Friday, June 11, 2010

Fallen laid in mess at Arlington


Cantonrep.com / File
Scott Warner, father of fallen soldier, Heath Warner, holds a poster commemorating his son who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.




Arlington probe surprises dad of Marine buried there

By Anonymous
CantonRep.com staff report
Posted Jun 10, 2010 @ 09:16 PM
Last update Jun 10, 2010 @ 09:23 PM
CANTON — Scott Warner, a Gold Star parent from Canton, heard last summer of an investigation into problems at Arlington National Cemetery but said he was still surprised by Thursday’s announcement.

The Army said at least 200 remains in Arlington may have been misidentified or misplaced, casting a shadow over what has been called America’s “sacred ground.”

Warner’s son, Marine Corps Pvt. Heath Warner, was killed in Iraq in 2006 and is buried at Arlington.

Warner said he has heard there was a problem with one grave in the section where his son is buried.

The name on that grave hasn’t been released, but Warner said he has been told that it isn’t his son’s grave.

Arlington is the most honorable place to have a loved one buried, said Warner, who visited the cemetery on Memorial Day and has plans to return soon. The fallen and their families are treated with dignity and respect.
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Arlington probe surprises dad of Marine buried there



Arlington National Cemetery's top supervisors ousted in mismanagement case
The move comes after an Army inspector's general report detailing misidentified graves, poor record-keeping and improper handling of service members' remains.
About 330,000 bodies are buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.



By Julian E. Barnes, Tribune Washington Bureau

June 11, 2010

Reporting from Washington — The Army ousted top supervisors of Arlington National Cemetery in the wake of a blistering report that found some graves had been mismarked and that raised questions about the Virginia burial ground's management, officials announced Thursday.

Army Secretary John McHugh said the Army inspector general's report raised questions about 211 gravesites and found unmarked graves, burial sites with the wrong headstones and improper handling of cremated remains.

"That all ends today," McHugh said.

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Arlington National Cemetery top supervisors ousted


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Anger and grief over Arlington Cemetery disaster
By Leo Shane III
Published: June 11, 2010

Army 1st Sgt. Shelly Jenkins, with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment known as The Old Guard, places flags on the graves at Arlington National Cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day.
Jacquelyn Martin/APVeterans groups reacted quickly and harshly to news yesterday that the remains of more than 200 veterans were misplaced or lost by workers at Arlington National Cemetery, demanding immediate improvements to Amry records systems and a change in the "culture of complacency" at the hallowed site.

Shortly after the Pentagon press conference yesterday House Armed Services Committee leaders announced plans to hold hearings on the problems at Arlington. Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., noted the staff's conduct "is disgraceful and cannot be tolerated." Ranking member Buck McKeon, R-Calif., said "families demand, and most importantly, deserve to know that their loved ones are being treated with the utmost respect and decorum."
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Anger and grief over Arlington Cemetery disaster



Errors at Arlington affected 211 graves

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jun 11, 2010 16:07:39 EDT

At least 211 graves at Arlington National Cemetery — including two in the section where fallen troops from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried — were mismarked, missing headstones or burial cards, or were not recorded at all, according to a new internal investigation.

The investigation of operations at the nation’s most hallowed military burial ground found no criminal misconduct, but much evidence of “improper internment, trans-internment of remains — including the loss of accountability of remains — remains in graves listed as empty, unmarked gravesites, improperly marked graves and improper handling of cremains,” Army Secretary John McHugh told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.

The Army Inspector General also concluded in its seven-month investigation that “mistakes continue to be made.”

The IG also found that rank-and-file employees, who handle an average of 27 funerals daily, were burdened in their day-to-day work by “dysfunctional management, lack of established policy and procedures, and an overall unhealthy organizational climate.”
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Errors at Arlington affected 211 graves

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