Posted on 07/17/2009 8:52:56 AM PDT by shove_it
July 17, 2009 | A few days after Memorial Day, I walked across the sprawling, plush lawn of Arlington National Cemetery. I headed toward Section 60, a remote area of the famous burial ground, where 600 service members from Iraq and Afghanistan are laid to rest. Gina Gray, former public affairs officer at the cemetery, had testified that mismanagement at Arlington had resulted in callous treatment of personal mementos and artifacts left on grave sites in Section 60. The sun was out after several days of rain. As I approached the gravestones, I saw that Gray was right.
Left out in the rain to rot were crayon drawings by children who had lost a parent, photographs of soldiers with their babies, painted portraits and thank-you notes from grade-school kids to fallen soldiers they had never known. Colors of artworks ran together. Photos were blurred and wilted. Poems and letters were illegible wads of wet paper. A worker in a brown uniform wandered among the graves, blasting the headstones with a power washer without regard to what was left of the mementos -- or the obviously uncomfortable mourners looking on. Some items got further soaked. The worker blasted others across the grass. Many of them would end up in a black trash bin in the cemetery's service area.
Arlington's poor treatment of the mementos and gifts -- testaments to the personal cost of the post-9/11 wars in the Middle East -- appeared to stand in contrast to practices at other cemeteries.
[...]
(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...
That is probably a true statement. At the Museum they even kept one of the old Journal Record rooms where the blast blew in debris.
Bet Clinton wishes they hadn’t put up the huge picture with him and Hillary looking like the cats that swallowed the canary at the Memorial Service too. First time my daughter and I saw that I went to say something but the lady behind me said it first — Bill and Hillary don’t look sad at all. It has been the same comments everytime I have taken people who are visiting to the Museum.
Thank you for the condolences .. They would have been married 58 years if they could have made it to December. Once Dad went Mom just didn’t have the strength I guess. They were both in their 80’s and not in the best of health. Thankfully I was able to spend a lot of that last year with them.
Oh my ... I’ve got tears running just reading about your son’s heart .. - the RESPECT that your son obviously had for his dad ... and YOU is what it’s all about .. (and the love and strength he showed by being able to do it!! WOW)
I’m sorry to hear about your husband ... it’s hard isn’t it.. My best to you.
Those are nice words, you gave me a lift at a time when I am feeling very low about our country.
What is going on eats at me every day. When I go to Arlington, it gives me perspective, but makes me angry.
These people gave their lives so that we could throw it all away in a matter of months on the urging of an America-Hating charlatan in the White House and his willing subordinates in the political parties?
Yes. It does make me angry, so I DID appreciate your words. Thank you.
From the ANC website:
“Floral Tributes at Gravesites
Fresh cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time.
Artificial flowers may be placed on graves October 10th through April 15th.
Planting of flowers, shrubs, etc. is prohibited.
Potted plants are permitted during the period 10 days before and 10 days after Easter.
Christmas wreaths are permitted during the Christmas season.
Floral items will be removed from the graves as soon as they become faded and unsightly.
Statues, vigil lights, flags, etc. and any type of commemorative items are not permitted on graves except for flags placed on the graves by the government.
Floral items and other types of decorations are not to be secured to the headstone or marker.
There will be a general cleanup of all floral items on graves 10 days after each holiday-Easter, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day.”
I also contacted a ranking member of The Old Guard Association (TOGA) who is very knowledgeable in these matters who sent me the following email:
“Having been to a number of funerals in Section 60 (or any other section that I've seen), I can tell you that no one is removing anything from the gravesites during the opening hours of ANC. As I noted previously, it is ANC policy to remove items from gravesites after the allowable period of time. Also, as to record keeping of grave markers, ANC has a data bank, backed up by a card system backed up by a file on each grave. It works as last week during Ray K's funeral, one of our TOGA directors (who worked there after his retirement from active duty) went to the ANC Admin building to see if a service colleague's wife was buried there. A quick click of the computer produced the name and location of the grave and when we stopped by, it was clearly marked as the correct one.”
Rimorel, you and several other commenters on this thread are absolutely correct. These Salon articles are gross exaggerations or just outright lies. I'm sorry I fell for them and posted this crap getting people riled up for no reason - I should have known better. As for the commemorative items people are placing on graves, they are causing the clutter in violation of posted regulations and the author of the article should have said so.
Thanks for taking the time to correct your post!
Maria
Well said and well done! Thanks for doing the basic research and follow-up the Salon “journalist” wouldn’t!
Thanks for following up on this and giving us the facts. That is what is so neat about this website — we get the facts.
I don’t think you were getting people riled up for no reason-as someone who cares, you saw this and reacted as you should have...that is why I come to FR. I come here because I cannot be an authority on everything, there is just too much to be exposed to.
I know enough about history, aviation, chemistry, the military culture, nuclear issues and medicine, so I can offer my opinions on them and back them up with a basis for my stand.
I don’t know much about law, running a business, finance, construction, marketing, publishing, television and so on.
I depend on Freepers to provide me with enough knowledge to serve as a platform for exploring issues. It is why I spend 90% of my time online at Free Republic.
Because people like you provide ME with reliable information on stuff I know little about. I am happy to provide it when I can.
So, thank YOU...:)
I gave you the facts yesterday or the day before.
I agree. And I also watch in wonder on the local news where someone got shot and killed or someone was killed in an auto accident and all the folks who are hoping to get their faces in the nightly news are out there with their candle light vigils and leaving all kinds of stuff like pictures, notes, balloons and stuffed animals.
After the very next rainstorm, all that's left is wet crap.........
You were correct too! I was thanking the person who posted this that took the time to research.
Here's the latest in the desperate assault on the management of ANC by Salon.com ...
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/07/21/arlington_secrets/index.html
More than 300,000 people are buried in an area of 624 acres. The first soldier to be buried in Arlington was Private William Henry Christman of Pennsylvania on May 13, 1864. It should come as a surprise to nobody that some errors have occurred over the ages. Certainly this breathless sensationalism is not warranted as evidenced by the comments following the article. Add your comments at Salon if you're so inclined. I will not give this crap wider circulation by posting a new thread on FR.
Thanks for the update...
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