Link to story in Stars & Stripes about the incredible failings at Arlington National Cemetery.
Metzer’s punishment? “His benefits could be reduced.” REDUCED?! How about gone? Of course, those bennies should be gone only after due process. It’d be interesting to see if said due process is merely administrative action or if it makes it to a court.
It is a grave problem and should be taken seriously.
There are many other things to take care of. But don’ worry; this will be taken care of, in turn.
At least there’s no attempt at a coverup. I hate it when they try to bury these stories.
I don’t understand the point of Arlington. Shouldn’t servicemembers be buried in their home towns, so their families can visit their graves?
So grave the OP didn’t feel the need to actually tell us anything about it.
I’m usually willing to go to a news story and read it, but i prefer a bit of a taste in the OP, to give me an idea whether or not it’s something i need to be outraged about.
It’s a question of honor. Not that there’s anything dishonorable about interment in any other cemetery, not at all, but being interred in Arlington is seen as a tremendous honor. It’s essentially the nation’s military cemetery. Family members typically support any decision to be buried there because it is such an honor.
The really odd thing about Arlington National Cemetary is that Robert E. Lee’s old house is preserved there as a memorial to the man. I’ve always thought it strange that a place dedicated to the memory of those who served their country reserves a place of honor for a man who betrayed it so completely.
That’s not quite right, is it? The Union government took his estate from him (then had to give it back to his relatives, whom promptly sold it right back to the government) and turned it into a military graveyard for mostly Union soldiers. It was the ultimate snub to Lee for his disloyalty to have his estate in the south used in such a way.
That said, my grandparents are buried there (I think! :)) and my Dad is eligible to be buried there when he dies, but doesn’t want to be.
Well, I lived in Arlington for several years, and met quite a few people who were from there.
But your point is valid - which is why there are veterans cemeteries all over the country administered either by the VA or by state governments. Were I to buy the farm tomorrow, I would likely be planted in the national cemetery in Quantico - very close to our home and a lovely cemetery besides.
The OP is about screwing with dead folk.
I can dig that.
If it were manditory, perhaps, but it’s not. A friend of the family died recently, and he was eligible to be buried at Arlington. But in his will he wanted to be buried here with his wife.
Sorry about not putting more in the OP. Guess I was peeved. Here’s a run-down on the problems found so far:
*Graves listed as unused (empty) have unidentified bodies buried in them.
*Graves not marked.
*Graves marked with the wrong names.
*Cremains mishandled, including some urns chucked into a pile of dirt that would be used to fill graves.
And these problems can be traced back to 1977!
And since 1977 how many complaints have been received from the deceased servicemen affected?
FFS! There’s swallowing the Kings Shilling and there’s swallowing it, shitting it and eating it again: ‘It was an honor for my son to die on behalf of the owners of capital in the occupation of a third world shithole’
One doesn’t have to die in combat to be buried there.
The estate became Union Army headquarters during the war as well as a cemetery for Union dead to make sure that Lee would never forget what he did to his country. It is still felt as the ultimate snub by the “South Shall Rise Again” types. which is fine by me.
Ah, now I understand. Arlington is there so that if the South does rise again, the North will be in a position to also rise and fight the dirty rebel zombies off…
Just a quick comment. John McHugh, whom I knew personally, is Bricker. Not literally, of course – they’re from different states and of different ethnic ancestry. But in the sense of being a rational conservative Republican who values bipartisan effort and is firmly committed to due process and to ensuring the rights of the accused, they’re two peas in a pod. Which is why I believehe meant what he said in the CNN article he’s quoted in. Sure, it sounds like typical bureaucratese – but he means it – he intends to get to the bottom of this, it’s outrageous, but he will not find a convenient scapegoat; he’ll pursue the investigation and exonerate the innocent and castigate the guilty.