The Tomb of the Unknowns currently on display is a replacement for the original block that came from the Yule Quarry in Marble, Colorado in the early 1920's. Its marble suffers from significant cracks to its foundation.
"It sure would be nice if the tomb block were the way it should be," said John Haines, a retired Glenwood Springs car dealer, who paid tens of thousands of dollars to quarry the new marble block. "If you look at your father's tombstone and it were cracked, would you want it to stay cracked? No, you wouldn't... Would you want someone to bring out caulk to fix it? No, you wouldn't.
Haines has been working with Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colorado), Rep. John Salazar (D-Colorado) and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colorado) to get the federal government to accept his gift. He's lined up other donations to ensure it could be transported to Arlington at no cost to taxpayers as well. The only cost would be to complete the engravings on the block and estimates for its price range from $200,000-$2.2 million.
Haines said Arlington's superintendent wants the tomb block exchanged, but bureaucracy and politics remains a hindrance.
"It's very frustrating," said Ron Bailey, a local photographer who captured the search for and quarrying of the replacement marble and turned it into a documentary. "Arlington is trying to meet its mission and it has for decades and now, it's being prevented because the Tomb of the Unknowns is a disgrace. It's shameful the condition it's been allowed to fall into and it's not the fault of Arlington."
Haines does not have a timeline for his financial offer. He says on this Memorial Day weekend, he will remember the sacrifices America's servicemen have made to ensure he would be able to make an offer like this to his country.
"It's frustrating to think you want to give this to somebody, give this to the country and they won't take it," he said.
Related Links: Tomb of the Unknowns: http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/tombofun.htm
Ron Bailey's Colorado Yule Marble Quarry Documentary:http://ronbaileyphotography.com/
