John C. Metzler Jr. (born September 12, 1947) is an American civil servant who was Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, from 1991 to 2010.Pickert,"A Field of Trees and Bones", Lost December 2005."McHugh Strengthens Management, Oversight at Arlington National Cemetery", press release, United States Army, June 10, 2010. He achieved notoriety in the press at the end of his tenure due to the Arlington National Cemetery mismanagement controversy.
Early life John C. Metzler Jr. was born in 1947 to John C. Metzler Sr. and his wife Bernadette."Obituaries", Orlando Sentinel, May 31, 1990. He was one of four sons. He attended schools in Arlington, Virginia, including Fort Myer Elementary School (now closed), Alice West Fleet Elementary School (formerly Patrick Henry Elementary School), and Wakefield High School.Phibbs, "On Sacred Grounds", Washington Times, October 11, 1994.
Metzler first moved to Arlington National Cemetery in 1951 at the age of four when his father was named the cemetery's Superintendent.Ruane, "Arlington Cemetery's Longtime Superintendent to Retire in July", Washington Post, May 20, 2010.Griffith, "Arlington Welcomes Native Son", Washington Post, February 17, 1991. His father, John C. Metzler Sr., presided over the burial of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, an event the younger Metzler remembers watching while standing next to his father. Metzler says he used to play among the tombstones and trees, used to ride a sled down the cemetery's snow-covered hills, and had an "uncanny ease" with the ceremony and procedures of military burial. Cemetery personnel often permitted him to climb on the caisson or ride the ceremonial riderless horse after funerals there. His favorite places were the warehouse (where he would talk to the repairmen), his father's office in the administration building, and the overlook facing the Washington Monument on the grounds of Arlington House.
Metzler lived in the cemetery until he was 19 years old. He joined the United States Army in 1966, and served as a helicopter chief in the Vietnam War.Hutchinson, "Memory's Caretaker", Sarasota Herald Tribune, May 25, 2009. Metzler left the Army after three years. Metzler's first civilian job was repairing airplanes and helicopters. Initially, it did not seem possible for him to assume the same position as his father, as a federal law required that the Superintendent be a disabled veteran. This law was changed in 1973. With more than half of all federal cemetery managers due to retire soon, Metzler's father suggested that he begin training in cemetery management. He served a one-year apprenticeship at Beverly National Cemetery in New Jersey. He rose within the military cemetery management ranks over the years, serving at cemeteries in Arkansas, California, New York, and South Dakota. His last position before joining Arlington National Cemetery was as area director for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, where he oversaw operations at 40 national military cemeteries.
Metzler and his wife, Kathy, have three sons.
Tenure at Arlington National Cemetery When Arlington National Cemetery's then-Superintendent, Raymond J. Costanzo, retired in 1990, he urged Metzler to apply for the position. Metzler was appointed Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery in January 1991, replacing Costanzo. Metzler moved his family (his sons were teenagers in 1991) into the Superintendent's two-story lodge on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. His sons grew up without daily newspaper delivery, mail service, cable television, or home pizza delivery because cemetery rules would not permit alterations to the house or because vendors refused to deliver to "Arlington National Cemetery" (believing the orders were a joke).
After assuming his position at Arlington, Metzler confronted a number of issues.
Maintenance issues Maintenance issues proved a major problem early in his tenure. Metzler approved an offer by the National Arborist Association to provide free care to more than 650 of the cemetery's trees.Cohn, "Rooting Out Tree Trouble in Arlington", Washington Post, October 17, 1993. "We have over 14,000 trees at Arlington Cemetery, and each year we're able to attend to just a few of them", Metzler said. In 1999, Metzler acknowledged at a congressional hearing that large amount of deferred maintenance (such as a large hole in the ceiling of the Memorial Amphitheater chapel, damaged sidewalks at the Tomb of the Unknowns, cracked and broken flagstones at the columbarium, and corrosion of the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame) had created a $200 million, 30-year backlog of issues.Wee, "Decay at Arlington Cemetery Dismays Lawmakers", Washington Post, May 21, 1999. Metzler said the cemetery had done the best it could with limited resources, and had placed its focus on the ever-increasing number of burials and inurnments which occurred there each week.
Expansion of the cemetery There was also increased demand for burial space within the limited grounds of the cemetery. Metzler oversaw the implementation of a $1.4 million plan (developed before his appointment as Superintendent) to clear a former parking lot to create space for new graves."Kaplow, "Arlington National Cemetery Being Expanded", Washington Post, October 24, 1991. Metzler said it was his policy to "expand land a little ahead of when we need it so the land can be developed and settled after the construction." Metzler pushed for and won passage of legislation in 1999 which would transfer at the nearby Navy Annex and from Fort Myer to the cemetery. of unused space on the cemetery grounds were turned into burial space in 2006 and 2007 to allow an additional 26,000 graves and 5,000 inurnments.
In 2007, Metzler implemented the Millennium Project, a $35 million, 100-year-long expansion plan which transferred of woodland from the National Park Service-controlled Arlington House and from adjacent Fort Myer to the cemetery.Sherman, "More Space for Fallen Heroes", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 4, 2007.. Another of cemetery property currently occupied by maintenance buildings would also be converted to burial space. The expansion would add 14,000 burial and 22,000 inurnment spaces. The Millennium Project expanded Arlington's physical boundaries for the first time since the 1960s, and this was the largest expansion of burial space at the site since American Civil War. Metzler also implemented plans move several utility lines to gain even more space. Metzler's plans were criticized and opposed by several environmental and historical preservation groups.(1) Gearan, "Admirers of Lee Upset by Cemetery Expansion Plan", Associated Press, July 3, 1995(2) (3) Statement of John C. Metzler Jr., Superintendent, Arlington National Cemetery, Before the United States House of Representatives Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations "THE CEMETERY CURRENTLY CONSISTS OF ABOUT 612 ACRES. THE ARMY HAS COMPLETED A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE CEMETERY, WHICH IS DESIGNED TO INSURE THAT ARLINGTON WILL REMAIN ACTIVE AS A BURIAL PLACE AND MEMORIAL SITE THROUGH THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY. THAT PLAN IDENTIFIES FOURTEEN PARCELS OF LAND THAT ARE OWNED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, ARE LOCATED IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE CEMETERY, AND COULD BE USED FOR FUTURE BURIALS. THIS PLANNING EFFORT WILL EXAMINE WHICH LANDS MIGHT BE AVAILABLE IN THE FUTURE. ONE OF THE STRATEGIES IS TO ACQUIRE CONTIGUOUS LAND THROUGH PURCHASE, DONATION, OR TRANSFER TO KEEP THE CEMETERY OPEN. TOWARD THAT END, FUNDS ARE INCLUDED IN THE PRESIDENT’S BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999 TO FISCAL YEAR 2003 TO PREPARE CONCEPT PLANS TO DEVELOP CONTIGUOUS LANDS OWNED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS THEY BECOME EXCESS TO GOVERNMENT NEEDS.
Burial waiver dispute In 1997 and 1998, Metzler also handled several scandals involving waivers which would permit ineligible individuals to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Concerned that the cemetery would not have enough space given the large numbers of military personnel who served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, Congress passed legislation in 1967 restricting who may be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.Barr, "Hallowed Grounds for Controversy", Washington Post, December 23, 1997. Waivers of these restrictions were permitted, but only minimal rules or guidelines were established for granting them.
The burial waiver controversy broke in November 1997 when the news media reported that United States Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen had allegedly put pressure on the Army and Metzler to allow Republican congressional staffer Robert Charles to bury his father, Roland W. Charles, at Arlington even though he was ineligible for burial there.Graham, "Cohen Involved in Arlington Burial Dispute", Washington Post, November 27, 1997. A month later, a dispute arose over the burial of M. Larry Lawrence, a Democratic fund-raiser and a former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland. There were concerns that Lawrence had falsified his service in the United States Merchant Marine (a branch of the U.S. military during World War II), and that his role as a U.S. diplomatic envoy did not make him eligible for burial in the cemetery.Van Natta, "New Questions About Envoy Who Is Buried at Arlington", New York Times, December 6, 1997. At the height of the controversy (some Republicans claimed that Lawrence had been granted a burial waiver because of his role as a fund-raiser), Metzler said that he would have granted the waiver anyway.Barr, "Envoy Post Enough for Burial Waiver, Arlington Chief Says", Washington Post, December 8, 1997; "Waiver May Have Been Given Anyway in Burial", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 8, 1997; "New Angle on Arlington Waiver", Saint Paul Pioneer Press, December 8, 1997; "Arlington Chief Would Have OKd Envoy's Burial", Chicago Sun-Times, December 8, 1997. Lawrence had died while still serving as ambassador, and that would have qualified him for Arlington burial, Metzler said. A few days after the scandal broke, Lawrence's widow moved her husband's body from Arlington National Cemetery, making the issue moot.Enda, "U.S. to Move Envoy's Body From Cemetery", Philadelphia Inquirer, December 9, 1997.
The controversy led to an investigation of Metzler's handling of burial waivers. The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the United States House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, assisted by staff from the Government Accounting Office, began an investigation in December 1997.Scarborough, "Panel to Probe Cemetery Admissions Procedure", Washington Times, December 10, 1997.Scarborough, "Arlington Burial Answers Prove Hard to Come By", Washington Times, January 3, 1998. Nine cases were identified where Metzler had denied burial, but had been reversed. In January 1998, as the House investigation continued, the burial of an ineligible National Guardsman at Arlington raised further questions about the cemetery's waiver procedures.Scarborough, "Army Error Put Guardsman Into Arlington Cemetery", Washington Times, January 6, 1998. The House subcommittee found that record-keeping at Arlington National Cemetery was so poor that not enough hard evidence of wrongdoing could be uncovered.