August 24, 2005

OK, Now You're Pissing Me Off

Via Pandagon, I find this Associated Press report about the graves at Arlington, the national cemetary:

ARLINGTON, Va. - Unlike earlier wars, nearly all Arlington National Cemetery gravestones for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are inscribed with the slogan-like operation names the Pentagon selected to promote public support for the conflicts.
Families of fallen soldiers and Marines are being told they have the option to have the government-furnished headstones engraved with "Operation Enduring Freedom" or "Operation Iraqi Freedom" at no extra charge, whether they are buried in Arlington or elsewhere. A mock-up shown to many families includes the operation names.

As far as I know, every other - every other - gravestone at Arlington is engraved with only name, rank, dates of birth and death and sometimes the conflict (in general terms: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, etc.).

It is not, in any way imaginable, appropriate to use the national cemetary in this manner. Some things, I would have thought, are beyond the pale. I thought wrong.

Whomever thought this up needs to be drawn and quartered. And yes, I know what that means.

Posted by baltar at August 24, 2005 10:19 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Politics


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