Arlington National Cemetery: Problems Amplified (Part III) 10:7:5

Arlington National Cemetery

This week, the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight conducted a hearing on the Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) Management and its mishandlings in the 19 years of tenure of Mr. John Metzler, former Superintendent ANC.  Also in the hearing, Mr. Thurmond Higginbotham, former Deputy Superintendent, ANC, “pled the fifth.”  Brief history on Mr. Metzler—he was Superintendent of ANC for 19 years, 17 years with the VA Cemetery System, and an Army Veteran of the Vietnam War, total 42 years of service to the United States.  “I hold “them” in highest regards,” Metzler referring “them” to the men and women who lie at rest in ANC.  Metzler retired from active Federal Service on 02 July 2010. 

John Metzler

The hearing was approximately 2.75 hours long and after 1.25 hours, I had already picked out several inaccuracies in Metzler’s testimony and actually needed to take a break, a breath of fresh air, it was somewhat making me sick to listen to him.  I actually began to feel a bit of remorse for his actions until I paused, reviewed my notes, and reviewed some of the photos that I have taken of issues that made me uneasy whilst walking the grounds of Arlington.  To begin with, Metzler stated that he was not aware of any issues in ANC until the US Army IG report disclosed in June of this year.  Later in the testimony, he disclosed that an issue did come to light in 2005 when two urns “turned up” in the fill dirt in a section of the cemetery referred to as “ID90.”  This section is where all loose dirt, fill dirt, and other cemetery logistical needs are located until it is needed elsewhere in the cemetery. 

Urn  Burial Vault

Also Metzler initially noted that all caskets/urns are tagged prior to funeral service/burial by ANC staff.  This “tag” is a device that marks each casket or urn and identifies them.  Again, later in his testimony, he stated that the two urns that “turned up” in the fill dirt were not tagged and that the two urns were then interred as “unknowns.”  Mr. Metzler, are the caskets and urns tagged or not?  Also, this poses another question.  Why in the first place were the two urns not interred in burial vaults?  It’s obvious to me that the urns were not in burial vaults because if they were, the operator of the tractor excavating a burial site or the men located on the ground with shovels would have seen the vault.  Also, how were the urns, if excavated, not damaged to the point that the ashes didn’t fall out of the urns or why didn’t the urns at least deteriorate?  Were the urns disposed of purposefully because they were unidentifiable and another employee with no knowledge found them?  Or… were the urns removed from the Columbarium to make space? 

Metzler stated further into the hearing that tree maintenance, “all trees and branches were lifted (section 27) to a six foot level.”  “Section 27 receives every bit of maintenance as any other section.”  I beg to differ with Metzler.  Let me point out another discrepancy in his testimony before I go into grounds maintenance.  Prior to Metzler’s arrival at ANC, an experiment was accomplished to switch out the upright gravemarkers with flat markers (gravemarkers lying flat with the surface of the earth).  This was changed when Metzler became Superintendent, “all that was accomplished between 1993 and 1994,” said Metzler.

      -Let’s cover the tree/grounds maintenance.  His statement is incorrect and my photos prove this.  There are many more gravemarkers that are covered by shrubbery and/or trees.  In fact, there are many markers that are indiscernible because there are trees that have completely overgrown the markers.  I don’t care if some think it’s part of the “character” or “history” of ANC—it’s not.  What if a family member wanted to pay a visit to a distant family member and now can’t even see the name of their loved one?  There are also markers that don’t even have the appropriate Section and Plot Number on the back of the grave marker. 

Marker Underneath Tree

Barely Visible, Only Marked by Flag, Assume That This
Marker Is No Longer Visible Because of Growth
There Are Several Just Like This

     -Lastly, Metzler’s statement concerning flat gravemarkers were removed is completely false.  As you can see in the photos below, they have not been removed.  The photo of the marker covered with mud, was missed by the men and women service members that place flags at each marker prior to Memorial Day.  I can guarantee you that based on the location of the one with mud (not on typical tourist route) is now covered with grass.  I will actually verify that this weekend when I visit ANC. 

This Marker Was Barely Visible, More Uncovered by Removing Soil

One of Many Flat Markers Within ANC

The story of Arlington National Cemetery is long from over.  The recent hearings and further investigations now disclose that possibly over 6,000 internments may be mismarked.  Personally, I think there are more and based on Metzler’s testimony, the number will increase.  Metzler has a hard enough time recalling his own testimony, nonetheless recalling if he “misplaced” bodies here or there.  Keep in mind that in his 19 years of service to ANC, he has supervised the burial of over 110,000 men and women.  Former Deputy Superintendent Thurmond Higginbotham referred to he and Metzler’s work there as “Metzler owning 51% and I owning 49%, we’re a corporation.”  Since they were a “corporation,” they surely got their bailout or golden parachute to—they both were able to retire from Federal Service.  An Airman gets a DUI and is dishonorably discharged.  A superintendent of a cemetery possibly misplaces 6,000 bodies and he gets a full retirement?

Lastly, let me comment on one other issue that I witnessed.  I was so sickened, I forgot that the camera was in my hand and didn’t snap a photo.  As I was walking through a section (middle of the afternoon), while family members, friends of the fallen were visiting, a John Deere Six-Wheel Gator with two ANC groundskeepers aboard rode through the gravemarkers.  Stopping occasionally within plain view of everyone, removed flowers, keepsakes left behind by those very same visitors and then tossed/threw them in the back of the Gator.  I can recall the horror and disbelief in the family members faces as these two employees accomplished their job.  Don’t get me wrong, I understand that this has to be accomplished to keep the Cemetery in good order—I believe that this can be done prior to opening and after closing to the General Public.  What do you think?

Source Story:  Pentagon Channel, CSPAN

Photo Source:  Metzler, Cemetery Photos (Self, Editor of this Blog)