Iowa Congressman Dave Loebsack questioned how the headstone of an Iowan buried at Arlington National Cemetery ended up in an overgrown field in Maryland today during a hearing by the House Armed Services Committee. Army Secretary John McHugh today testified before the committee about mismanagement at the cemetery where more than 330,000 military veterans are buried.
Loebsack, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, pointed to a photo in the Washington Post that showed the grave marker of Army Private George Bihrer, an Iowan who died in 1918. The headstone was found in a remote area that was once part of Fort Meade. “It hit me hard and I was quite dismayed. And again there doesn’t seem to be any explanation for how that headstone came to be there. I guess that’s even more upsetting,” Loebsack told the Army Secretary.
Secretary McHugh told Loebsack the old marker should have been properly ground up and disposed. Army officials say Private Bihrer is still buried at Arlington with a new headstone. The Congressional committee is trying to get to the bottom of how administrators at Arlington mislabeled more than 200 grave sites.
See more from Loebsack in the video below: