These Are The 65 Symbols Permitted On U.S. Military Tombstones

Arlington National Cemetery (photo by the author for Hyperallergic)

Hyperallergic: The 65 Symbols on US Military Tombstones

While American military cemeteries may look uniform with their rows of cross-adorned tombs, look closer and you’ll find Wiccan Pentacles, Atheist Atoms, and the Hammer of Thor.

On today’s Memorial Day in the United States, the tombstones honoring those who died while in the military service will be decorated with flags throughout the country, particularly in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Although the lines of marble and granite headstones appear uniform, overwhelmingly carved with Christian crosses, look closer and you might spot an atomic whirl circling an “A” for atheist, an infinity symbol, or a Shinto torii gate. In recent years, the freedom of religious expression for soldiers and their families in choosing an “emblem of belief” for their monuments has majorly expanded, but not without some lawsuits.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The complete list of symbols permitted are here.

Arlington Cemetery Workers On Strike

Army Times: Arlington Cemetery workers on strike, demand better benefits and wages

Arlington National Cemetery groundskeepers walked off the job and went on strike Tuesday, after nearly a year of labor disputes.

The strike stems from a plea for paid sick leave and an hourly wage increase, protest organizer Keon Shim told Army Times.

The laborers are battling two contractors in charge of the joint operation: the Ohio-based Davey Tree Expert Co. and the Delaware-based Greenleaf Services, Inc.

Laborers' International Union of North America officials organized the strike and are representing the 30 grounds workers in negotiations with Davey and Greenleaf.

Read more ....

WNU editor: I live in Montreal, and a few years ago there was a strike at the main cemetery in the city. The cemetery was not a pretty site when the strike finally ended.

Here Are Some Famous People Buried At Arlington Cemetery

Army Pfc. Jose Vazquez places an American flag in front of a gravestone at Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day weekend in 2012. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Coffee/ U.S. Army)

Washington Examiner: 21 famous people you didn't know were buried at Arlington National Cemetery

In May 1864, Arlington National Cemetery conducted its first military burials. Since then, it has become the final resting place for approximately 400,000 people who served the U.S. honorably. This Memorial Day weekend, here's a look at 21 notable people you probably didn't know are buried there.

Read more ....

230,000 US Flags Are Placed At Arlington cemetery

Members of the Third U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) take part in a "Flags-In" ceremony, ahead of Memorial Day, at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington May 22, 2014. (Reuters)

FOX News/AP: Soldiers placing 230,000 US flags at Arlington National Cemetery

ARLINGTON, Va. – Soldiers are placing nearly a quarter of a million U.S. flags at Arlington National Cemetery as part of a Memorial Day tradition.

The event Thursday is known as "flags in." It marks the beginning of Memorial Day weekend activities at the cemetery.

The U.S. Army Military District of Washington says in a statement that the tradition began in 1948. The mission is carried out by the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, nicknamed "The Old Guard." The unit puts every available soldier to work, planting small flags in front of the more than 230,000 grave markers.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Its that time of year again.

Christmas At Arlington Cemetery (Photo Gallery)

Brian Suzuki, 5, helps his grandmother Roni decorate the grave of Brian's father and Roni's son Matthew Suzuki on the third anniversary of his death at Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60 in Virginia December 22, 2015. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WNU Editor: The photo gallery starts here.

Arlington Cemetery Will Make An Exception For Families Who Want To Leave Photos And Momentos In Section 60

Arlington Makes Memento Exception In Section With Iraq, Afghanistan Dead -- Washington Post

Arlington National Cemetery officials, responding to complaints from upset families, will allow small photos and other mementos to be left next to headstones in Section 60, where the Iraq and Afghanistan war dead are buried.

In recent years, the families and friends of troops buried in Section 60 had transformed the plot of ground at Arlington into a living memorial to America’s long war in Iraq and its still unfinished fight in Afghanistan. Beginning in August, Arlington officials decided to treat the section by the same rules as the other parts of the cemetery and stripped the section of photographs, love letters, worry stones, crosses and coins that had been affixed to headstones for months or years.

Read more ....

My Comment: It is obvious that the administrators were getting a lot of heat from a lot of families .... they are now doing the right thing.

Arlington National Cemetery's Policy Of Removing Personal Mementos Creates An Uproar Among Family Members Of The Fallen

Dallas News | myFOXdfw.com

Arlington Graves Stripped Of Personal Mementos In Controversial Clean-Up That Has Outraged Fallen Service Members' Grieving Families -- Daily Mail

* The new policy at the Virginia cemetery bans pictures and small tributes

The carefully-chosen mementos that cover graves in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery offer a deeply personal glimpse into the lives of grieving military families.

These reminders have now been scrubbed away following a new policy which has banned family and friends from placing tributes on the graves.

Headstones have been stripped of photos, drawings and poignant notes, in particular those in Section 60, home to the graves of more than 800 service members killed while doing their duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read more ....

More News On Arlington National Cemetery's Policy Of Removing Personal Mementos Of The Fallen

Arlington Cemetery Grave Personal Items Removed -- FOX News
Arlington's sweep of gravesite mementos distresses families of fallen -- Navy Times
Arlington graves stripped of personal mementos in controversial cleanup -- NBC
Arlington Cemetery didn’t change the rules -- Washington Post
In Arlington National Cemetery, let the dead tell their stories -- Washington Post

After Today's U.S. Supreme Court Ruling, Gay Troops' Spouses Can Be Buried At Arlington

We will move very swiftly, expeditiously, on implementing the law," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said.

Post-DOMA: Gay Troops' Spouses Can Be Buried at Arlington -- US News and World Report

Pentagon still studying cost, extent of federal benefits to same-sex spouses.

The spouses of gay and lesbian service members will be among those to receive federal benefits, including burial at Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon announced Wednesday, hours after the Supreme Court overturned the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.

The Defense Department does not, however, yet know how much these benefits will cost, how it will pay for them or whether they will all extend to service members in states that do not allow gay marriage.

"We will move very swiftly, expeditiously, on implementing the law," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said during a Wednesday afternoon press briefing. "We think it's the right decision."

Read more ....

My Comment: The times are a changing.

Budget Cuts Will Even Impact The Dead

Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA. (Wikipedia)

Budget Cuts Will Mean Delays For Burials At Arlington Cemetery -- Danger Room

The cuts to the military budget scheduled to take effect for Friday can seem abstract — or even, sometimes, breathless. But one impact will be a somber one: The cuts will mean delays for veteran funerals at Arlington National Cemetery.

There’s currently an average of 31 funerals a day at Arlington, the nation’s most prestigious resting place for war veterans. But the Army expects that under the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, that average will drop to 24. As first tweeted by CNN’s Barbara Starr, that works out to 160 fewer funerals every month.

Read more ....

My Comment: Expect even more delays and cuts in the future as more budget cuts start to be implemented..

Wreaths Across America 2012

Wreaths Across America 2012 at Arlington National Cemetery -- Stars and Stripes

ARLINGTON, Va. — What began as a goodwill gesture by a Maine businessman who found himself with a surplus of Christmas wreaths two decades ago continued its annual growth trend Saturday when 20,000 volunteers took part in the Wreaths Across America event at Arlington National Cemetery.

Merrill Worcester, owner of the Worcester Wreath Co. in Harrington, Me., marked a special milestone Saturday by presenting the program's one millionth wreath to Gold Star mother Mary Byers, whose son, Army Capt. Joshua Byers, was killed in Afghanistan in 2003. Byers, her husband, Lloyd, and Army Sgt. Justin Lansford — who was severely wounded by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in April — later placed it at the grave of Vietnam veteran Wilbur Tresvant in Arlington's Section 60.

Read more ....

My Comment: Nice.

Massive Problems Being Reported At Arlington Cemetery

Problems Possible With Nearly 65,000 Arlington Graves, Report Says -- Washington Post

After a year-long effort to account for every grave at Arlington National Cemetery, Army officials said Thursday that there might be problems, some as minor as typographical errors in paper records, with nearly 65,000 sites — or one-quarter of the graves at the nation’s most prominent military burial ground.

In a highly anticipated report, mandated by Congress last year after the discovery of misidentified remains, the cemetery cited monumental challenges in completing the task: missing Civil War-era logs, illegible headstones and burial procedures that changed significantly over the 150-year history of the site.

Read more ....

Update #1: Army: Some Arlington Markers May Need Replacement -- ABC News/AP
Update #2: One of four Arlington graves still require verification -- USA Today

My Comment: I knew that it was bad .... but I did not expect it to be this bad.

Arlington National Cemetery And Section 60

At Arlington National Cemetery, Mementos For Latest War Dead Get More Personal -- Washington Post

The headstones wear Hawaiian leis and Mardi Gras beads. They are festooned with bottles of Yuengling, flasks full of Jack, boxes of cigars.

In Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60, where those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan lie, the graves aren’t just markers of remembrance; they are canvases decorated with stones, shiny balloons and handwritten notes. In this corner of the nation’s most sacrosanct military burial ground, all manner of ornamentation abounds — one headstone is covered in lipstick kisses — bringing a colorful poignancy to an otherwise monochromatic place of mourning.

Read more ....

The 'Saddest Acre In America'

My Comment: This video is a a few months old .... but still relevant today.

Every Arlington Grave Is Being Photographed

Foxes, iPhones And Freshly Dug Graves: All In A Night's Work For The Soldiers Mapping The Graves Of Arlington's Fallen Heroes -- Daily Mail

* Team working to catalogue all 330,000 people interred in cemetery

Night after night this summer, troops from the Army's historic Old Guard have left their immaculately pressed dress blues, white gloves and shiny black boots at home to slip into Arlington National Cemetery in T-shirts and flip-flops to photograph each and every grave with an iPhone.

The sometimes eerie task to photograph more than 219,000 grave markers and the front of more than 43,000 sets of cremated remains in the Columbarium is part of the Army's effort to account for every grave and to update and fully digitize the cemetery's maps. The Old Guard performs its work at night to escape the summer heat and to avoid interrupting funerals.

Read more ....

More News On Cataloging Arlington's Graves

Army's Old Guard photographing every Arlington grave -- Stars and Stripes
Night by night, troops photograph Arlington graves -- AP
Night by night, troops photograph Arlington graves -- MSNBC Photoblog

Another Criminal Investigation Launched At Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington Records Found In Private Storage Prompt Investigation -- Stars and Stripes

The Army has launched a criminal investigation into the discovery of 69 boxes of burial records from Arlington National Cemetery, the latest gaffe at the nation’s hallowed U.S. military burial ground, the Associated Press reports.

The records were found in a private storage unit earlier this month by the owner of the site who had begun auctioning off the unit’s contents after the renter had failed to pay up, the AP reported.

The investigation was revealed Thursday at a House Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing on operations at the cemetery.

Read more ....

My Comment: The unbelievable incompetence over the years at Arlington National Cemetery defies imagination .... and yes .... it is criminal.

The Bureaucracy Mess At Arlington Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery, Section 64

Arlington's Paper Trail Of Problems -- Time Magazine

Many large modern cemeteries store data on the identity of remains via computer and keep track of grave locations with the aid of satellites. The previous leadership at the cemetery blew unknown millions trying to develop a similar system, but ended up just handing money to favored contractors who did little in return, according to an Army investigation last summer. As a result, Arlington tries to keep track of around 30 burials a day on pieces of paper.

Read more ....

My Comment: So much for treating sacred ground as sacred ground.

Arlington National Cemetery Must Bury Multiple 'Unknowns'

For First Time In Decades, Arlington National Cemetery Must Bury Multiple 'Unknowns' -- Washington Post

When the remains of a Vietnam War soldier buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery were identified in 1998 using DNA, Pentagon officials proudly said that the days of interring service members as "Unknown" could well be over.

But now, for the first time in decades, the cemetery has multiple "unknowns" to bury - and it has itself to blame.

Criminal investigators looking into how eight sets of cremated remains ended up crowding a single grave have concluded that three of them are unidentifiable - not because of the brutality of combat, but because of actions at the cemetery.

Read more ....

Update: Army probes multiple remains in Arlington grave -- CBS/Washington Post

My Comment: This investigation has been ongoing for the past year, and every time I read a story about this travesty my blood pressure just goes through the roof.

Arlington Cemetery Refuses Burial Of US Ally From Vietnam War

The funeral procession of General Vang Pao is led by Scottish pipers and the casket is carried by a horse drawn carriage as hundreds of people line M St. in Fresno. (Mark Crosse / mcrosse@fresnobee.com)

Laos Hmong Leader Vang Pao Denied Arlington Burial -- BBC

The US Army has rejected a request for ethnic Hmong leader Vang Pao to be buried with full military honours in Arlington National Cemetery.

Gen Pao led a 15-year CIA-sponsored secret war in Laos during the Vietnam War and, when it was lost, led tens of thousands of his people into exile.

He died last month. The army's decision came as mourners attended the first day of a six-day funeral in California.

Gen Pao's friends said they would appeal to the White House.

Read more ....

More News On Arlington Cemetery's Refusal To Bury Hmong Leader Vang Pao

Arlington refuses burial of U.S. ally from Vietnam War -- CNN
Army denies Arlington burial for Hmong general -- USA Today
Army denies request to bury Asian military leader in Arlington -- The Hill
Arlington refuses burial of U.S. ally from Vietnam War -- CNN
Hmong General Denied Arlington Cemetery Burial -- Voice of America
Vang Pao family decries Arlington burial denial -- Miami Herald
Anger as Hmong general refused US honor burial -- AFP
Laos general's backers press Obama over burial snub -- AFP

My Comment: They just could not make an exception, even though his (and his soldiers) actions probably saved scores of American lives during the war in South East Asia.