Thursday, May 17, 2012

New tomb at Arlington?

My very tiny voice started saying that someone in the previous administration and especially that DoD, after sending soldiers into that region with a mission then quickly abandoning that and this countries promises to the Afghans with the first drum beat pointed at Iraq, with majority support of the country, should have requested a special tomb or new building, as soon as someone saw what was happening, on the Arlington grounds to give a proper resting for the unidentified remains, so families and visitors could give honor and respect, instead of sending them to public or private landfills as medical waste and when that came to light are now cremated and sent for burial at sea, a proper military funnel practice, after the first was discovered being carried out in such disregard to the fallen!

And while this to me is a great idea, especially for the same reason it's being proposed,same as I just described, this should not be the only memorial to the falled of these two conflicts and the Desert Storm theater, for they're all connected. I still have a vision I've had from the first couple of years of these two. Another Memorial built on the National Mall. The vision isn't clear on the Memorial, that should be up to the soldiers who've served in and for their fallen brothers and sisters, as ours from Vietnam was. But that memorial I see sits on top of steps numbering the years in total once the Afghan conflict has ended. It should be built in front of ours, 'The Wall', and facing that, as we couldn't stop the failed policies to be carried out for once again years of another occupation, two in fact, the steps to signify that this country never learned the lessons it promised it would not that long ago from the oh so destructive Vietnam occupation, hoping the steps visitors would walk up would make them finally think how our policies, in our names, are carried out!

Plan focuses on Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond
May 17, 2012 - The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, dedicated in 1921 and guarded around the clock, has long been among the most visited sites in the nation's capital.

It would be joined by a Tomb of Remembrance for the unidentified remains of fallen troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and any future conflicts under a proposal headed for a vote in the House of Representatives, perhaps this week.

Rep. Steven Stivers (R-Ohio), an Iraq war veteran, proposed the new tomb after reports last year that the cremated partial remains of at least 274 military personnel were disposed of at a Virginia landfill prior to 2008.

"To those who have given their final measure of devotion in service to our country, they deserve a final resting place worthy of their dedication, commitment and devotion, and we need to give that to them," he recently said.

The military now cremates unidentified remains of fallen troops and scatters the ashes at sea.

Stivers hopes to attach his proposal to a defense spending bill now before the House. He also has introduced separate legislation, co-sponsored by a Democrat, Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas.

The measure would establish the tomb for interment of cremated fragments of service member remains that cannot be identified through DNA testing or are unclaimed after a period of time. read more>>>


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