Arlington National Cemetery Scandal: Some Headstones Don't Match Records For Bodies, Iraq Vets' Memorabilia Trashed

Salon News:

An elegant white sign at Arlington National Cemetery informs visitors they are inside "our nation's most sacred shrine." Run under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army, Arlington is the final resting place of John and Robert Kennedy, Supreme Court justices Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and Earl Warren, and the nation's military royalty from the Civil War to the Iraq war. More than 4 million people visit Arlington every year to tour the legendary grave sites, which include those of "Maltese Falcon" author Dashiell Hammett and big-band leader Glenn Miller, and watch a specially trained U.S. infantry soldier march silently in guard of the Tomb of the Unknowns. Arlington shelters the remains of more than 320,000 service members and holds nearly 30 new funerals a day. As visitors head out into the sacred grounds, the cemetery asks, "Please conduct yourselves with dignity and respect at all times."

Read the whole story: Salon News

Comments

[TJCole]

"They bury him in stars, sell his body like they do used cars.."

Bob Dylan

[ChiGuy]

My brother is buried about 45 miles away in an area that I get to rarely, but I go for a visit on his birthday and the anniversary of his death.
Things like this, and the Burr Oak mess here in suburban Chicago, make me think I should get out there a little more often if for no other reason than to make sure his remains are undisturbed.

[PatA]

This is heartbreaking for me. First Walter Reed Hospital and now Arlington National Cemetery. I have a nephew buried at Arlington. He was killed January, 2007 in Iraq. His father ran Walter Reed back in the 1980s. This a very, very sad day for me.
Is there any pride and decency left in this country in the way that our armed forces are treated?

[stepintothelight]

I have family in Burr Oak. Not knowing sux!!!

[VOTER]

Sincere Sympathy for you and your family.
Hopefully you get answers and justice soon.
Keep us posted.

Wishing you the best.

[ChiGuy]

What a sick, ungodly mess that is.
I hope that your family members' remains are safe.

[UncleJimbo]

Unless you are an Historical figure,after the last person who has ever known you or met you dies....You have ceased to exist in any consciousness! Like you never existed at all!

[sixyfivepercentwater]

Disinformation and lack of information about the location of burials is absolutely typical of any graveyard of significant age. Bodies are often buried where they shouldn't be so that people can "be together in death." Old records are lost or burnt or just plain wrong in the first place. In Europe, where cemeteries are centuries old, no huge attempt is made to identify locations. Instead, when a new grave is dug bones are always found and are simply reburied.

I'm not a big fan of reverence for physical remains, believing as I do that bones have as much relevance to the former person as a rusted-out chassis has to a new car. Those who follow the American way of death ("she's sleeping") have to climb mountains of denial in order to get past the realities of embalming, preparing the body for viewing, and what happens to it after the casket is lowered into the grave. Apparently the people we pay to deal with the "perpetual maintenance" of the dead don't share in these post-death fantasies.

[VOTER]

If you go online to the Dept. of Veteran's Affairs, you can or should be able to locate grave site locations nationwide for all Veteran's Cemeteries. Locations for overseas sites is also available.
Family members should contact specific cemeteries if any of the computerized information is
incorrect.
Staffing problems at any of these sites should be handled quickly and efficiently.

Midwesterners have a Veteran's Cemetery which to the best of my knowledge is well cared for
in all ways.
My father is buried at the Abraham Lincoln National Veteran Cemetery in Elwood, IL which
is about 50 miles from Chicago.
With almost 18, 500 + graves and almost 1,000 acres, this Veteran's Cemetery is well
managed and sadly a busy place.
Computerized records are online for grave site location.

I didn't want to read this article. Why?
Because whatever problems have occurred at Arlington or at any other Veteran
Cemetery should be immediately handled and corrected.
This article shouldn't have been written. And that is the crime.
Military officials
and pols notified about ANY concerns should not have to be asked twice
about if and when the solutions and corrections will be done.

[LHoney]

Our soldiers were sent to war with inferior flak jackets and unarmored vehicles, why would anyone expect them to be well cared for after their deaths?

[PWM]

Good point.

[tomasedison]

Did they fix the Vet Hospitals yet ? Kinda out of the news cycle lately.

[VOTER]

No.

[stepintothelight]

My brother just went through the cycle with them. It's not fixed!!!

[eden4barack08]

Is there ANYthing at all that was not neglected during the Bush/Cheney years?

[glockman]

Not your brain apparently.

[PWM]

Corporate corruption - they did not forget to make it easier.

[nowRnever]

Just exactly what should to be done with things (cards, letters, etc) left at grave sites? Why would they be saved? And where? Obviously, whoever left them doesn't want them, and the deceased can't use them. So where should they go, except in the trash? I can't imagine trying to catalog and store the vast number of items left at grave sites.

[glockman]

Maybe the same place that momentos from the Vietnam wall are placed, in the Smithsonian (a special building houses everything left at the wall).

[VOTER]

Where my father is buried in Elwood, IL there are specific instructions about
flowers and or other items being left at graves.
The flowers will be removed when no longer attractive and all other items
will be removed.
This is pretty standard at most cemeteries.
Very special and personal things should be buried with the deceased or
kept for family members.

[1differentdrummer]

The ultimate disrespect.

[Tom95134]

"Despite nearly 10 years and countless dollars spent on computerizing its operations, the cemetery still relies mostly on paper burial records that in some cases do not match the headstones."

TEN YEARS??? This is a basic location mapping and tracking requirement. This isn't rocket science. Maybe they should farm it out to Google. I'll bet the people at Google could get it sorted out in less than one year and provide a 360 degree, eye level view of each grave site without too much additional work.. Talk about being incompetent!

[madisonhack]

This would be a two month project for the right team and would probably cost less than a convoy of unarmed Hum Vee's.

[Grunty1]

You forgot who was president for most of the last 10 years.

Dubya didn't like keeping records.

[MikeDu]

Let's get real here.
These aren't wounded survivors needing aid or counciling or support. They're dead. That's 'dead' as in the government has already taken all it possibly can from them. There's no 'them' anymore. Instead of showing concern for the no-longer-existing try showing concern for the fate of that nineteen year old kid whose getting on an airplane for Iraq tomorrow morning. Let's try to take care of the living for once, the dead can take care of themselves.

[Candace8383]

it would break my heart to not know where a loved one was buried so sorry i cant agree .. I think we can do both ...dont you?

[yearlin]

who ripped out your heart?

[madisonhack]

I understand the comment, but we have the resources to do both. Obviously, we aren't managing those resources very well. Our fallen veterans can "take care of themselves" but why should they?

[ramal]

Proving, once again, that a Republican Admninstration and the military working together can do very little correctly.