Exclusive: Quantico blames lack of funds, manpower for reduced care at cemeteries around base

QUANTICO — Lacking funds, officials at Quantico Marine Corps Base are trying to keep a promise it made nearly 80 years ago.

Cedar Run Cemetery sits on 12 acres of land and can be found on the west side of Fleetwood Drive, across from the base in Prince William County.

Created in 1942, it is one of several small cemeteries that is maintained by Marine Corps Base Quantico when the U.S. Government acquired through eminent domain 50,000 acres of land west of U.S. 1 in Prince William, Fauquier, and Stafford counties to expand the base following an attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Many members of the armed forces are interred there, veterans going back to the Civil War were buried or re-interred from other cemeteries that sat on the land gobbled up by the Quantico expansion. After re-interring the bodies, the U.S. Marine Corps was charged with maintaining as many as 15 cemeteries around the base.

According to signs posted outside the cemeteries located on the edge of the base, located at various points around the base in Fauquier, Prince William, and Stafford counties, no other bodies may be buried at the cemeteries without permission of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Donna Heflin Sparks, of Altavista, Va. and formerly of Triangle, has a grandfather and other members of her family are buried at Cedar Run. Prior to Memorial Day, she ordered a headstone for the graves of family members interred at the cemetery.

She had hired Klein Memorials, of Manassas, to create and deliver the headstones. She said the company was unable to deliver the headstone to the cemetery due to the poor conditions of the road leading into the cemetery.

Sparks says she contacted Quantico officials shortly thereafter and tried to find out why the grounds were not being kept up, but her questions went unanswered. A visit to the cemetery by Potomac Local found tall grass and overturned headstones. Many of the headstones are older, dating back to a time following the Civil War.

The cemetery was easily accessed by a driveway connecting to Fitzwater Drive. Klein Memorials had no comment for this story.

“Our staff strives to maintain our cemeteries to a uniform grass height of fewer than seven inches. MCBQ also strives to ensure that the grass is cut and debris is removed from the premises no more than one week prior to Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Veterans’ Day each year,” said Capt. Allison Burgos, Quantico spokeswoman.

While the cemetery grounds were ready for Memorial Day weekend, they do admit that they continue to have issues with the maintenance.“Weather, funding, special events, and manpower constraints affect our ability to provide the required grounds maintenance any earlier; as the priority goes to keeping the training ranges safe for Marines,” said Burgos.

There have also been unforeseen issues regarding the base’s budget that affects the upkeep of the grounds:

“This year, MCBQ and the Corps’ budget has also been affected by continued maintenance support to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina following Hurricane Florence in September of 2018. With a small staff and decreased budget, we are doing the best we can to ensure proper upkeep on these cemeteries especially around the holidays,” said Burgos.

Marine Corps officials are currently working to create a space on their website that will have information on Cedar Run Cemetery and other sites that families and interested community members can access on the current maintenance.

“Regardless of the challenges, it is a distinct honor to have the responsibility to maintain these sites in our local community. We will continue to work with the community and families to ensure these sites remain accessible and well-maintained,” said Burgos.

Late last month, Sparks said she received a response from Quantico. The explanation contained in the email, which was also reviewed by Potomac Local, as to why the grounds are not being maintained but four times a year is consistent with Burgos’ statements to this news organization.