3 bodies found in wrong graves at Arlington

3 bodies found in wrong graves at Arlington

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 15, 2010 15:44:59 EDT

WASHINGTON — Arlington National Cemetery has discovered three people buried in the wrong graves.

The Army said Wednesday that officials opened three burial sites last month and found that the remains in each had been interred in mismarked graves.
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3 bodies found in wrong graves at Arlington

As you can read here, there have been problems with Arlington for a very long time.

STATEMENT OF MR BRIAN E BURKE
PRINCIPAL DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
(CIVIL WORKS)
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ON THE ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
MAY 20, 1999

We as a nation do a lot of talking about how much they mean to us. We have these elaborate ceremonies with honor guards, folding of the flags followed by presenting it to the families of the fallen with the words, "On behalf of a grateful nation" and then that is all we need to know. But our professed devotion to them should go so much deeper than that.

We should care enough to know all the facts before we send them into combat. We need to make damn sure the risk to their lives is worth it or not. We need to make sure they have the best plans, equipment and training possible. We also need to know if the medical end of the Department of Defense along with the Veterans Administration are prepared to care for the wounded for however long they need it. This and so much more need to be known before they are even sent.

When they are deployed, we need to hold the President and the Congress accountable for what is happening to them. If they tell us it will be quick, then we need to start to ask what is going wrong if it is taking much longer than they expected. We should ask if anyone is being held accountable for the planning failing and then ask what other plans are being implemented to finish the combat operations.

Some in this country are focused on spending cuts today but they were no where to be found when contractors were billing for things they didn't deliver on, paid for work done that caused the troops more harm and actions that may have even prolonged combat operations in Iraq. This was our obligation to the men and women we sent into Iraq and Afghanistan. It is our obligation all the time but we ignore it.

Some in this country did not want the troops to receive a pay raise but they wouldn't trade jobs with them. Some didn't want the educational bill to provide them with educations that would sustain the rest of their lives, the same lives they were willing to risk in service to this nation. Some in this country want to see the VA privatized, view it as a welfare program that should be cut and use it as a tool to cut the deficit so they can provide the wealthy 2% tax cuts funding their lives off the service of our men and women risking their's.

Yes, if you listen to some of the politicians, this is exactly what they say their goal is. These are the same people who claim they "support the troops" and are the patriots of the country but when all is said and done, they are the first ones to turn their backs on the veterans and the wounded.

We have a beautiful cemetery at Arlington but the beauty is only what you can see. To discover that headstones were used as drainage, burials were botched and what we cannot see was a cluster of disgrace, it is a reflection of the way we treat all of them. What we cannot see doesn't matter because it is easy to hide.