A Grave Situation

A source I trust inside the Army suggested I ought to be following up on a story I first reported on last year when I was at CNN, namely the case of a “whistleblower” at Arlington National Cemetery who seemed to be suffering retribution for her advocacy on behalf of families and freedom of access for the media.

Gina Gray lost her job in the process, but the policy at Arlington was modified to begin to accommodate the wishes of families who want media coverage, although rules are still restrictive, and do not give families final say.

Meanwhile an investigation of what happened to Gray, a former soldier and Iraq veteran, has turned up a lot of questionable practices at Arlington, “shenanigans” as Gray once called them in a informal conversation with me.

Veteran Investigative reporter Mark Benjamin, who now writes for Salon​.com has been documenting the discoveries, (you can read his latest report, and the related stories that he’s done here: Millions in contracts, no work completed — Salon​.com)

But I also emailed Gina Gray to ask her what’s up with her case, and she sent me a detailed response, which I am posting.

It’s a sordid tale that shows, as Gina says, “a disturbing pattern of misuse, abuse and callousness has emerged at Arlington, with no movement by the Army to correct the situation.”  It includes allegations of misplaced bodies and shoddy care, an instance in which personal data of deceased soldiers sent to a contractor who was later was arrested on sex charges.

Here’s Gina’s letter, in its entirety:

Jamie,

Since your reporting last summer on Arlington National Cemetery officials’ efforts to thwart media access to funerals despite family’s requests to allow media coverage, and my subsequent firing, things have taken on an “Alice in Wonderland” quality– with events getting “curiouser and curiouser,” to quote C.S. Lewis.

In this case, the white rabbit is accountability.  After media reports in the summer of 2008, Army officials did change the policy at Arlington with regards to media access, but restricting the press was just a minor infraction, given all of the developments that have come to light in the last year.

A months-long Army CID investigation that ended in May 2009 “established Mr. HIGGINBOTHAM committed the offense of False Statements when on 16 Oct 08, he made false and misleading statements to agents from this office regarding access to Ms. GRAY’s email account and government computer.”

The report further goes on to state that Arlington officials were guilty of wire fraud-something that not only violates Department of Defense and Army regulations, but is also a federal crime.  A Freedom of Information Act request for the full investigation has been denied by the Army, stating that it “could affect pending or on-going administrative/disciplinary actions.”  The investigation was concluded in May, and it wasn’t until this past summer, when specific questions were asked regarding the punishment of ANC officials, that the case seemingly was reopened (or from the Army’s standpoint, never closed).  However, at this time, no punishment has been doled out for the offenders, all who are still employed in high-level government positions.

A Department of Defense Inspector General’s report on the command climate at Arlington National Cemetery was also concluded in May 2009, and then sent to the Army, where it is still “under review,” with no anticipated release date.  Numerous attempts to determine the inexplicable holdup of this case have gone unanswered, and it would seem the Army has gone out of it’s way to hold up publishing the results.

This past July, Mark Benjamin from Salon​.com started reporting on the problems at Arlington, first writing on the CID report’s apparent fall through the cracks and then the rehiring of a wanted sex offender by Thurman Higginbotham to work on computer equipment that held thousands of sensitive personal information such as social security numbers and birth dates of deceased service members and their families.  Then, there was the contract mismanagement involving millions of taxpayer dollars, apparent preferential awarding of contracts to Higginbotham’s friends with no return on investment, and the latest and perhaps most troubling-a body at Arlington was just christened with an “Unknown” headstone-the first time since 1984 that this has occurred.

When a casket was discovered in 2003 in a grave that was supposed to be empty, Arlington officials didn’t report it, they buried it, and with it-they thought-any evidence that would show the seemingly empty plot had a body beneath it.  For six years the grave sat unmarked until internal documents were leaked revealing that there was, in fact, a body in the grave.  This wasn’t an old section of the cemetery, or an old casket-this is in what cemetery officials refer to as an “active section,” meaning that burials are held there weekly.  After Benjamin reported on this, officials didn’t do the right thing and attempt to identify the body, but instead put up a headstone that simply said “Unknown.”

It’s unknown due to bureaucratic error, due to poor management and due to lack of accountability, but I think the real unknown is why nobody has been held responsible for the gross violation of public funds, and more importantly, public trust.

The Army launched an official investigation, but the outcomes seems to be swayed by the very bureaucrats that helped put Arlington into the mess that it is today-the Superintendent, John Metzler, enjoys close relationships with the Army organizations and leaders that oversee Arlington, and the Secretary of the Army’s office met with him earlier this week to be briefed on the situation(s) there.  There are almost a dozen separate ongoing investigations going on regarding Arlington officials, and that alone should be telling to investigators.   One investigation could be seen as an honest mistake, but a dozen?  A disturbing pattern of misuse, abuse and callousness has emerged at Arlington, with no movement by the Army to correct the situation.  Numerous letters to Congress have gone unanswered, and the General Counsel for the Senator Levin’s staff, when told of this matter, was uninterested stating that, “it’s not something of interest.”

Officials violated the sanctity of the mission that is at the root of Arlington National Cemetery-to preserve the memories, the honor and the sacrifice of those who have served.  By continuing to accept this type of behavior, we are passively saying that this is acceptable behavior-that the warrior ethos that American service members are held to, and the values of American liberties that they die to protect, stop with government officials.

Veteran’s action groups and the American public should demand their Congressional representatives become involved and launch a full scale investigation into the practices of Arlington National Cemetery, and maintain oversight over all investigations. It’s time that Department of Defense leaders, Veterans and the American public hold Arlington officials accountable for their actions, at least to the very minimum standards that they demand of those who have earned the right to be buried there.

Gina Gray is an 8 year veteran of the US Army, and served in OIF 1, 2 and 3.