The government that wants to run your life can't run a graveyard

The nation’s obligation to honor its war dead has been shockingly and painfully dishonored at Arlington National Cemetery. We are all familiar with Arlington’s iconic images: green hills, simple white gravestones and solemn military guards accompanying the bodies of soldiers and sailors to their rest. Now there is another deeply troubling image: a cemetery defiled by unmarked and mismarked graves; funeral urns unearthed and contents discarded. That is a trauma the families of the fallen should never have to endure.

Senator Claire McCaskill, whose Homeland Security subcommittee has been looking into the scandal since it was detailed by the Army inspector general, says the number of mismarked graves may be as high as 6,600.

In a report in June, army investigators said the cemetery suffers from lax management. Because the Army and cemetery officials insisted on building their own computer system — as much as $8 million and a decade later it’s still not working — officials have to rely on paper records to manage more than 330,000 burial sites and as many as 7,000 funerals a year.

Senator McCaskill said those problems were compounded by the lack of serious oversight by Army officials responsible for the cemetery’s budget and, for the last decade, no reviews of contracts and no audits. In testimony before the subcommittee last week, John Metzler Jr., who was superintendent for 19 years at Arlington, took “full responsibility” but also blamed unnamed staff members who “did not perform” and inadequate funding. His deputy, Thurman Higginbotham, refused to answer most questions about his role in approving millions of dollars of mishandled contracts.

Mr. Metzler has been reprimanded and allowed to retire with full benefits. Mr. Higginbotham was placed on leave pending disciplinary review, before resigning; officials say he will also draw retirement benefits. That is not accountability.