WASHINGTON, D.C.—
Virginia Senator Mark Warner is working to solve chronic problems at Arlington National Cemetery. An Army report earlier this month revealed more than 200 graves were mislabeled and some remains were misplaced.Thursday, Senator Warner met with Army officials about the lack of technology to help manage those gravesites. The Cemetery is still relying on paper records and index cards.
"That means we are one fire, flood or coffee-spill away from damaging or losing these irreplaceable records." Senator Warner said. "This chronic culture of mismanagement that existed at Arlington National Cemetery is incredibly disrespectful to the families and loved ones of the veterans that we honor there."
Warner added that the Army has spent millions of dollars on at least 3 different contracts to digitize and automate the gravesite registration records, but it still hasn't been done.
"I have spoken to leaders of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, who indicated members of this region's IT industry would be eager to step-up, even on a pro-bono basis, to help protect and preserve these fragile records in the short-term, and offer advice on longer-term IT solutions." Warner said.
