Problems possible with 65,000 Army graves

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- After an effort to account for every grave at the Arlington National Cemetery, U.S. Army officials said there may be problems with almost 65,000 grave sites.

Many problems are as minor as typographical errors in paper records, The Washington Post reported.

The review was called for by Congress last year after the discovery of misidentified remains at the cemetery in Arlington, Va.

"In a lot of cases, the marker is absolutely right," Army Col. John Schrader, co-chairman of the task force, said Thursday. "The service was conducted flawlessly and someone wrote something on a piece of paper wrong."

Although the investigation has not yet found additional bodies misidentified, "the discovery of burial errors cannot be ruled out," the review report said.

Resolving some discrepancies may be impossible, the report stated. It said there could be additional, undetected errors, with cemetery records that date back to the Civil War.

"It is important to acknowledge that interment or other errors may well be identified in the future that may not be obvious from the records," the report said. "If found, the Army is committed to resolving these as quickly as possible."

In recent months, the cemetery, the most prominent military burial ground in the United States, has received praise for fixing many problems and creating a system to prevent similar mistakes in the future.

The Government Accountability Office found that the Army "has taken positive steps to address management deficiencies at Arlington and has implemented improvements across a range of areas."