A woman supposed to be buried with her spouse at the state-run veterans cemetery in North Little Rock was interred with the wrong person for six months before staff realized and corrected the error.
Workers moved the woman's remains to the correct grave earlier this year after a family member alerted staff at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock to the blunder, state officials confirmed last week.
Veteran cemeteries allow former service members and a spouse or dependent to be buried in the same grave.
The woman's spouse and the veteran with whom she was originally buried were related and shared first, middle and last names, according to Sue Harper, spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs. Both veterans served in the same branch of service and retired at the same rank.
But a staff member failed to check records that would have differentiated the veterans before burying the woman in a crypt with the wrong veteran.
The cemetery director took responsibility for the error and "the staff member was counseled," according to Harper.
State officials confirmed the error a week after an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette investigation revealed a series of shortcomings at the cemetery.
Administrators with the state Department of Veterans Affairs agreed to an interview last month in the spirit of transparency. While officials admitted the cemetery had seen mismarked tombs, improperly destroyed grave markers and misaligned headstones, the botched burial only became apparent after the department supplied disinterment records requested under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
Harper last week said officials have no other records of "any veterans' or family members' remains incorrectly buried together" when asked if the department was aware of any other corpses buried in the wrong graves.
The blunders prompted a mixed response from veterans who reached out to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
For Dave Ramsey Sr., former chairman of the Cross County Veterans Committee, the errors were "absolutely an insult" to those buried at North Little Rock.
"If you're working in a veterans cemetery, you have an obligation to the veterans," he said. "You should show them the utmost respect because everybody buried in a veterans cemetery is a hero."
Ramsey, who helped establish another state-run veterans cemetery at Birdeye in northeast Arkansas, said North Little Rock staff should have carefully checked their records before burying the woman.
Stu Soffer, an 80-year-old veteran who plans to be buried in North Little Rock with his wife, was more forgiving of some of the cemetery's mistakes.
After burying his son there in September, Soffer said in an email late last month it took the cemetery a bit longer than he expected to place a headstone on the grave. But he had "absolutely no qualms about the quality of service the [state Department of Veterans Affairs] leadership and cemetery management provided."
Pointing to errors listed in a National Cemetery Administration report, Soffer noted federal inspectors were employed to uncover shortcomings and that "an amount of reason" should be applied when considering the findings.
Among other faults, federal officials reported last year that only 23% of interments in the last six months of 2020 were marked with permanent headstones or niche covers by the end of March 2021.
Soffer noted the pandemic had caused severe staffing shortages at the cemetery.
"The virus has overwhelmed them," he said. "Just a drive through the cemetery indicates the large magnitude of their task."
Soffer said he was part of a group that supported an effort by Medal of Honor recipient Nick Bacon to establish the cemetery in North Little Rock.
State officials attributed many of the recent errors to hiring and retention challenges.
Six of 13 employee positions at the cemetery were open as of late last month, according to Harper. Documentation provided by the department indicates that at least six positions had turnover rates of at least 100% in the past four years.
Around the time workers buried the woman in the wrong grave, the cemetery faced a demanding workload. Workers performed 20 burials the week of the mix-up and 18 burials the week before, Harper said in an email on last week.
The cemetery performed an average of 16 burials a week in 2021, according to Bill Wussick, assistant director for state veterans cemeteries.
Officials also said the cemetery's terrain presents challenges for burials and maintenance.
To address the shortcomings, state officials are working to hire more staff, secure federal funding and bolster training for employees.
Along with the state-run cemeteries in Birdeye and North Little Rock, Arkansas has three federally-run veteran cemeteries.