Comments on: Kansas cemetery ‘full’ because of Iraq war.

By: GM Roper

GM Roper — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:19:55 +0000

This post is wrong in so many ways. National Cemetaries are limited unless congress authorizes money for the purchase of additional grounds, or there are additional grounds on federal property adjacent to the National Cemetaries. My parents and paternal grandparents are burried in a National Cemetary and Both are “stacked” as this has long been the custom. Lest you think this is because of the Iraq war, my grandparents were burried in 1962, my mother first in ‘98 and dad in 2000.

For your information, Fort Reily National Cemetary has been in operation since 1850. From the Local NBC news report (nbcactionnews.com) comes this:

The final burial on Tuesday was for retired Army staff Sgt. Celestino Rios, 83, of Manhattan, Kan.

The military base has lost 133 soldiers and airmen in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003, though not all are buried in the Fort Riley cemetery. About 5,000 veterans and family members have been interred at the cemetery since it opened in the 1850s.

Fort Riley already has transferred 90 acres of land to the state for a new cemetery that will be about 10 miles from the old site. Under a 1950 federal law, veterans cemeteries that fill up are replaced with new cemeteries built by the VA and then operated by states.

Nothing here folks, move along!

By: teknohillbilly

teknohillbilly — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:43:13 +0000

Regardless of when or why this cemetery is full, I’m shocked the military/government would offer to bury bodies on top of bodies if the family is willing to share a plot. I seem to recall mass graves being discovered in different places on earth (Iraq, Europe during WWII, etc.) where bodies were buried on top of bodies. Following Hitler’s example are we?

By: owlbear1

owlbear1 — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:17:42 +0000

133 Iraq dead from Ft. Riley alone. But since nationally, 1000 a day from a war 60 years ago are also dying that makes it meaningless…

wow…

By: sgrmfox

sgrmfox — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:12:40 +0000

Military cemeteries generally take all veterans. WWII veterans are currently dying at the rate of about 1,000 per day. Soldiers are dying in Iraq at the rate of about 3 per day. Therefore I’d be skeptical of anyone who says a cemetery is filling up “because of the Iraq War”.

By: Veritas

Veritas — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:05:23 +0000

tundra: “and at much later dates”?? Are they prognosticators now with an ouija board, too?

By: Veritas

Veritas — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:04:12 +0000

Tundra: Sure, if one has a computer (which leaves out most of our senior population and even some baby boomers which is the larges bloc of citizens in the country) they can do their own investigating; however, you will never see a legitimate, accurate article about the precise number of our dead heroes in the mainstream media, will you? Hmmmm??? They figure that what people don’t know won’t hurt them – in the case of Bush’s propaganda megaphone, what we don’t know WILL destroy us.

By: Veritas

Veritas — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:02:10 +0000

Had Enough: Unfortunately, the public will never get the real numbers on our innocent war heroes. Accountability in ALL of it’s forms is non-existent any longer in this lawless country.

By: Tundra

Tundra — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:31:51 +0000

I wonder how many have actually diedâ€¦the number only goes up when one dies on Iraqi soil. According to The Harring report a couple years back the total death count could be 8 times what is reported when you count the ones that died en route to the hospital and after arriving to the hospital.
No one questions this,

That is false. You can see a list of the deceased soldiers here

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/

If you read through them there are plenty who died elsewhere and at much later dates.

By: The Republic of Stupidity

The Republic of Stupidity — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 05:03:47 +0000

“… and filling coffers.”

Comment by Buckie Boy â€” September 21, 2007 @ 12:23 am

Was that “coffers” or “coffins”??? Jes’ askin’…

By: Jackie

Jackie — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:40:47 +0000

Senators Brownback and Roberts see no problem with more bodies of dead soldiers as they showed with their vote not to give the troops any time off. Look the GOP was more concerned about MoveOn.org’s remarks about General Petraeus then our troops. I guess the people of Kansas like what their Senators are doing for the voters. With the GOP support of continuing to let our troops die until we have a new President I don’t know what States will do with our dead troops.

By: Buckie Boy

Buckie Boy — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:23:53 +0000

The military congressional complex doing what it does best, making graves and filling coffers.

By: had enough

had enough — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:18:19 +0000

The american public needs to affix a human form to our war dead and be apprised of this story. Otherwise, the war dead have a surreal feel since the returning coffins have all but been hushed up by this administration.

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Comment by Veritas â€”
I wonder how many have actually died…the number only goes up when one dies on Iraqi soil. According to The Harring report a couple years back the total death count could be 8 times what is reported when you count the ones that died en route to the hospital and after arriving to the hospital.
No one questions this.

By: pbg

pbg — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:13:45 +0000

Of course Fort Riley is in the miles from any build-up, and could easily enlarge their cemetery…

so it might be an unbelievably tight@ss bureaucrat complaining about authority….

…or another indication of how deeply and savagely the military hates the Bushies. Someone speaking out in a way they can’t be disciplined for.

By: had enough

had enough — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:08:57 +0000

And they died for what? An Iraqi civil warâ€¦â€¦oh and to make other families richer.

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Comment by dlet â€”

We are going to turn a corner next week… Iraq is demanding that Blackwater leave.. and if Bush refuses, then it is going to be in his face that this invasion/massacre now occupation is for profit…
There is going to be hell to pay when the red states wake up, the ones supporting this creep in the WH and the ones losing the most lives.

By: Juan C.

Juan C. — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:00:09 +0000

Pile them up. They dont do body count anyway.

By: Xisithrus

Xisithrus — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:53:55 +0000

A small price to pay -Boehner

By: RUCerious

RUCerious — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:44:38 +0000

Stacking the dead like cordwood.
Just another blowback from the incredible stack of mistaken policies of this bankrupt administration.

By: Marie

Marie — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:02:00 +0000

That’s the saddest part, dlet. That these young people have died for rich old men and their greed for oil.
I understand the bereaved parents who desperately continue to support the war and Bush because it must be the worst of all to realize that your child has died for greed. If I were a parent, though, I would probably take the opposite tack and I would want to seek revenge.
This is just too sad and never should have happened.

By: dlet

dlet — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:00:23 +0000

Fort Riley can bury bodies on top of other bodies if family members want to share a plot, said Kohler.

Kinda like they do in occupied Iraq. It’s a shame our servicemen are treated as pawns in a global Risk game by neo-cons then subjected to recurring tours with little time between, shoddy mental health care, lack of armor, lack of proper armored vehicles, receive less pay than mercs, if wounded receive poor health care and now to learn that if they die they can be stacked on top of each other like cord wood. Thanks Repubs…..and Dems who are slowly co-owning this occupation.

By: dlet

dlet — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 02:40:57 +0000

And they died for what? An Iraqi civil war……oh and to make other families richer.