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Rabu, 30 Maret 2011
Arlington's Grave Mix-Ups: Will the Army Ever Fix the Problem?
On a recent, unusually warm late-winter day, a young woman sat quietly at the foot of a white headstone at Arlington National Cemetery, among a cluster of graves of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The woman, maybe 25 years old, sat in the grass, hugging the headstone.
The question is not why she was doing that (that's easy to understand); the question is whether the headstone she was hugging was the right one. Last summer, an Army inspector general's investigation confirmed that the Army had effectively lost control of its sacred ground, the national resting place of John F. Kennedy, Audie Murphy and 330,000 others who faithfully served their country. The Army probe played down reports of misplaced or lost remains, but the revelations prompted congressional hearings and howls of disgust from veterans' organizations. In an unusual departure from the Army's normal reflexes, Army Secretary John McHugh pushed out the superintendent of Arlington and his deputy and installed a new boss to make things right on its hallowed site. (See TIME's video "Obama's Veterans Day Visit to Arlington.")
But it appears likely that the problems at Arlington are far worse than the Army has acknowledged, and the new chief, Kathryn Condon, admits the service may never be able to identify all the missing remains on the immaculate 624-acre (250 hectare) site. The Army now plans to make only educated guesses about the identity of remains rather than digging in the dirt to be sure. That means that the true location of some remains may be a mystery forever.
Mistaken Identities
The Army has known for months that it may have a massive case of mistaken identity on its hands — but has been reluctant either to admit it or to learn exactly how widespread the burial errors are. Through the Freedom of Information Act, TIME obtained the raw transcripts of interviews that cemetery workers gave in 2009 and 2010 to the inspector general. In contrast to the tepid report the IG released last June, the transcripts show how workers repeatedly found unidentified remains while digging in what were supposed to be empty graves. "We went into a grave site, which we assumed was empty," one worker recalls. "Dig down ...and, uh ... whoops! Another coffin." Another worker guessed that "one time out of 10," a headstone at Arlington sits above the wrong grave. (See a brief history of unknown soldiers.)
The idea of workers' unexpectedly coming across remains where none were supposed to be is troubling, but at least those remains can be identified. Many caskets buried at Arlington carry exterior identification tags. And for those that do not, rapid advances in DNA identification technology provide hope that almost any mystery can be solved. (Comment on this story.)
The transcripts, however, show that an unknown number of cremated remains were placed in urns that are lost forever. The problem stems from Arlington's policy of burying spouses on top of each other. When a veteran or his loved one died and the remains were cremated, the urns were interred just 3 ft. (1 m) below ground. When Arlington workers returned later to prepare the grave site for a coffin burial of a spouse, they generally removed 7 ft. (2 m) of fill. Workers complained in the transcripts that they were sometimes not alerted that an urn was already in a grave before they dug there a second time. Urns were sometimes scooped up by backhoes and dumped into a landfill, where workers would occasionally come across them later by chance. "That happens a lot," one worker said. "Nobody knows until somebody happens to see it in the landfill and says, 'Oh, my God, man. We just screwed up.'"
Read "A Farewell to a Fallen Service Member."
See a TIME photo essay on the effects of the war at home.
The question is not why she was doing that (that's easy to understand); the question is whether the headstone she was hugging was the right one. Last summer, an Army inspector general's investigation confirmed that the Army had effectively lost control of its sacred ground, the national resting place of John F. Kennedy, Audie Murphy and 330,000 others who faithfully served their country. The Army probe played down reports of misplaced or lost remains, but the revelations prompted congressional hearings and howls of disgust from veterans' organizations. In an unusual departure from the Army's normal reflexes, Army Secretary John McHugh pushed out the superintendent of Arlington and his deputy and installed a new boss to make things right on its hallowed site. (See TIME's video "Obama's Veterans Day Visit to Arlington.")
But it appears likely that the problems at Arlington are far worse than the Army has acknowledged, and the new chief, Kathryn Condon, admits the service may never be able to identify all the missing remains on the immaculate 624-acre (250 hectare) site. The Army now plans to make only educated guesses about the identity of remains rather than digging in the dirt to be sure. That means that the true location of some remains may be a mystery forever.
Mistaken Identities
The Army has known for months that it may have a massive case of mistaken identity on its hands — but has been reluctant either to admit it or to learn exactly how widespread the burial errors are. Through the Freedom of Information Act, TIME obtained the raw transcripts of interviews that cemetery workers gave in 2009 and 2010 to the inspector general. In contrast to the tepid report the IG released last June, the transcripts show how workers repeatedly found unidentified remains while digging in what were supposed to be empty graves. "We went into a grave site, which we assumed was empty," one worker recalls. "Dig down ...and, uh ... whoops! Another coffin." Another worker guessed that "one time out of 10," a headstone at Arlington sits above the wrong grave. (See a brief history of unknown soldiers.)
The idea of workers' unexpectedly coming across remains where none were supposed to be is troubling, but at least those remains can be identified. Many caskets buried at Arlington carry exterior identification tags. And for those that do not, rapid advances in DNA identification technology provide hope that almost any mystery can be solved. (Comment on this story.)
The transcripts, however, show that an unknown number of cremated remains were placed in urns that are lost forever. The problem stems from Arlington's policy of burying spouses on top of each other. When a veteran or his loved one died and the remains were cremated, the urns were interred just 3 ft. (1 m) below ground. When Arlington workers returned later to prepare the grave site for a coffin burial of a spouse, they generally removed 7 ft. (2 m) of fill. Workers complained in the transcripts that they were sometimes not alerted that an urn was already in a grave before they dug there a second time. Urns were sometimes scooped up by backhoes and dumped into a landfill, where workers would occasionally come across them later by chance. "That happens a lot," one worker said. "Nobody knows until somebody happens to see it in the landfill and says, 'Oh, my God, man. We just screwed up.'"
Read "A Farewell to a Fallen Service Member."
See a TIME photo essay on the effects of the war at home.
Minggu, 27 Maret 2011
Inilah Daftar Pemenang Grammy Award 2011
TEMPO Interaktif, Los Angeles - Band country asal Nashville, Lady Antebellum menjadi bintang dalam anugerah musik paling bergengsi, Grammy Award ke-53. Trio ini berhasil membawa pulang 5 piala Grammy. Lagu mereka "Need You Now" menjadi song of the year.
Berita terkait
Namun satu nominasi paling bergengsi, Album of The Year diberikan kepada Arcade Fire, band asal Montreal. Album milik mereka " "The Suburs" mengalahkan album Eminem (Recovery), Lady Antebellum (Need You Now), Lady Gaga (The Fame Monster) dan Katy Perry (Teenage Dream).
Berikut daftar pemenang Grammy Award ke-53 yang digelar di Staples Centre, Los Angeles, Amerika Serikat, Minggu (13/2).
Album of the Year: The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
Song of the Year: "Need You Now," Lady Antebellum
Rap Album: Recovery, Eminem
Country Album: Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
New Artist: Esperanza Spalding Pop Vocal Album: Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster
Rock Album: Muse, The Resistance
POP:
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: Train, "Hey, Soul Sister (Live)"
Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Michael Bublé, Crazy Love
Female Pop Vocal Performance: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance," The Fame Monster
Male Pop Vocal Performance: Bruno Mars, "Just The Way You Are," Doo-Wops & Hooligans
Pop Collaboration With Vocals: "Imagine," Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare, The Imagine Project?
Pop Instrumental Performance: "Nessun Dorma," Jeff Beck, Emotion & Commotion
Pop Instrumental Album: Take Your Pick, Larry Carlton & Tak Matsumoto
R&B:
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: Fantasia, "Bittersweet," Back to Me
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: Usher, "There Goes My Baby," Raymond V Raymond
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: Sade, "Soldier of Love," Soldier of Love
Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: John Legend & The Roots, "Hang On In There," Wake Up!
Best R&B Song: John Legend & The Roots, "Shine," Wake Up!
Best R&B Album: Wake Up!, John Legend & The Roots
Contemporary R&B Album: Raymond V Raymond, Usher
RAP:
Rap Album: Recovery, Eminem
Rap Song: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind," The Blueprint 3
Rap/Sung Collaboration: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind," The Blueprint 3
Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz, "On to the Next One," The Blueprint 3
Rap Solo Performance: Eminem, "Not Afraid," Recovery
Urban/Alternative Performance: "F*** You," Cee Lo Green
ROCK:
Solo Rock Vocal Performance: Paul McCartney, "Helter Skelter," Good Evening New York City
Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: The Black Keys, "Tighten Up," Brothers
Rock Song: "Angry World," Neil Young, Le Noise
Hard Rock Performance: New Fang, "Them Crooked Vultures," Them Crooked Vultures
Metal Performance: "El Dorado," Iron Maiden, The Final Frontier
Rock Instrumental Performance: Jeff Beck, "Hammerhead," Emotion & Commotion
Rock Album: Muse, The Resistance
COUNTRY:
Female Country Vocal Performance: Miranda Lambert, " The House That Built Me," Revolution
Male Country Vocal Performance: Keith Urban, "'Til Summer Comes Around"
Country Song: "Need You Now," Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum) (Need You Now)
Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: Lady Antebellum, "Need You Now"
Country Instrumental Performance: Marty Stuart, "Hummingbyrd" (Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions)
New Age Album: Miho: Journey to the Mountain, Paul Winter Consort
Contemporary Jazz Album: The Stanley Clarke Band, The Stanley Clarke Band
Jazz Vocal Album: Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee, Dee Dee Bridgewater
LATIN:
Latin Pop Album: Paraiso Express, Alejandro Sanz
Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album: El Existential, Grupo Fantasma
Tropical Latin Album: Viva La Tradición, Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Tejano Album: Recuerdos, Little Joe & La Familia
Norteño Album: Classic, Intocable
Banda Album: Enamórate De Mí, El Güero Y Su Banda Centenario
DANCE:
Dance Recording: "Only Girl (in the World)," Rihanna
Electronic/Dance Album: La Roux, La Roux
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