COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS JOHN TABER, New York, Chairman RICHARD B. WIGGLESWORTH, Massachusetts CLARENCE CANNON, Missouri CHARLES A. PLUMLEY, Vermont FRANCIS CASE, South Dakota H. CARL ANDERSEN, Minnesota P. W. GRIFFITHS, Ohio LOWELL STOCKMAN, Oregon JOHN PHILLIPS, California ERRETT P. SCRIVNER, Kansas CHARLES R. ROBERTSON, North Dakota FREDERIC R. COUDERT, JR., New York CLIFF CLEVENGER, Ohio LOUIS LUDLOW, Indiana JOHN H. KERR, North Carolina HARRY R. SHEPPARD, California JOE HENDRICKS, Florida DEPOSIT D BY THE HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE, MESSRS. ALBERT MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 1948. CEMETERIAL EXPENSES, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY STATEMENTS OF MAJ. GEN. T. B. LARKIN, THE QUARTERMASTER GENERAL; BRIG. GEN. G. A. HORKAN, CHIEF; COL. A. L. MARSHALL, CHIEF, FISCAL DIVISION; LT. COL. J. G. HOLLOWAY, CHIEF, BUDGET OFFICE; LT. COL. H. F. GAGNE, CHIEF, CEME- TERIAL BRANCH; MAJ. F. A. KIRK, CEMETERIAL BRANCH; C. R. ALBEE, OPERATIONS BRANCH, MEMORIAL DIVISION, OQMG; A. M. KRUSE, PLANNING BRANCH, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION, OCE; T. M. ROCHELLE, ESTIMATING SECTION, MILITARY Mr. ENGEL. We will take up this morning hearings on the civil inctions bill of the Department of the Army appropriation for the scal year ending June 30, 1949. 1 GENERAL STATEMENT General LARKIN. Mr. Chairman, the submission of the estimate cover the requirements of the civil functions of the Quartermast General for the fiscal year 1949 is in two sections. The first secti represents the funds needed for the operation and maintenance national cemeteries and includes the estimated cost of the establis ment of a national cemetery on the island of Guam. The seco section concerns the funds required to continue the work of t evacuation and return of World War II deceased through the fis year 1949. OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF NATIONAL CEMETERIES The estimate for the appropriation, "Cemeterial expenses, Depa ment of the Army," for fiscal year 1949 amounts to $7,077,355. TI estimate is divided into four major projects as follows: (1) Procu ment of headstones, $2,997,888; (2) construction, $2,344,467; ( utilities, service, and maintenance of buildings and grounds, $835,00 (4) operating expenses, $900,000. Compared to the estimate for fis year 1948, the requirements for fiscal year 1949 reflect an increase $2,886,968. An i Additional headstone requirements and an increase in price approximately $3.50 per headstone amount to $1,338,921. crease of $180,048 is due to transportation costs of the addition headstones, increased freight rates, and additional travel of headsto inspectors. There is an increase of $1,160,027 in the construction project, which $815,402 is for the establishment of a new cemetery in Gua The construction of this cemetery is essential in order to provide final resting place for approximately 9,500 remains from the Paci area. A total of approximately 83,000 remains have been recover in the Pacific area and, at the request of the next of kin, 48,400 i to be returned to the United States and the remainder of 34,600 : to be buried overseas. In order to provide sufficient burial space a to reduce transportation costs, it has been decided that those rema ing overseas will be interred at Guam, Hawaii, and in the Philipp Islands. The site selected at Guam has been approved by the Arn Navy, and Air Force authorities. An increase of $344,625 is required for special projects of ferred maintenance which are essential in continuing the long-ran programs for the maintenance of various national cemeteries. An increase of $213,461 in utilities, service, maintenance, a operating expenses is due to increases in prevailing wage rates and increased prices for fuels and utilities. In addition, the incre in size of the majority of cemeteries makes necessary the hire 22 additional personnel to meet the over-all expansion. Cemet occupancy has expanded from 386,831 grave sites on June 30, 19. to 451,989 grave sites occupied on December 31, 1947, with an ant ipated occupancy of approximately 500,000 sites by June 30, 19. Thus, it will be noted that the interments during the 18 mont period subsequent to December 31 amounted to 75 percent of interments for the 7 years prior to that date. There is no provision in this section of the estimate for the evac tion and return of World War II deceased from overseas. EVACUATION AND RETURN OF WORLD WAR II DECEASED The funds contained in this section of the estimate are for the urpose of continuing the evacuation and return of World War II deceased as authorized by Public Law 383, Seventy-ninth Congress, and amended by Public Law 368, Eightieth Congress. To date, the Congress has appropriated $152,500,000 and the request for fiscal ar 1949 amounts to $38,369,000. In addition to the amounts entioned, an estimated $23,606,000 has been deferred to take care f future requirements, all of which reflects an estimated $214,475,000 for the total program. It will be noted that the total estimated program exceeds the evious estimate by approximately $35,176,100. The majority of is increase is accounted for by (1) price redetermination of casket ontracts which has increased the cost per casket from approximately $25 to $183; (2) withdrawal of troops from overseas areas which quires independent action of graves registration units; (3) drastic Terease in rental rates and salaries of indigenous personnel in unupied areas overseas due to action of foreign governments; (4) addional travel of military and civilian personnel in connection with dentification and final disposition of remains and for providing burial onors; (5) delay in casket production and delay in obtaining replies letters of inquiry sent to the next of kin; (6) initial development of ermanent cemeteries in foreign countries; (7) unanticipated diffialties and delay occasioned by indecision on the part of the next of in which requires special individual handling of the cases involved. While expenditures to date have been comparatively small in relaon to the total program, they will increase rapidly with the movement of remains for final interment. As of January 1, 1948, the status of the program is as follows: 227,049 letters of inquiry have been dispatched to the next of kin and 85,379 acceptable replies have been received. All remaining etters of inquiry will be dispatched to known addresses by February 1948, and it is anticipated that replies will be received by June 30, 1948: (2) 53,611 disinterment directives have been dispatched to Overseas areas. All disinterment directives for the mass movement of remains will be dispatched by January 1, 1949; (3) as of January 1948, approximately 14,000 remains have been returned to the United States. It is anticipated that 50,000 additional remains will he returned during fiscal year 1948 and that 78,000 will be returned Juring fiscal year 1949; (4) based on experience records, it is estimated that of the remains buried in overseas areas due to nonreceipt of replies from next of kin, the return of approximately 28,600 remains will be requested subsequent to July 1, 1949, after completion of the regular program. Mr. ENGEL. Does that conclude your statement? NUMBER OF DECEASED OVERSEAS Mr. ENGEL. General, you furnished us last year a statement showing, first, the number of men who died in the service or were killed in action overseas. General LARKIN. Yes, sir. Mr. ENGEL. Second, the number and percentage of the bodies th would be returned in compliance with requests by the nearest next kin. You also had in your statement a sort of poll as to how many those wanted to have their dead buried in national cemeteries. you have that list? General LARKIN. Yes, sir. Mr. ENGEL. Has that been brought up to date? General LARKIN. Yes, sir; that has been brought up to date. General LARKIN. Yes, sir. (The data referred to follows:) Number of remains. Number of remains to be returned (60 percent). Mr. ENGEL. Also, I would like a statement showing, if possible, ho many of the next of kin who are requesting burial of their dead in national cemetery are living now near to a national cemetery or close proximity to a national cemetery. General LARKIN. It would increase with the proximity to a nationa cemetery. SUFFICIENCY OF SPACE IN EXISTING NATIONAL CEMETERIES Mr. ENGEL. How many new national cemeteries do we have t take care of, and will it pay to have a national cemetery for the numbe who are requesting burial in a national cemetery? Could you give u that information? General LARKIN. There is sufficient space in existing nationa cemeteries to take care of the number requesting burials therein i proximity to next of kin did not have to be considered. It is impos sible to determine at this time without an individual examination of all poll letters received to determine the relationship between requests for burials in national cemeteries and the proximity thereto of the next of kin. However, the following tabulation indicates the esti mated number of remains to be returned, by States, and the States in which there are existing national cemeteries. The following list indicates the number of World War II dead to be returned to each State. Also listed by State are the national cemeteries and Department of Interior cemeteries in which interments may be made: World War II dead to be returned and available cemeteries Alabama: National Cemetery, District of Columbia: Sol- Andersonville. Marietta 3, 523 Arizona 805 Florida: Barrancas. Arkansas: Georgia: Idaho. California: Camp Butler. 1, 153 3,036 4, 009 637 10, 412 4,311 |