An interesting tale in today's news is that of the American cemetery that was formerly a part of Clark U.S. Air Force Base, in the Philippines. The base was turned back to the Philippines government a decade ago without any special arrangements having been made for the upkeep of the cemetery, which is the final resting place of about 9,000 Americans, one-quarter of whom are former U.S. military. Now, as the Washington Post reports, a few concerned organizations consider that the cemetery isn't being kept up properly (though to me the photo accompanying the article makes it look a lot like the community cemetery near me), and they have launched a campaign to get the U.S. government to pay for the refurbishment and continuing maintenance of the site.
What a great tale! It struck me at first that this was a no-brainer. Uncle Sam should pay for this; how could it have been overlooked?
But speaking of overlooking, it's important not to overlook a few points. The military people buried there, if I read the article correctly, mostly aren't there because they died in battle. They are veterans of many different wars, who served in all branches of the service, who for the most part ended up in the Philippines by taking military or civilian jobs at the base long after their combat service, or maybe by marrying a Filipino. Since the place apparently never was designated as a "National Cemetery," or a battlefield monument, it doesn't receive federal funding. I'd say the Air Force erred in establishing this cemetery at all; the deceased should have been shipped home or buried in local cemeteries off base.
In that respect, The Clark facility seems to be just like any general purpose cemetery anywhere in the U.S., i.e., a lot of combat veterans may be buried there, but Uncle Sam doesn't pick up the tab for maintenance. I think of the cemetery in Kansas where my WWII-vet father is buried along with many others who were not veterans. The local VFW puts a flag on his grave on Memorial Day, but the federal government doesn't pay upkeep for the cemetery.
The Air Force having made the mistake of creating this burial ground, though, I suspect most Americans would agree that we as a nation, and the military services in particular, do have an obligation to help (help!) maintain it.
Timing is everything. I'm betting that the publicity for this cause, published on Memorial Day (observed date), will probably catalyze some kind of action by which the USG will eventually provide the funding requested. Military veterans, and others buried on the former Clark AFB, will have reason to thank writer William Branigan and the Washington Post.
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