Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and this this is a classic brain
Speaker 1: Stuff episode. This one dives into the history and potential
Speaker 1: future of Arlington National Cemetery, because, after all, a single
Speaker 1: cemetery can only hold so many residents. Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. Back in eighteen sixty four, the Union
Speaker 1: was running out of space to bury Civil War casualties.
Speaker 1: Military officials decided to solve the problem by appropriating part
Speaker 1: of the Arlington, Virginia plantation that belonged to Mary Anne
Speaker 1: Custis Lee, the wife of Confederate General Robert E. Lee,
Speaker 1: and turning it into a military burial ground. Private William Christman,
Speaker 1: a year old soldier from Pennsylvania who died of the
Speaker 1: measles before he got a chance to see combat, was
Speaker 1: the first to be buried there, according to the Arlington
Speaker 1: National Cemetery website. Though neither Robert E. Lee nor his
Speaker 1: wife ever tried to turned to the former plantation, their
Speaker 1: eldest son eventually filed a lawsuit claiming the land had
Speaker 1: been illegally seized. In an eighteen eighty two decision, the
Speaker 1: U s Supreme Court agreed, and Congress had to purchase
Speaker 1: the property from him for a hundred and fifty thousand
Speaker 1: dollars so that the National Cemetery could continue. In the
Speaker 1: years that followed, Arlington National Cemetery, which covers six hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty four acres that's two hundred and fifty two
Speaker 1: hectors across the Potomac River from Washington, d C. Became
Speaker 1: perhaps the nation's most hallowed ground, the final resting place
Speaker 1: for many of the nation's military heroes, from General Douglas
Speaker 1: MacArthur and Private Addi Murphy, the most decorated soldier of
Speaker 1: World War Two, two service members killed in the recent
Speaker 1: conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also buried at Arlington are explorers, astronauts,
Speaker 1: and Supreme Court justices. The grave of President John F. Kennedy,
Speaker 1: marked with a gas and electric eternal flame that's designed
Speaker 1: to remain lighted despite wind and rain, attracted more than
Speaker 1: sixteen million mourners in the first three years after his
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three assassination, But the cemetery, which has become
Speaker 1: the final resting place for more than four hundred thousand people,
Speaker 1: is rapidly filling up with more than seven thousand being
Speaker 1: added each year. According to a report prepared by cemetery
Speaker 1: officials for Congress in twenty seventeen, there are fewer than
Speaker 1: seventy thousand spaces left, and even with the current expansion
Speaker 1: project that will add nearly eleven thousand below ground graves
Speaker 1: and sixteen thousand, four hundred above ground spots, the cemetery
Speaker 1: is projected to be full by the early forties. The
Speaker 1: report said, A and C and those it exists to serve,
Speaker 1: must therefore confront the reality that at some point in
Speaker 1: the future the cemetery will no longer continue to operate
Speaker 1: as it does today. Most veterans from the recent wars
Speaker 1: in Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on terrorism will not
Speaker 1: have the option to be buried at A n C.
Speaker 1: Even our heroes who are killed in action or those
Speaker 1: who have earned the Medal of Honor will not be
Speaker 1: buried at A and C with an approximately three decades
Speaker 1: due to a lack of space. At a March eighteen
Speaker 1: hearing by the House Armed Services Committee, Karen Durham Aquiallera,
Speaker 1: executive director of the Army's National Mill Terry Cemeteries, further
Speaker 1: described the predicament she explained in an Army media release.
Speaker 1: The current veteran population is over twenty million, the retiree
Speaker 1: population is over two million. The total force, both active
Speaker 1: and reserve, is over two million. Right now today, we
Speaker 1: have around a hundred thousand available burial spaces. We cannot
Speaker 1: serve that population. Even a proposed two hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: four million dollar expansion that would add another thirty eight
Speaker 1: acres that's fifteen hectors along the cemetery southern border, would
Speaker 1: only buy an additional decade. That's why officials are now
Speaker 1: contemplating changing Arlington's eligibility requirements. Under the present rules, active
Speaker 1: duty members of the Armed Services, as well as service
Speaker 1: members who have served at least one day of active
Speaker 1: duty and stayed in uniform long enough traditionally twenty years
Speaker 1: to earn retirement benefits, are eligible for below ground burial.
Speaker 1: So are their spouses and children, and so our recipients
Speaker 1: of various medals and prisoners of war who died after November.
Speaker 1: In addition, active duty and retired members and their spouses
Speaker 1: and children, as well as reservists and National Guard members
Speaker 1: who die while on active duty or performing full time service,
Speaker 1: are eligible for above ground burial in the Columbarium, also
Speaker 1: known as the Niche Wall. In the report, army officials
Speaker 1: proposed a range of possible rule changes. The most restrictive
Speaker 1: option would allow in only those who were killed in
Speaker 1: action and or were awarded the Medal of Honor. The
Speaker 1: report said this option can be expected to result in
Speaker 1: delaying the closure of a C for at least two
Speaker 1: centuries unless our nation experiences large scale conflict and higher
Speaker 1: numbers of service members killed in action. But such a
Speaker 1: move also would exclude the vast majority of military veterans
Speaker 1: and their families and seems likely to encounter a pushback.
Speaker 1: Girardo of Vila, a deputy director of a veterans association
Speaker 1: called the American Legion, says that the issue of what
Speaker 1: to do about Arlington is still in the discussion stages,
Speaker 1: though clearly Arlington is reaching capacity and something needs to
Speaker 1: be done. In a resolution at the American Legions twenty
Speaker 1: sixteen convention, the organization urged Congress to step in and
Speaker 1: pass a law that would limit Arlington to service members
Speaker 1: who die on active duty, winners of the Medal of
Speaker 1: Honor and other decorations. World War Two era veterans who
Speaker 1: left the service, thirty or more disabled prisoners of war
Speaker 1: and career service members. We spoke via email with John
Speaker 1: Towell's director of National Security and Foreign Affairs for the
Speaker 1: organization Veterans of Foreign Wars. The group is opposed to
Speaker 1: severe restrictions on eligibility for interment at Arlington. He said,
Speaker 1: we advocate for a solution that will ensure that the
Speaker 1: benefits that they earned through their service remain available to them.
Speaker 1: Because of this, the VFW cannot support changes that would
Speaker 1: take benefits away from veterans and family members who have
Speaker 1: already earned them, many of whom have already made plans
Speaker 1: to be buried at Arlington. Another option to restricting eligibility
Speaker 1: for Arlington would be to create a non contiguous annex
Speaker 1: on land around the Armed Forces Retirement Home Campus in
Speaker 1: wash Srington, d C. About eight and a half miles
Speaker 1: that's thirteen and a half kilometers away. Table said that
Speaker 1: much of the site's expanse would be available the United
Speaker 1: States Soldiers and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, another burial ground
Speaker 1: operated by the Army, already is nearby, but if it
Speaker 1: becomes more difficult to be buried at Arlington, veterans still
Speaker 1: have the option of being buried at another of the
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty five national cemeteries that the National Cemetery
Speaker 1: Administration operates in forty States and Puerto Rico. They would
Speaker 1: still be entitled to the same ceremony, presidential memorial certificate,
Speaker 1: and perpetual care of their graves that those interred at
Speaker 1: Arlington received. Today's episode is based on the article Arlington
Speaker 1: National Cemetery is running out of space on House to
Speaker 1: Works dot Com, written by Patrick J. Keider. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production by Heart Radio and partnership with how stuff
Speaker 1: works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klein. Pfour
Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your face Richot