The 200 mismarked or misidentified graves that Army investigators recently identified at Arlington National Cemetery seem likely to be just a hint of the full breadth of dysfunctional management of this sacred burial ground for the nation’s fallen soldiers.
It’s inexcusable, and one more example of the country’s substandard and disrespectful treatment of its veterans.
One need look back no further than the neglect scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the poor care of suicidal veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for other painful examples.
Army Secretary John McHugh was forthright in accepting responsibility for the practices at Arlington, announcing the top two administrators at the cemetery no longer were in positions of authority. One had retired, the other was stripped of responsibility. They had worked there for decades.
During the last year, Salon.com, an online magazine, has written numerous stories about the burial problems at the cemetery, where more than 330,000 people are interred. It seems likely the problems go beyond those identified in the new report, which was made public last week. The Army’s probe looked at just three of the dozens of sections at the cemetery. Each section contains about 5,000 graves.
In just those three sections, investigators found more than 100 unmarked graves, dozens of graves with headstones that are not noted on cemetery maps, and at least four burial urns that had been dug up and left in an area where extra dirt is kept.
McHugh said the cemetery suffers from an outdated record-keeping system, and he appointed a new cemetery director to run the place.
In referring to the burial errors, he said “that all ends today,” and focused heavily on improving operations going forward.
But the inescapable reality about a cemetery, especially one with the storied history that Arlington has, is that they are all about yesterday.
As Salon’s Mark Benjamin wrote Thursday, attempting to untangle problems with mismarked or unmarked graves could lead to a domino effect, solved only by digging up caskets to look at the nameplates on them. “It’s clear Army officials know they may be sitting on a volcano of bad news,” he wrote.
McHugh declined to discuss how — and if — the Army would try to make things right by those who would like to know for sure where their loved ones are buried.
He said the Army would take the situation in its “entirety” and establish a baseline of accountability.
“We are not prepared to make a commitment as to what that means right now,” he said.
It’s a disgraceful mess, and Army officials owe the nation not only an explanation as to how the situation was allowed to go on — apparently for decades — but also to offer a reasonable plan to fix the chaos without causing more damage.
These are, after all, Americans who sacrificed everything for us.
