assisted in every way possible
to come to terms with what must be unbelievable grief."
Australian troops were joined by personnel from the Afghan National Army and other
NATO-led coalition forces at Tarin Kowt.
The Queensland family of 27-year-old Private Chuck flew to Sydney on Friday.
Jason Chuck said his brother's body was due to arrive in Sydney on Saturday, and the
family would be there to see him returned home.
He said Pte Chuck's body would be flown home to Yungaburra, near Cairns, on Tuesday,
ahead of a funeral service on Thursday.
"We are really looking forward to having him back," Mr Chuck told The Cairns Post.
"We will have a service for him in Sydney on Monday with his unit and then we will
bring him back on Tuesday."
Mr Chuck said the Sydney ceremony would be held at the barracks where his brother's
unit, the 2nd Commando Regiment, was based.
"It will just be the regiment and family and friends of the three boys," he said.
"It will be more of an opportunity for Benny's army mates to say goodbye and we are
really pleased we have been given an opportunity to be part of it."
The seven injured soldiers are being treated for injuries including multiple
fractures, lacerations and crush injuries.
One of the men also has a head injury.
They are being treated at a US military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
The condition of two of the men had been downgraded from satisfactory to serious, a
Defence statement said.
Three others remain in a very serious condition.
A civilian interpreter hurt in the crash is also in a serious condition.
"An Australian Defence Force aero-medical team has commenced assessment of the
wounded soldiers' suitability for repatriation to Australia," the statement said.
"Due to complexity of the wounds sustained, it will be some time before the first of
the soldiers are medically assessed as being able to travel."
A US air crash investigation team will review the cause of the crash, assisted by an
Australian Army team.



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