WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: When Will Arlington Cemetery Run Out of Space?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and this this is a classic brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff episode. This one dives into the history and potential

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<v Speaker 1>future of Arlington National Cemetery, because, after all, a single

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<v Speaker 1>cemetery can only hold so many residents. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. Back in eighteen sixty four, the Union

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<v Speaker 1>was running out of space to bury Civil War casualties.

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<v Speaker 1>Military officials decided to solve the problem by appropriating part

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<v Speaker 1>of the Arlington, Virginia plantation that belonged to Mary Anne

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<v Speaker 1>Custis Lee, the wife of Confederate General Robert E. Lee,

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<v Speaker 1>and turning it into a military burial ground. Private William Christman,

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<v Speaker 1>a year old soldier from Pennsylvania who died of the

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<v Speaker 1>measles before he got a chance to see combat, was

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<v Speaker 1>the first to be buried there, according to the Arlington

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<v Speaker 1>National Cemetery website. Though neither Robert E. Lee nor his

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<v Speaker 1>wife ever tried to turned to the former plantation, their

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<v Speaker 1>eldest son eventually filed a lawsuit claiming the land had

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<v Speaker 1>been illegally seized. In an eighteen eighty two decision, the

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<v Speaker 1>U s Supreme Court agreed, and Congress had to purchase

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<v Speaker 1>the property from him for a hundred and fifty thousand

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<v Speaker 1>dollars so that the National Cemetery could continue. In the

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<v Speaker 1>years that followed, Arlington National Cemetery, which covers six hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and twenty four acres that's two hundred and fifty two

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<v Speaker 1>hectors across the Potomac River from Washington, d C. Became

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps the nation's most hallowed ground, the final resting place

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<v Speaker 1>for many of the nation's military heroes, from General Douglas

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<v Speaker 1>MacArthur and Private Addi Murphy, the most decorated soldier of

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<v Speaker 1>World War Two, two service members killed in the recent

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<v Speaker 1>conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also buried at Arlington are explorers, astronauts,

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<v Speaker 1>and Supreme Court justices. The grave of President John F. Kennedy,

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<v Speaker 1>marked with a gas and electric eternal flame that's designed

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<v Speaker 1>to remain lighted despite wind and rain, attracted more than

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen million mourners in the first three years after his

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty three assassination, But the cemetery, which has become

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<v Speaker 1>the final resting place for more than four hundred thousand people,

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<v Speaker 1>is rapidly filling up with more than seven thousand being

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<v Speaker 1>added each year. According to a report prepared by cemetery

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<v Speaker 1>officials for Congress in twenty seventeen, there are fewer than

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<v Speaker 1>seventy thousand spaces left, and even with the current expansion

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<v Speaker 1>project that will add nearly eleven thousand below ground graves

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<v Speaker 1>and sixteen thousand, four hundred above ground spots, the cemetery

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<v Speaker 1>is projected to be full by the early forties. The

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<v Speaker 1>report said, A and C and those it exists to serve,

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<v Speaker 1>must therefore confront the reality that at some point in

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<v Speaker 1>the future the cemetery will no longer continue to operate

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<v Speaker 1>as it does today. Most veterans from the recent wars

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<v Speaker 1>in Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on terrorism will not

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<v Speaker 1>have the option to be buried at A n C.

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<v Speaker 1>Even our heroes who are killed in action or those

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<v Speaker 1>who have earned the Medal of Honor will not be

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<v Speaker 1>buried at A and C with an approximately three decades

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<v Speaker 1>due to a lack of space. At a March eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>hearing by the House Armed Services Committee, Karen Durham Aquiallera,

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<v Speaker 1>executive director of the Army's National Mill Terry Cemeteries, further

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<v Speaker 1>described the predicament she explained in an Army media release.

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<v Speaker 1>The current veteran population is over twenty million, the retiree

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<v Speaker 1>population is over two million. The total force, both active

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<v Speaker 1>and reserve, is over two million. Right now today, we

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<v Speaker 1>have around a hundred thousand available burial spaces. We cannot

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<v Speaker 1>serve that population. Even a proposed two hundred and seventy

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<v Speaker 1>four million dollar expansion that would add another thirty eight

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<v Speaker 1>acres that's fifteen hectors along the cemetery southern border, would

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<v Speaker 1>only buy an additional decade. That's why officials are now

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<v Speaker 1>contemplating changing Arlington's eligibility requirements. Under the present rules, active

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<v Speaker 1>duty members of the Armed Services, as well as service

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<v Speaker 1>members who have served at least one day of active

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<v Speaker 1>duty and stayed in uniform long enough traditionally twenty years

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<v Speaker 1>to earn retirement benefits, are eligible for below ground burial.

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<v Speaker 1>So are their spouses and children, and so our recipients

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<v Speaker 1>of various medals and prisoners of war who died after November.

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<v Speaker 1>In addition, active duty and retired members and their spouses

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<v Speaker 1>and children, as well as reservists and National Guard members

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<v Speaker 1>who die while on active duty or performing full time service,

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<v Speaker 1>are eligible for above ground burial in the Columbarium, also

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<v Speaker 1>known as the Niche Wall. In the report, army officials

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<v Speaker 1>proposed a range of possible rule changes. The most restrictive

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<v Speaker 1>option would allow in only those who were killed in

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<v Speaker 1>action and or were awarded the Medal of Honor. The

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<v Speaker 1>report said this option can be expected to result in

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<v Speaker 1>delaying the closure of a C for at least two

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<v Speaker 1>centuries unless our nation experiences large scale conflict and higher

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<v Speaker 1>numbers of service members killed in action. But such a

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<v Speaker 1>move also would exclude the vast majority of military veterans

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<v Speaker 1>and their families and seems likely to encounter a pushback.

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<v Speaker 1>Girardo of Vila, a deputy director of a veterans association

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<v Speaker 1>called the American Legion, says that the issue of what

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<v Speaker 1>to do about Arlington is still in the discussion stages,

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<v Speaker 1>though clearly Arlington is reaching capacity and something needs to

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<v Speaker 1>be done. In a resolution at the American Legions twenty

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen convention, the organization urged Congress to step in and

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<v Speaker 1>pass a law that would limit Arlington to service members

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<v Speaker 1>who die on active duty, winners of the Medal of

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<v Speaker 1>Honor and other decorations. World War Two era veterans who

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<v Speaker 1>left the service, thirty or more disabled prisoners of war

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<v Speaker 1>and career service members. We spoke via email with John

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<v Speaker 1>Towell's director of National Security and Foreign Affairs for the

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<v Speaker 1>organization Veterans of Foreign Wars. The group is opposed to

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<v Speaker 1>severe restrictions on eligibility for interment at Arlington. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>we advocate for a solution that will ensure that the

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<v Speaker 1>benefits that they earned through their service remain available to them.

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<v Speaker 1>Because of this, the VFW cannot support changes that would

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<v Speaker 1>take benefits away from veterans and family members who have

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<v Speaker 1>already earned them, many of whom have already made plans

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<v Speaker 1>to be buried at Arlington. Another option to restricting eligibility

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<v Speaker 1>for Arlington would be to create a non contiguous annex

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<v Speaker 1>on land around the Armed Forces Retirement Home Campus in

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<v Speaker 1>wash Srington, d C. About eight and a half miles

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<v Speaker 1>that's thirteen and a half kilometers away. Table said that

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<v Speaker 1>much of the site's expanse would be available the United

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<v Speaker 1>States Soldiers and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, another burial ground

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<v Speaker 1>operated by the Army, already is nearby, but if it

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<v Speaker 1>becomes more difficult to be buried at Arlington, veterans still

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<v Speaker 1>have the option of being buried at another of the

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and thirty five national cemeteries that the National Cemetery

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<v Speaker 1>Administration operates in forty States and Puerto Rico. They would

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<v Speaker 1>still be entitled to the same ceremony, presidential memorial certificate,

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<v Speaker 1>and perpetual care of their graves that those interred at

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<v Speaker 1>Arlington received. Today's episode is based on the article Arlington

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<v Speaker 1>National Cemetery is running out of space on House to

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com, written by Patrick J. Keider. Brain Stuff

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