Posted on Aug 18, 2015
Have you see this? A Missouri patio paved in military headstones. Veterans mad, VA investigating
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A patio and staircase apparently built out of military gravestones at a property in southern Missouri has sparked a firestorm of criticism on social media.
Navy veteran Ed Harkreader of Mountain Home, Ark., posted photographs of the arrangement on Facebook last week. The post triggered scores of outraged comments and was shared thousands of times.
“This isn’t the way you should use military headstones,” Harkreader told the Post-Dispatch in a telephone interview Monday. “This is disrespectful of military veterans.”
Harkreader, 55, said he served in the Navy for 22 years. He said he heard about the use of the stones from a friend and drove the short distance from his home in Arkansas to the property in Ozark County, Mo. The property is near Lake Norfork just north of the Missouri-Arkansas line.
Harkreader took pictures and tried without success to reach the property owner. His photographs show a patio and staircase fashioned from what appear to be military headstones, some with the names of veterans and spouses clearly visible. A check of Internet grave services indicates that some of the stones were for grave sites in California, Alabama and Texas.
Chris Erbe, a spokesman for the National Cemetery Administration in Washington, said officials heard about the matter from Harkreader’s Facebook posting. The inspector general’s office of the Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating the report, Erbe said.
It’s not clear where the stones came from. Markers are sometimes inscribed with errors or typos and are supposed to be destroyed. Often stones are replaced rather than re-inscribed when spouses die and are buried at the same location. Older military headstones sometimes are replaced, Erbe said, but the old stones are supposed to be destroyed.
“They are not to be used for any kind of home improvement project,” he said.
The markers in Harkreader’s photos appear to be relatively new, with several showing death dates in the 2000s.
Harkreader’s posting drew numerous angry replies, some of which suggested solving the matter violently. Harkreader said he was distressed by those comments but wanted the stones removed and properly disposed of.
Grave markers have shown up where they don’t belong before. Last month a former employee of the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery was arraigned in federal court, accused of theft of government property for taking discarded grave stones and using them to pave his carport, according to media reports. Authorities suspected he had been taking them home a few stones at a time over several years.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/a-missouri-patio-paved-in-military-headstones-veterans-mad-va/article_d6e9e745-ab01-5627-992f-c80bd391e379.html
Navy veteran Ed Harkreader of Mountain Home, Ark., posted photographs of the arrangement on Facebook last week. The post triggered scores of outraged comments and was shared thousands of times.
“This isn’t the way you should use military headstones,” Harkreader told the Post-Dispatch in a telephone interview Monday. “This is disrespectful of military veterans.”
Harkreader, 55, said he served in the Navy for 22 years. He said he heard about the use of the stones from a friend and drove the short distance from his home in Arkansas to the property in Ozark County, Mo. The property is near Lake Norfork just north of the Missouri-Arkansas line.
Harkreader took pictures and tried without success to reach the property owner. His photographs show a patio and staircase fashioned from what appear to be military headstones, some with the names of veterans and spouses clearly visible. A check of Internet grave services indicates that some of the stones were for grave sites in California, Alabama and Texas.
Chris Erbe, a spokesman for the National Cemetery Administration in Washington, said officials heard about the matter from Harkreader’s Facebook posting. The inspector general’s office of the Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating the report, Erbe said.
It’s not clear where the stones came from. Markers are sometimes inscribed with errors or typos and are supposed to be destroyed. Often stones are replaced rather than re-inscribed when spouses die and are buried at the same location. Older military headstones sometimes are replaced, Erbe said, but the old stones are supposed to be destroyed.
“They are not to be used for any kind of home improvement project,” he said.
The markers in Harkreader’s photos appear to be relatively new, with several showing death dates in the 2000s.
Harkreader’s posting drew numerous angry replies, some of which suggested solving the matter violently. Harkreader said he was distressed by those comments but wanted the stones removed and properly disposed of.
Grave markers have shown up where they don’t belong before. Last month a former employee of the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery was arraigned in federal court, accused of theft of government property for taking discarded grave stones and using them to pave his carport, according to media reports. Authorities suspected he had been taking them home a few stones at a time over several years.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/a-missouri-patio-paved-in-military-headstones-veterans-mad-va/article_d6e9e745-ab01-5627-992f-c80bd391e379.html
Honor
Respect
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 25
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I find this to be Highly, HIGHLY disrespectful to those who have been KIA.
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PO3 Steven Sherrill
SPC Margaret Higgins I agree, I think it is just disrespectful all the way around.
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Wow this is bad. The article I posted didn't have the picture and now that I can see it, I feel like it's even worse.
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This is sticky because if they were misprints and re-purposed they could be used in a respectful way for example not using them as steps. but as a wall. If they were stolen then prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. its all about how it is used and contex in my book.
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PO1 Michael Fullmer
There is nothing right about this. EVERY one of them should be returned to whatever cemetery they came from and the families should be given an apology for their (thieves) actions.
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PO2 Corey Ferretti
PO1 Michael Fullmer if you read my response you would see if they stole them they need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But if they were obtained legally as long as they do something respectful with it then i dont really have a problem with it.
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Years ago my father's Navy headstone was stolen. Although I wasn't involved in it's replacement, my Mother relayed to me that it wasn't a pleasant experience when contacting the VA to try to get it replaced. She was eventually able to get it replaced. When I ordered a Navy headstone for my brother four years ago, I was warned by the VA personnel to avoid ordering a bronze headstone or the brass urn (my first choice) because he said they were being stolen and sold for scrap metal. I ended up ordering the granite one. I can't understand why anyone would think it is ok to do this. Even if they were not stolen and are misprints this is in bad taste.
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LTC David Brown
In many ways I am very proud of Augusta GA. The scrap companies joined with the police department. There is an officer assigned to just dealing with crimes involving scrap metal. If you sell scrap metal you are paid by check and photographed. You need to be a licensed Air Conditioner company or the home owner to sell AC scrap. Thefts of metal from graves, construction sites, and stealing Air conditioning units is way down.
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Suspended Profile
There are some really sick people out there...
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That's a little mondo-beyondo to say the least. Plus you're walking on headstones which are meant to be monuments which is at the least disrespectful to those SMs.
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The main reason in my view is that lack of work ethic and respect the civilians our government employees have. They are wanting a fat pay check but don't want to work for it. Military vets know hard work and dedication and don't like slackers.
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