Thursday, December 11, 2014

Mismanagement Allegations at the Pearl Harbor Memorial

The USS Arizona is one of the nation's most hallowed sites, an underwater grave for more than 900 sailors and Marines killed when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and sank their ship in 1941.
Now, it's the scene of alleged rampant mismanagement.
(This Nov. 21, 2014 photo shows visitors looking out at the sunken USS Arizona from a memorial atop the rusting battleship in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (AP))
An internal report from the National Park Service, which operates a visitors' center for a memorial at the battleship, said tour companies sold tickets with the knowledge of park officials even though tickets are supposed to be free.
Another pointed to substandard maintenance, including scuffed museum walls that languished unrepaired and bird feces that wasn't cleaned.
The revelations in documents released last month come just before crowds gather at Pearl Harbor on Sunday for an annual ceremony remembering more than 2,400 sailors, Marines and soldiers killed 73 years ago.
"To watch the desecration of a very sacred, very important place was very disheartening," said John Landrysmith, a former park service guide and 41-year-old Iraq war veteran.
He quit his job earlier this year after feeling his supervisor was punishing him for questioning the ticket policy and believing the park service failed to act on his complaints. He intends to file a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against the park service.
Read the rest of the story HERE.

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