As the final resting place of our loved ones, cemeteries are expected to be maintained and cared for properly but one family said that is not the case at the Guam Veterans Cemetery.

“I see the concern and I appreciate it and I understand. I’m here so they can come see me and I’ll let them know. I don’t have time to mess it up, I’m looking for time to make it right,” said Jose San Agustin, Director of Guam Veteran Affairs. 

San Agustin responded to concerns of a family  upset about the moving of their loved one's grave marker at the Guam Veterans Cemetery in Piti.  

The family said their loved one's grave marker was moved twice without being informed.

San Agustin explained the movement and uprooting of grave markers is all part of correcting improper placement done at the very beginning.

“When they started it was backwards. The numbers started from, if you're looking at it, 1,2,3...but if you are looking at it from another angle, the military style, from left to right, 1,2,3....so the numbering from the beginning is offset,” said San Agustin. “When you bury a person inside a particular square, where does the head marker go? Does it go on top of the person's head or does it go above the head?” 

Initially, they believed the latter would be best. 

However, they forgot to take into consideration what would happen when new rows are placed above and below.

Head markers would be on another person's foot.

“So that went as a trend. As they move along we're finding that -holy moly, we have to move the head markers because if we're going to bury here it's gonna be on someone's foot,” he added. 

So the movement of certain grave markers is because the ground crew at the cemetery is trying to align them in accordance to how they should be. 

Some families who have visited the Veterans Cemetery are upset by the lack of care and call the placement a disgrace and shameful and San Agustin is fully aware.

“It has to be aligned- straight up and down, and horizontal, that's the mandate of what the Federal National Cemetery administration expects of us and that's what we're gonna do. Right now it's not in that standard, we're way off,” added San Agustin. 

For now, San Agustin said the work will continue for his small team to correct alignment and placement ahead of the NCA coming out for inspection.

“We are gonna be doing what we need to do. I don't want to do it. We're doing our best. We're doing what we need to do with the amount of manpower we have. We're doing good,” he said.