This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Arlington National Cemetary

  • Oh crap… Perfect Timing or What?

    Via Doc Bailey and FB. Blame him!
    Up to 64,000 Graves at Arlington Misidentified or Misplaced, Army Report Finds

    ARLINGTON, Va. –  Thousands of grave markers at Arlington National Cemetery may need to be replaced or added to accurately account for the dead, following a meticulous Army review of each of the nearly 260,000 headstones and niche covers on the grounds.

    In a report to Congress on Thursday, the Army found potential discrepancies between headstones and cemetery paperwork on about 64,000 grave markers — about one in four.

    Congress ordered the review last year following reports of misidentified and misplaced graves that led to the ouster of the cemetery’s top executives.

  • 50th Anniversary

    The Secretary of the Army, my homeboy, John McHugh laid a wreath today at President Kennedy’s gravesite to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Green Beret according to Stars & Stripes.

    Kennedy approved the green beret after visiting Fort Bragg, N.C., in late 1961. In a message to then-Special Forces Commander Brig. Gen. William P. Yarborough, Kennedy wrote: “The challenge of this old but new form of operations is a real one and I know that you and the members of your command will carry on for us and the free world in a manner which is both worth and inspiring. I am sure the Green Beret will be a mark of distinction in the trying times abroad.”

    Video of the ceremony

    Thanks to Jeff Schogol for the link.

  • Two Events – Common Ground in Arlington

    These seemingly unrelated events happened this week in history.

    Two years ago some Islamic wacko decided to kill some people in the name of his religion:

    FORT HOOD (November 5, 2011)—The families of the 13 people killed in the Nov. 5, 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Center are finding comfort in each other on the second anniversary of the tragedy, saying that staying connected with other affected families helps the grieving process.

    On Saturday, some victims’ relatives planned to place wreaths on the fence that now surrounds the boarded-up building where the shootings occurred.

    Earlier in the week, two of the families visited Arlington National Cemetery in Washington to pay respects to two soldiers killed that day, although they’d never met.

    But, many more years ago some other thing was getting underway:

    Excerpted from Firebase 319

    Early on Friday, November 5, 1965 the 173D Airborne Brigade (Separate) entered War Zone “D” in the Republic of Vietnam to conduct Operation HUMP (OPORD 28-65). Somewhat auspiciously the name of the operation signified the halfway point of our year in Vietnam. The search operation began with the 1/RAR (Royal Australian Regiment) deployed south of the Dong Nai River and paratroopers of the lst Battalion (Airborne), 503D Infantry being lifted by helicopters from the “snake pit” around noon to conduct a helicopter assault on a LZ northwest of the Dong Nai and Song Be Rivers. Leaving my rear detachment under the control of my Executive Officer, First Lieutenant Charles E. Johnson, Jr., B Company deployed with five officers, 195 enlisted men and one ARVN interpreter.

    (more…)

  • Wet diapers in Indy

    Apparently a customer at an Indianapolis auto parts store ventilated an armed robber who demanded cash from the counter crew. Some of the remaining customers are more upset that someone was legally carrying a gun in their midst than they were that criminals were carrying guns in their midst;

    “I think it’s terrible, I really do. I don’t think people should be allowed to carry guns,” one customer said.

    “(Perry) should have called the police. I don’t think it’s right for people to carry all these guns. It’s a crazy world,” Mabreeward said.

    The pop-up-running-screaming target in this case has been arrested for robbery in the past.

    Thanks to Old Trooper for the link.

  • Welcome Home Brothers…

    Remains of 3 Vietnam War soldiers to be buried

    Oct. 3, 2011, 5:59 p.m. EDT
    AP
    WASHINGTON (AP) — The government says it has identified the remains of three U.S. Army soldiers missing in action during the Vietnam War and will bury them Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery.
    The Department of Defense announced Monday that Master Sgt. Charles Newton of Canadian, Texas; Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Dahill of Lima (LEYE’-muh), Ohio; and Sgt. 1st Class Charles Prevedel of St. Louis, Mo., will be buried with military honors.
    The government said the men and three Vietnamese soldiers were on a reconnaissance patrol in 1969 when they were ambushed and thunderstorms prevented rescue attempts. Subsequent searches turned up no signs of the men.

    Between 1990 and 1993, the ambush site was excavated. Government scientists used circumstantial evidence and forensic tools, including dental comparisons and DNA, to identify the remains.

    Welcome home indeed.

  • McCoy: Arlington National Cemetery is being run as well as possible

    Major General William McCoy told the subcommittee responsible for oversight of Arlington National Cemetary that there’s been a dramatic turn around in the administration of Robert E. Lee’s plantation – turned cemetery in the past year;

    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.”

    Sure that’s because people whose job is not administering the cemetery are doing the work of those whose job it is to administer the cemetery. Remember the story of the preteen boy who is documenting the headstones and graves? And the story of the Fort Meyers soldiers who are doing the same?