Allegation of ‘lost accountability of some graves’ prompts Arlington probe

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Allegation of ‘lost accountability of some graves’ prompts Arlington probe
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Online edition, Saturday, November 14, 2009

ARLINGTON, Va. — Army Secretary John McHugh has ordered an investigation into allegations of poor record keeping and “lost accountability of some graves” at Arlington National Cemetery, the Defense Department announced Friday afternoon.

“As the final resting place of our nation’s heroes, any questions about the integrity or accountability of its operations should be examined in a manner befitting their service and sacrifice,” McHugh said in a DOD news release.

The move comes after cemetery workers buried cremated remains in a grave site already in use and then moved the remains, possibly without notifying the next of kin, officials said.

“Since then, questions have been raised over whether cemetery officials used proper procedures to correct the mistake, including notifying the next of kin,” Friday’s news release said.

Also Friday, the Army released the results of an investigation that found officials at the cemetery did not properly mark a grave site discovered in 2003 in what was supposed to be a vacant plot.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66108