Arlington woes fixed

One of the biggest embarrassments to our nation's military happened about two years ago when it was discovered gross mismanagement was occurring at Arlington National Cemetery to the point of individuals being buried in the wrong graves.

In 2009, press reports documented extensive troubles at the cemetery, the final resting place for hundreds of thousands of veterans and a tourist site that draws 4 million visitors a year.

Those reports, as well as an internal Army investigation, ultimately uncovered as many as 211 graves that were either unmarked or misidentified. In one instance, eight urns containing cremated remains were found in a single unmarked grave.

The Army's acting inspector general told a House subcommittee Friday that there has been a dramatic turnaround in the operation of Arlington National Cemetery, just one year after his office issued a harsh assessment that cited misplaced remains among dozens of problems caused by mismanagement.

Maj. Gen. William McCoy testified that the cemetery's new leaders, including Executive Director Kathryn Condon and Superintendent Patrick Hallinan, have essentially fixed dozens of deficiencies identified in last year's report.

"Simply put, the mismanagement we found last year does not exist," McCoy told a joint subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. "I am confident Arlington National Cemetery is being run as well as possible."

Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal probe.

McCoy also credited the cemetery with rapidly and compassionately addressing family members' concerns about whether their loved ones' remains were properly buried.

He said the cemetery received 1,300 inquiries in the last year, and in all but 13 cases the cemetery was able to check and reassure the families that no problem exists. Of the remaining 13, eight were related to the urns found in the unmarked grave.

Let's hope that McCoy is correct. The problems that were uncovered two years ago are inexcusable. In a private cemetery, there would be criminal prosecutions.

Now if the government succeeds in taking care of the deficiencies that exist in veterans' hospitals, then justice truly will have been served.

By RON GOWER

rgower@tnonline.com