Senator: 6600 Graves at Arlington Could Be Wrong

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Run time: 00:44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouPtHxbrkfQ   Posted on YouTube: July 29, 2010 By YouTube Member: AssociatedPress Views on YouTube: 242   Posted on DU: July 29, 2010 By DU Member: Amerigo Vespucci Views on DU: 471

 

[JDPriestly]

1. What is this about? Any background?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2. This is actually LBN...here's a story from CNN, 47 minutes ago:

Senator says 6,600 Arlington graves may have been mismanagedBy the CNN Wire Staff
July 29, 2010 2:08 p.m. EDT

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/29/arlington.cemetery.hearing/?hpt=Sbin

Washington (CNN) -- Mike McLaughlin knew he buried his father, a veteran of World War I, World War II and the Korean War, at Arlington National Cemetery.

So when he opened the newspaper recently and saw his father's tombstone sunk in the bottom of a shallow, muddy stream, he was stunned.

"At this point, I have somewhere between zero and less than zero confidence in the cemetery's management," said McLaughlin.

As many as 6,600 graves at Arlington Cemetery, the historic and hallowed burial place for fallen U.S. soldiers, may be "unmarked, improperly marked or mislabeled," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, said Thursday.

The hearing was spurred by Army Secretary John McHugh's June report that revealed 211 graves were misidentified or mislocated. In opening remarks to the subcommittee she chairs, McCaskill suggested the problem might be more widespread.

"At a conservative estimate, 4,900 to 6,600 graves may be unmarked, improperly marked or mislabeled on the cemetery's maps," she said.

[sarge43]

3. Check out the Salon.com archives.

It started a series about this over a year ago. Bring a barf bag.

[T Wolf]

4. Aside from people who feel it necessary to worship at the "site" of a decaying loved one, what is

the big deal?

This is one "controversy" I think does not need to be exposed. Let people go on thinking that the body in the plot is the one that is supposed to be there.

No harm, no foul.

The worship is faith-based, so let them keep their delusions intact.

It would obviously be more traumatic to them (and everyone) to dig up this problem.

Let it be.

[sarge43]

5. Who said anything about "worship"?

How about respect, tribute, thanks, remembrance ... simple decency?

[webDude]

6. ? You go out of your way to insult people that have lost loved ones, some...

...of them very recent and raw.

[T Wolf]

7. My point is that the gravesite (and whatever happens to be in the ground there) is JUST a location

for whatever the survivors want to do.

What is the benefit of (literally) digging up the bodies and trying to relocate them?

Let people think their loved one is there if that allows them to gain some solace through whatever actions they want.

What does it really matter what is in the ground?

What about people whose body is never found? Do their mourners lose out because there is no body in the ground?

I just see this as a big story that will be used to (a) distract people from real issues and (b) beat up on the gubmint to denigrate anything it does.

Just not necessary.