Arlington officials broke their word to Marine's Dad on disinterment

Marine's father: Arlington officials broke their word on disinterment
Scott Warner just wanted to make sure his son's remains were properly buried, but officials wouldn't cooperate
Scott Warner traveled to Washington from Canton, Ohio, this week for the disinterment of his son’s remains at Arlington National Cemetery. Warner wanted to be sure his son Heath, a Marine killed in Iraq in 2006, was buried in the right spot. He was worried because the Arlington National Cemetery scandal, uncovered by Salon in a yearlong investigation, had unnerved him, and some of his son’s burial paperwork contained disturbing discrepancies.

The media covered Heath’s disinterment Wednesday closely, including the conclusion that Heath was buried correctly. But that's far from the whole story.

"This thing has been portrayed as some big success story," Warner told Salon during a telephone interview Thursday as he drove back to Ohio. "It was a disaster. It was a desecration of honor."

It was also macabre. Warner says what really happened that day shows just how far the public trust in Arlington has evaporated and that the Army should be stripped of oversight of the cemetery. "Did I expect to be digging through my son’s casket looking for an arm? No," he said.

"For a family to go through what my family went through yesterday is beyond reproach."
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Arlington officials broke their word on disinterment