Posted on Sep 29, 2014
PO3 John Jeter
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Ft bliss
Fort bliss 3
Fort bliss 5
Ft bliss 3
Some while back the VA decided to take out the grass at the cemetery and replace it with a gravel covering. This was to save the money spent on watering the grass. They produced a nice little video on how nice it was and the conservation award they received. After some rain storms came through these photos were taken. Local VFW and Legion posts are trying to get the situation attended to either by getting the grass replanted (preferred) or an alternative measure (unknown as yet). I'm asking that you contact your elected representatives in any fashion you wish, and respectfully urge them to press for the VA to fix this problem soonest! This is a disgrace and it needs to be corrected! Thanks for your help!
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Edited 10 y ago
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Responses: 5
MSG Wade Huffman
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This is terrible. I sincerely hope that they get this situation rectified soon. It's disgraceful.
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1SG Civil Affairs Specialist
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That looks appalling.

With that out of the way, surely they had to account for grade and drainage. While you can't account for freaks of nature, sudden rainstorms that dump a bunch of rain on a parched surface are certainly not unheard of on Ft Bliss.

This looks like something that could be addressed with simple drain tiling and perhaps a catch cistern (since water conservation was clearly the goal here). With that in mind, an environmental impact statement would have certainly been done - if not driven the whole idea in the first place. I'd be curious to see it... it should be a public record. Any of you internet ninjas able to acquire that document?
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PO3 John Jeter
PO3 John Jeter
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I haven't been there myself, but I'm reliably informed that civilian cemeteries nearby with grass cover aren't having any trouble. As far as the initial project goes, there are some .........questions.........about it that are being looked in to. Personally I don't care who did what or why. I just want it fixed in a manner that befits our honored dead. In all honesty, my stomach lurches and my blood pressure rises every time I look at those photos.
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SGT Richard H.
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Ironically, as a construction Superintendent who has done Corps of Engineers work, I can tell you that you won't get them to sign off on a grading job to them without re-seeding and substantial growth starting.....apparently that rule is just for contract work.
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