Cracks in Tomb of Unknowns getting deeper

What took so long?
Some wonder why it took so long. John Haines of Glenwood Springs, Colo., offered to pay $31,000 for the marble block about five years ago and donate it. Haines has never visited the tomb, but said he was moved to act by the “freedoms I’ve got because of what those guys gave.” The block has been cut from the quarry and sits on a trailer, awaiting shipment.

“It is ready to go whenever they get ready for it,” Haines said. “How much sense does it make to fix what’s already there, especially when you’ve got a fool who is ready to give you a piece?”

Metzler said the process is taking longer because the cemetery intends to get reaction from the public and historic preservation groups first. Any replacement contract would also probably go up for competitive bidding, he said.

A new tomb would be an exact replica of original, with a computer using digital photos to carve the details. The old tomb would probably go into storage, Metzler said.

Of the roughly 160 public comments submitted through last week, about 60 percent favor replacing the monument, according to cemetery officials. But not all want to replace a monument that has stood for generations and carries such symbolic weight.

“Leave it alone, it’s not going to fall apart,” said Steve Jeffrey, a 34-year-old from Pleasanton, Calif., who had just seen the tomb on a hot July evening. “I like the fact that it is original.”

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