ianstone
06-13-2010, 10:57 PM
More than 200 U.S. soldiers buried in wrong graves at Arlington National Cemetery
By Mail Foreign Service (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Mail+Foreign+Service)
Last updated at 3:34 PM on 11th June 2010
Comments (7) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1285868/More-200-U-S-soldiers-buried-wrong-graves-Arlington-National-Cemetery.html#comments)
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The U.S. Army admitted today it has lost track of remains in more than 200 war heroes' graves at Arlington National Cemetery.
Hundreds of graves are incorrectly marked at the monument to America's fallen soldiers, an internal investigation has found.
The scandal mars the reputation of the cemetery, which is just outside Washington D.C. and has been the U.S.'s pre-eminent burial ground for its honoured dead since the Civil War in the 1860s.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/11/article-0-09FC1E45000005DC-704_468x280.jpg Arlington National Cemetery: Hundreds of graves are incorrectly marked at the monument to America's fallen soldiers
U.S. Army Secretary John McHugh announced that the cemetery's two civilian leaders would be forced to step aside, and he appointed a new chief to conduct a more thorough investigation to examine the graves and sort out the mix-up.
Mr McHugh told a Pentagon news conference: 'I deeply apologise to the families of the honoured fallen resting in that hallowed ground who may now question the care afforded to their loved ones.'
Arlington National Cemetery is considered the nation's most honoured burial site, with more than 300,000 people buried there with military honours. An average of 30 funerals are conducted there every day, many of them decorated veterans of World War II, Korea or Vietnam.
Among those buried at the cemetery are troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well service members from past conflicts dating back to the Civil War.
Famous presidents and their spouses, including members of the Kennedy family, also have been buried there. The cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington in northern Virginia, attracts more than four million visitors annually.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/11/article-1285868-09FC18B1000005DC-406_468x308.jpg Press conference: Lt. Gen. Steven Whitcomb (left) and U.S. Army Secretary John McHugh revealed that an allegation of employee misconduct sparked the investigation
An Army investigation was launched last year after reports of employee misconduct, first reported by the website Salon.com.
Led by the service's inspector general, Lt. Gen. Steven Whitcomb, the investigation found lax management of the cemetery, where employees relied on paper records to manage the dozens of burials each week and maintain the thousands of existing grave sites.
Whitcomb said at least 211 remains were identified as potentially mislabelled or misplaced and that there could be more.
'We found nothing that was intentional, criminal intent or intended sloppiness that caused this,' he said yesterday.
'But of all the things in the world, we see this as a zero defect operation.'
Lt. Gen. Whitcomb could not say how old the mixed-up remains might be or from what conflict, saying only that the problem had been confined to three areas of the cemetery known as sections 59, 65 and 66.
He said he did find two cases of mismarked graves in section 60, the area for veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. He said those mistakes had been corrected.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/11/article-1285868-09FC1E17000005DC-473_468x308.jpg Burial ground: A U.S. Marine leans on the headstone of a comrade recently buried in Section 60 of the cemetery (file picture)
Separately, the Army is investigating whether the cemetery's deputy superintendent, Thurman Higginbotham, made false statements to service investigators.
Mr Higginbotham, who ran the day-to-day operations at the cemetery, has been accused by former employees of creating a hostile work environment and breaking into their e-mail systems. He is on administrative leave, pending further review.
According to a U.S. defence official familiar with the case, who discussed the details on condition of anonymity, Mr Higginbotham will not face criminal charges because of a lack of evidence. But, the official said, the U.S. Army will ensure he never works at the cemetery again.
The official was not authorised to speak publicly about the case because it is continuing.
Mr Higgenbotham's boss, John Metzler, is set to retire on July 2. Service officials said he is being pushed out with a letter of reprimand that blames him for failing to rein in Mr Higginbotham's mistakes.
Taking their place will be Kathryn Condon, a former civilian head of Army Materiel Command who as executive director will in charge of fixing any burial errors. Patrick Hallinan, a director with the Veterans Affairs Department, is temporarily being assigned as the cemetery's superintendent.
Mr McHugh also announced the creation of an independent advisory commission that will be led by former senators and Army veterans Max Cleland and Bob Dole.
Read more: [URL]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1285868/More-200-U-S-soldiers-buried-wrong-graves-Arlington-National-Cemetery.html#ixzz0qnBaNMAN (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1285868/More-200-U-S-soldiers-buried-wrong-graves-Arlington-National-Cemetery.html)
By Mail Foreign Service (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Mail+Foreign+Service)
Last updated at 3:34 PM on 11th June 2010
Comments (7) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1285868/More-200-U-S-soldiers-buried-wrong-graves-Arlington-National-Cemetery.html#comments)
[/URL]
The U.S. Army admitted today it has lost track of remains in more than 200 war heroes' graves at Arlington National Cemetery.
Hundreds of graves are incorrectly marked at the monument to America's fallen soldiers, an internal investigation has found.
The scandal mars the reputation of the cemetery, which is just outside Washington D.C. and has been the U.S.'s pre-eminent burial ground for its honoured dead since the Civil War in the 1860s.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/11/article-0-09FC1E45000005DC-704_468x280.jpg Arlington National Cemetery: Hundreds of graves are incorrectly marked at the monument to America's fallen soldiers
U.S. Army Secretary John McHugh announced that the cemetery's two civilian leaders would be forced to step aside, and he appointed a new chief to conduct a more thorough investigation to examine the graves and sort out the mix-up.
Mr McHugh told a Pentagon news conference: 'I deeply apologise to the families of the honoured fallen resting in that hallowed ground who may now question the care afforded to their loved ones.'
Arlington National Cemetery is considered the nation's most honoured burial site, with more than 300,000 people buried there with military honours. An average of 30 funerals are conducted there every day, many of them decorated veterans of World War II, Korea or Vietnam.
Among those buried at the cemetery are troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well service members from past conflicts dating back to the Civil War.
Famous presidents and their spouses, including members of the Kennedy family, also have been buried there. The cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington in northern Virginia, attracts more than four million visitors annually.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/11/article-1285868-09FC18B1000005DC-406_468x308.jpg Press conference: Lt. Gen. Steven Whitcomb (left) and U.S. Army Secretary John McHugh revealed that an allegation of employee misconduct sparked the investigation
An Army investigation was launched last year after reports of employee misconduct, first reported by the website Salon.com.
Led by the service's inspector general, Lt. Gen. Steven Whitcomb, the investigation found lax management of the cemetery, where employees relied on paper records to manage the dozens of burials each week and maintain the thousands of existing grave sites.
Whitcomb said at least 211 remains were identified as potentially mislabelled or misplaced and that there could be more.
'We found nothing that was intentional, criminal intent or intended sloppiness that caused this,' he said yesterday.
'But of all the things in the world, we see this as a zero defect operation.'
Lt. Gen. Whitcomb could not say how old the mixed-up remains might be or from what conflict, saying only that the problem had been confined to three areas of the cemetery known as sections 59, 65 and 66.
He said he did find two cases of mismarked graves in section 60, the area for veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. He said those mistakes had been corrected.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/11/article-1285868-09FC1E17000005DC-473_468x308.jpg Burial ground: A U.S. Marine leans on the headstone of a comrade recently buried in Section 60 of the cemetery (file picture)
Separately, the Army is investigating whether the cemetery's deputy superintendent, Thurman Higginbotham, made false statements to service investigators.
Mr Higginbotham, who ran the day-to-day operations at the cemetery, has been accused by former employees of creating a hostile work environment and breaking into their e-mail systems. He is on administrative leave, pending further review.
According to a U.S. defence official familiar with the case, who discussed the details on condition of anonymity, Mr Higginbotham will not face criminal charges because of a lack of evidence. But, the official said, the U.S. Army will ensure he never works at the cemetery again.
The official was not authorised to speak publicly about the case because it is continuing.
Mr Higgenbotham's boss, John Metzler, is set to retire on July 2. Service officials said he is being pushed out with a letter of reprimand that blames him for failing to rein in Mr Higginbotham's mistakes.
Taking their place will be Kathryn Condon, a former civilian head of Army Materiel Command who as executive director will in charge of fixing any burial errors. Patrick Hallinan, a director with the Veterans Affairs Department, is temporarily being assigned as the cemetery's superintendent.
Mr McHugh also announced the creation of an independent advisory commission that will be led by former senators and Army veterans Max Cleland and Bob Dole.
Read more: [URL]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1285868/More-200-U-S-soldiers-buried-wrong-graves-Arlington-National-Cemetery.html#ixzz0qnBaNMAN (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1285868/More-200-U-S-soldiers-buried-wrong-graves-Arlington-National-Cemetery.html)