Unimagineable Horror
I just did a guest post at my other home from the Uncle of a Fallen Marine. It’s the worst thing I have ever read, and has me so damn mad I can’t think straight. It is so damn bad, that I am putting the quote after the jump, and I give you the strongest possible warning. I mean it, 98% of you should not read what follows, and those who do will be enraged. It is about a father having to dig through his sons remains to ensure that Arlington had the right guy. Just wretched.
His adrenalin already maxed and because of Arlington’s ineptness, the father instinctively jumps onto the truck in his dress clothes despite the rancid odor. The father begins digging through the water soaked; stench filled rotting dismembered remains of his son, in search of the severed arm with a tattoo on it. Meanwhile the Funeral Director is standing to the side, gagging. The father looks at the Funeral Director and tells him, “Get over here and do your job!”
Arlington’s assistance during this time consisted of providing him with latex gloves. The father removes his rancid dress gloves used in digging through the soupy carnage and discards them in the trash. He also removes his jacket, hat and sunglasses, and continues to search for the missing arm. This arm with the tattoo would positively confirm that the unrecognizable severely decomposed corpse was his son’s. The father still searching as he inhales the pungent stench of rotting flesh discovers for the first time since his son’s death, that only a torso, arm, and leg were there.
Finally, after frantically searching the carnage, the arm is found under the torso with the tattoo mostly intact.
Category: Politics
Okay, it’s time to open a can on everyone connected with Arlington. I swear if I was commandant of the Marine Corps I’d send a company of Recon Marines over there this morning and frogwalk the whole rotten bunch out the gates at bayonet point. Heck the Old Guard should be doing it right NOW!
Why hasn’t some Senator or Representative made this an issue?
Ya know what? If this was the freakin’ 19th century, I might understand all of this bullshit. But this is age of “no more Unknown Soldiers” – and because of the utter incompetence of a few employees STILL at Arlington and at least one who has already retired, we may have an entire section of the cemetery unknown.
And an administration that refuses to tell us why it happened. Yes, I understand that the previous administration bears a large measure of the responsibility…but this one is responsible for giving us answers.
Like I said yesterday, fire everyone on the chain-of-custody record if that’s the only answer.
No father should have to go through what Scott Warner, the Gold Star father, endured in that maintenance shed.
speechless.
Obscene does not even begin to describe this. It is the responsibility of the staff at Arlington to do what this father had to do. They screwed it up – they can fix it. If this isn’t a “shovel ready” project screaming for the government to hire a few people to fix this mess, I do not know what is. It is there solemn duty. It is Obama’s solemn duty. I appreciate the fact that George W has pretty much staid out of the fray on most issues, but on this one I want to know what he has to say. He should get his butt out there to raise whatever funds are needed to get this mess straight!!!
WTF Over?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Fire the Director, the Assistant Director, everybody but the GD Tomb Guard, oh, and start from scratch with the VA. Shinseki needs to go, Duckworth too! This is sooooooo wrong on so many levels!!!!
Lucky, this is DoD, not VA.
This NEVER EVER happens at a VA cemetary, which are among the best run of any type in the country.
It is suposed to be a great honor to be able to be interred at Arlington….I guess not anymore if this is the best they can do. Unfuckingbelievable.
First thing is, since this is DoD, Gates needs to Ranger up and start dealing with this. Second thing is for Gates to line up every single person in the line from when that body arrives to when it is interred and have a good ‘ol fashion counciling session. Then, they need to put these people on a tour of every Military and Veterans installation for a little mea culpa. Then, fire the lot and put Troops in charge instead of a bunch of government exec pool types.
I knew that when this broke a while back that it would be just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Ok, I’m done. The more I think about this, the more pissed off I get, just like before.
Enraged does not even begin to cover it…
What I want to be done to every single bureaucrat at the Arlington is medieval and gruesome…
TSO-
What do you know about unclaimed remains of veterans and what can be done to make sure they get a proper burial? Here in Raleigh we have many. As I don’t want them to go unnamed or unburied do you have any experience with this?
Defend, just sent you an email.
“Get over here and do your job!”
Truer words have never been spoken.
What kind of idiots are these people who don’t check, and check and check to make sure they have the right veteran? I just wonder if anyone ever asked them how it would feel if this had happened to them so they would perform their duty with care?
Or, do they have the dumb ass mindset of “These people are dead, who gives a flying fuck?” No matter. Whoever is in charge should be handed his ass on a platter and also the twits working with him. Government workers should take the hits like any soldier and get busted without pay and sent to break rocks at Leavenworth.
Sounds too horrible to be real…….
Yeah… I agree with OldTrooper. I knew this was going to get worse before anything really happened, and I was right, like so many others. This is just unforgivable.
There should be criminal charges filed against everyone involved, going back to include retirees if needs be.
I’m so angry that I’m not going to comment any more on this, else I might cross the line, although these rat-bastard workers seems to have crossed it quite some time ago.
oh my god
fucking inexcusable
really, something more material should be done about this than the lot of us proclaiming our disgust
first things first, I’m making sure this story gets sent to every major news outlet within the state of AZ
secondly I’m making sure this story if forwarded to the office of every elected official in the state of AZ that might have influence in the matter
enough with civilians handling our honored dead, service members should be allowed to entirely handle our own, with the respect and dignity it sometimes seems only we understand should exist….
im thinking we should do it ourselves, at least that way we know we did it right
Well, TSO, then people at DOD need firing!
Well, TSO, then people at DOD need shooting!
FTFY Lucky.
The honor is going fast at Arlington. Bureaucracy at its finest. Hell, a bunch of street winos would do a better job and for a lot less money. Just plain pissed!!!!
Took a deep breath, or two or three, and came back. Now the question is; what can we, the readers here at TAH do, right now, today, in November, whenever to stop this shit. Can we take it over, (legally, of course), and put our veterans compassion to work. Couldn’t be worse than what the brass is allowing. We have “graves registration” units. Could we have a military, active duty interment company, battalion, regiment, whatever is needed? We have many troops, wounded and others who shouldn’t/cannot go back to combat. Would they not be proud to do the right job in such a position.
Our personal rage will not change this, but together, we must be able to do something. It isn’t a matter of funding, as the civilian assholes who are playing poker on “company time”, are well paid.
Got suggestions? I am in for a bull session on this, either online or to meet somewhere central to hash this over.
Still “Just Plain Pissed”
I cannot imagine what that had to be like for that father. Firing is too good for those idiots, horse whiping is more appropriate.
Ya know what, in the last post on this topic it said that the father identified his son by his tattoo and thoughts of this kind of thing ran through my head. To actually read the details of it happening is more than I could have imagined.
This is beyond inexcusable, this is cold-hearted laziness and inaccountability, and heads need to roll. I do not mean metaphorically.
And as much as it pains me to say it, I concur with Jacobite.
This will be forwarded to every news outlet in the state of Texas, as well as to every veteran’s organization with which I have ties and congreesman.
A shitstorm needs to follow.
If this is what my Generation of Veterans have to look forward to from DOD and the reception we get from many of the VA hospitals and clinics to boot, then there is quite a bit that needs to be changed. I have heard from fellow Soldiers that the DC VA hospital won’t even talk to them let alone treat them, but is instead treating non Veteran members of the DC community. Seriously, a lot needs to be fixed if this is how our own are treated!
Those responsible should be beaten to an inch of their lives, patched up and rebeaten. This should go on until those they disrespected come back from the dead and say it is enough.
Somebody should die for that. I’m not even kidding. Somebody, or a lot of people, if they had any self respect, would read that, realize they were responsible for it in some way, and would put a gun to their head.
Now, Spade. Suicide is not the answer. Those responsible should work 24/7 for the rest of their natural lives to cleanup the mess they have made. This work should, of course, be at no charge.
Southern Class-
For once, I agree with you. What can we do, we band of brothers and sisters to stop this farce? Today, here and now? What? I don’t know much, but *I* am all about the veterans and the respect they deserve. A military battalion sounds like a winner to me. I also think bringing the system online will decrease the room for error as everything can be tracked back to whomever makes a mistake.
I just read the entire article over at the burn pit. I can’t stop shaking right now. I am absolutely appalled and completely speechless. Can’t find words.
Semper Fi Brothers
[…] h/t to This Ain’t Hell […]
Sending this story to every veterans organization in the New England area. There are still a lot of veterans who will never let this one lie. Oh and I’m still for lining up the major bureaucrats in all this and giving them a few thousand throat punches.