Running a cemetery is a more difficult business than many individuals assume, particularly a cemetery like the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Unfortunately, Arlington National Superintendent John Metzler and his deputy Thurman Higginbotham are being swapped out after a series of scandalous mix-ups involving mislabeled graves and at least one service member’s body being buried on top of another, the Pentagon told MSNBC. In addition, Higginbotham will be investigated for allegedly hacking some computer files of a previous Arlington National Cemetery employee.
No body database at the Arlington National Cemetery?
Metzler and Higginbotham were criticized quite a bit for not having an electronic database of the gravesites at Arlington National Cemetery and instead relying upon paper records. This weighed greatly on Secretary of the Army John McHugh’s mind as he made the move to dismiss the duo. A new position could be created to oversee Arlington National operations.
John Metzler, 62, has been a government employee for 42 years. He served for 19 years as the Arlington National Cemetery superintendent. His father preceded him as Arlington National Cemetery superintendent.
’Does any person run a perfect organization?’ Metzler asked
John Metzler admitted mistakes, but he clarified to the media that they were not malicious. While military rank and salary aren’t easy to come by, some reasonable supposition would indicate that John Metzler, with a lot more than 18 years of service in the military, would make at least $3,454 per month according to the standard military pay table (if he is the equivalent of at least O-1, first-level officer rank). A lot more than likely, he makes at least $2,000 to $3,000 a lot more per month, although this is speculation.
Was John C Metzler Jr. really earning his pay?
Whichever the case, from John McHugh’s point of view, Metzler had definitely not earned his salary, in light of the surprising events. Not only that, but John Metzler saying that “nobody’s perfect” and telling the media that some of the troubles occurred before he started his job at Arlington National Cemetery are errors that are simply inexcusable in such a high-profile position funded by taxpayers. That doesn’t even consider at all his responsibility of tending to the military dead.
Is there less room within the Arlington National Cemetery?
Is this because of burial anomalies? In its 200 acres, Arlington National has a lot more than 300,000 buried. That doesn’t take into account the special vaults that carry a lot more than 40,000 total niches for cremated remains (soon could be expanded to 100,000). As Arlington National averages 28 funerals per day, 6,900 per year, it seems likely that space will become an issue. Burr Oak Cemetery, a privately owned cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, had this problem, and some employees resorted to less-than-respectful means of dealing with the situation. Here’s hoping that Arlington National Cemetery will fix any administrative issues and continue to serve The US in the honorable fashion it has since its official designation on June 15, 1864, by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.
Read more on this topic here
MSNBC.com
msnbc.msn.com/id/37612199
Arlington National Cemetery
arlingtoncemetery.org/visitor_information/anc_facts.html
WashingtonExaminer.com
washingtonexaminer.com/nation/arlington-cemetery-superintendent-retiring-95922519.html
Military pay chart
docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/militarypaytables/2010WebPayTable34.pdf
