(This article is written by AFW, and is cross-posted, with permission, from SpouseBuzz.)
I've had a lot of sit-down work to do today, so I've seen more news than I usually get in real time.
I am horrified. And sick. Literally sick, my stomach is clenching and burning and my eyes have been prickling.
And I'm angry.
Because apparently when it comes to burying our military dead, nothing is sacred.
For the last year, my family and I have been attending church services at the Ft. Myer Chapel, right on the edge of Arlington National Cemetery. The windows in the church are interesting, they reach from the upper part of the walls to the roof, and through them (if you're in the right pew) you can see the stretching green of our most hallowed ground. There's something sacred about worshiping in that shadow.
Arlington features prominently to military families. It's the ultimate resting place, where those who have given their lives to the service of their country spend eternity with their brothers (and sisters). It's impossible to go there and not be silenced by the enormity of what was given by those who rest there.
When the news that "mismanagement" of the cemetery was rampant began to break, my cocoon of comfort was shattered. This place that I've always seen as sacred has been losing the bodies of service- members? In one instance, only noticing that the body of one service-member was buried on top of another because the widow complained of the wrong headstone?
The widow who had just lost her husband noticed that the wrong headstone was placed in his spot. How completely, utterly, totally wrong is that?
Bodies are missing, bodies have been moved without the Next of Kin permission, and a burial urn was placed in a landfill.
If I found out that my loved one's remains had been placed in a landfill by the very people he had died protecting, my mental break would have been complete.
There are excuses being offered as explanations for this as the story is unfolding; antiquated records and the omnipresent word-parsing that refers to this problem as "mismanagement". Mismanagement is screwing up tax payments. Mismanagement is forgetting to pay the utility bill.
Mismanagement is not desecrating those who gave their lives for their country. And desecration is the only word I can think of that even comes close to what this truly is.
As a military family, we signed on to the possibility that my husband's job might demand of him the ultimate sacrifice. We signed on with the understanding that should the worst happen, he would be treated with respect and dignity and finally lay in peace.
This problem is not something that we can move forward from easily. For all the talk about fixing, finding the missing bodies (!!!!!!), and moving forward we have lost something precious: trust.
We trusted the lives of our most precious to those in charge, and they repaid us in this with horror. I'm not exactly sure how we're supposed to get past that.
AFW, I share your anguish. I'm appalled and stunned. How could something like this happen?
ReplyDeleteWhat is WRONG with the people who were entrusted with these hallowed remains? Are they mentally defective? Have they no sense of honor?
For those who haven't read the news about the desecration at Arlington, here is the story.
ReplyDelete:-( It's bad enough to hear the stories at XYZ cemetery, but at ARLINGTON?!? That's horrible! And even more so because Arlington is supposed to set the standard for how we honor our war dead. And not that the military is impervious to incompetency, but I was surprised to see that it has civilian administration. I'd always assumed that Arlington was run by the military, I guess because of the honor guard.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's what I heard too, the blame apparently lies with lack of a computerized bookkeeping system.
ReplyDeleteEff that.
I thought about you, afw, when I heard this story, knowing you were so close to Arlington.
I share your sentiments and am glad lady red posted this. You write beautifully about a terribly painful topic.
How come things worked fairly well before computers?
ReplyDeleteGood question Matt. The evening news last night reported that the record-keeping from 1860 is better than the record-keeping today.
ReplyDeleteMillions have been poured into Arlington to computerize their records. Where is all the money?
I think this is a case of the entrenched, inept bureaucrats infesting our system (aridog has expounded on this in several of his posts).
Matt, my dad always said (borrowed from elsewhere, I'm sure) "To error is human, to really $&^% things up you need a computer." But as I read it, part of the criticism was that they HADN'T computerized things.
ReplyDeletelady red, I was reading a comment elsewhere that said there's lots more to the story that will come out ($$$ disappearing was one) and pointed to an investigation by Salon.com. I haven't had time to hash through it all (and don't know how to do a nice linky thing here, but here's the URL for what I could find after a google.
http://www.salon.com/news/arlington_national_cemetery_investigation/index.html
Lyana....reading the Salon reports and the various Wiki entires about the scandal, I suspect the "superintendent" is the fall guy for malfeasance on his watch by others. I am left with the impression that, again, Senior Executive Service (all appointees)people are involved.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as usual, re-organization is underway...and a "new" position created: Executive Director of the Army National Cemeteries Program. The position has been filled by a v-e-r-y senior SES person (Kathryn Condon) who previously was the highest ranking civilian in the Army's AMC Command. Personnel in these grades are NOT "Civil Servants"...they are political appointees.
For the life of me, and based upon my experience with Database and management of materiel, I cannot fathom why an SES level office is necessary for Arlington. A GS-15 Civil Servant should be more than enough.