Arlington

This is starting to break out... all over.

I first noted something from my FB feed from Army Times.  They posted a small blurb of a column noting the pending retirement of the Arlington Cemetery Superintendent:

Arlington Cemetery superintendent retiring

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jun 9, 2010 7:54:49 EDT

WASHINGTON — The superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery for the past 19 years is retiring.
John C. Metzler Jr. has worked for the government for 42 years and says his last day will be July 2.
The 62-year-old’s father was also superintendent at the cemetery outside the nation’s capital.
He said the high point of his career was expanding the cemetery for veterans and their families so it could continue to take new burials until 2060.
In November, Secretary of the Army John McHugh ordered an investigation into allegations of lost accountability of some graves, poor record keeping and other issues at Arlington.
Metzler said those issues weren’t as bad as had been reported.

Read the end, again.  It's barely even seems worth mentioning, right?  And the Superintendent, the guy under investigation, says it's not that bad.

Before I delve further, I have a question for Mr. Metzler.  Given the allegations of "lost accountability of some graves", what would be not as bad as reported?  The only thing I can think of would be... no lost accountability.  Anything else IS as bad as reported.  These are the graves of our servicemembers... and their spouses.  The Heroes of our Nation.  All cemeteries are special; our veteran and national cemeteries especially so.  However, while the cemeteries across the nation are likely known only to those connected to the ones interred there, Arlington is special.  It's immortalized in stories, poems, movies...  and this video from Trace Adkins:  Arlington.  Listen to the words.  The Army has dedicated an entire regiment, the Old Guard, to tend to those at Arlington.

Arlington is special.  Hallowed ground.

So, to refer back to the innocuous column from the Army Times, what are these issues?

From Salon, there are allegations of graves not marked, remains unknown (and no, not the ones at the Tomb of the Unknown).  Also, there are further allegations, of general disregard by the staff for mementoes and meaningful items left behind by those who visit the graves. 

Sigh.

When I first heard about this, my immediate question was... "How?"  And I think it comes back to how a certain jadedness sets in.  It's common wherever you work.  When I was at a call-center, I reminded my agents that while the customer may ask what to them were "stupid questions", to the customer they were the first time they'd asked the question and it was certainly important to them.

In the hospital climate I work in now, it is certainly easy to slide into your patients becoming just a procedure... not a person.

We encountered this a few years back at Walter Reed.  The scandal there brought down generals and the Secretary of the Army.

Who will answer to these allegations?  Will criminal charges be pursued?  If the fundamental notion of your job description as a Superintendent of a cemetery is to properly inter and care for the remains of our fallen, then I presume that allegations of misplaced and/or unknown remains and poor care of the cemetery will reflect a gross failure in that position, at a minimum.

Properly?  Punish.  Make the example.  Let it be clear that in a time where media and protesters can seem to almost revel in counting the numbers of our dead that our fallen are not merely numbers, not merely another task to do before going home for the day - they are our fallen Heroes, and more importantly, they are, or were,  meaningful to someone.  They were at least a Son or Daughter, and quite possibly also Husbands, Wives, Brothers, Sisters... Fathers and Mothers.

A key part of working there should be the fundamental realization and internalization of that simple fact.  If that's not possible, please work somewhere else.  There are thousands who would gladly work there and who would show the proper respect to those permanent residents of Arlington.

In the meantime, let's see our senior officials take immediate steps to ensure the command climate at Arlington properly reflects the special nature of Arlington.  It's not a lot to ask those charged with the care of the cemetery to give a damn; after all, those in their trust gave every last measure.