Accusations of contractor fraud and mismanagement of grave sites have been leveled on the “nation’s most sacred shrine”—Arlington National Cemetery. Investigations by Salon.com have found the cemetery’s deputy superintendent, Thurman Higginbotham, gave out more than $5 million in contracts beginning in 2003 to computerize Arlington’s vast records—with little to show for the expenditures. Among the contractors hired by Higginbotham, one was an accused pedophile and another’s competence handling sensitive private data was called into question.

Salon also has reported instances of cemetery officials trying to bury a service member, only to discover an unmarked grave in the same location. Arlington’s leadership has been reluctant to admit problems with its management of grave sites, even though a report to Congress found numerous discrepancies between burial maps, the location of headstones and burial records.
                                                                                                                                                    -Noel Brinkerhoff

Millions in Contracts, No Work Completed (by Mark Benjamin, Salon.com)
Grave offenses at Arlington National Cemetery (by Mark Benjamin, Salon.com)