On Hallowed Ground (41 page)

1967
President Kennedy and two of his children are moved a few feet downhill to a permanent burial site, which becomes one of Arlington’s
key attractions.

1968
Robert F. Kennedy is buried next to his brother.

1970
Arlington is closed to car and truck traffic.

1971
Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier from World War II, is buried near the Memorial Amphitheater.

1976
For Bicentennial ceremonies, the tombstones of Congressional Medal of Honor winners are given gold lettering. Emperor Hirohito
of Japan, Queen Elizabeth of Britain, and King Juan Carlos of Spain visit Arlington for the occasion.

1977
Francis Gary Powers dies in a helicopter crash. The former CIA agent, captured when his U-2 plane is shot down over the Soviet
Union, is buried at Arlington.

1980
With demand for burial space growing, the first of nine columbaria for cremated remains is established on the cemetery’s
southeastern corner. When completed, the columbarium will have space for some 45,000 remains. Robert E. Lee’s citizenship
is restored in ceremonies at his old home.

1980
Associate Justice William O. Douglas is buried near former Chief Justice Earl Warren. They are later joined on a hillside
by Justices Harry Blackman and Potter Stewart.

1980
Three aviators from the aborted Iranian hostage rescue mission are buried. President Jimmy Carter attends.

1981
Omar N. Bradley, last of World War II’s five-star generals, is buried at Arlington.

1981
Joe Louis, the heavyweight boxing champion, is buried. His funeral costs are paid for by Max Schmeling, whom Louis defeated
in a closely watched title bout in 1938.

OCTOBER 23, 1983
Two hundred twenty marines and sailors are killed in a terrorist bombing in Beirut. Nineteen marines and two sailors are
buried at Arlington.

MAY 28, 1984
The Unknown serviceman from the Vietnam conflict is buried.

1986
Adm. Hyman G. Rickover, father of the nuclear navy, is buried.

1986
Dick Scobee and Michael Smith, two casualties of the space shuttle
Challenger
explosion, are buried. The number of total burials at Arlington reaches 200,000.

1988
Matthew Henson, the black explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on two decades of Arctic travel, is reburied near his old
associate.

1988
John Mitchell is buried. The former commander of JFK’s PT boat unit and two-time Purple Heart recipient is also a former attorney
imprisoned for conspiracy and obstruction of justice in the Watergate scandal.

1992
Ignace Jan Paderewski finally goes home fifty one years after his “temporary” burial at Arlington.

1993
Civil rights pioneer and Associate Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall is buried. Burials reach 230,000 this year.

1994
Jacqueline Onassis is buried next to her husband and children.

1995
Cpl. Heather Johnson becomes the first female sentinel to guard the Tomb of the Unknowns.

1998
The Tomb of the Unknown from Vietnam is opened and the remains examined. DNA testing identifies Lt. Michael Blassie, an Air
Force officer missing since being shot down over Vietnam on May 11, 1972.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
On the same day terrorists strike the World Trade Center in New York, hijackers crash American Airlines Flight 77 into the
Pentagon, killing 189 people. Sixty-four, most of them uniformed service members killed in the attack, are buried at Arlington,
near the crash site.

DECEMBER 2001
Johnny “Mike” Spann, a CIA officer, is buried at Arlington. He is the first casualty of fighting in Afghanistan.

2001
Members of the “Greatest Generation” from World War II die at the rate of 1,500 a day, increasing demand for new burial space
at Arlington.

APRIL 10, 2003
Army Capt. Russell B. Rippetoe, the first Iraq War casualty to be interred at Arlington, is buried. The number of interments
and inurnments approaches 300,000.

JANUARY 23, 2009
Army Spec. Joseph Hernandez, killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, is buried in a full-honors ceremony at Arlington.
He is the first enlisted man to be accorded such honors, extended to all service members killed in action. Full honors at
Arlington include a bugler, a firing party, a casket team, a marching platoon, a military band, a caisson, and a folded flag.

FEBRUARY 2009
Arlington plans to expand to more than 680 acres by annexing adjacent land. This creates space for a total capacity of 400,000
burials and inurnments, ensuring that the cemetery will remain active until 2060.

APPENDIX II

REGULATIONS FOR BURIAL

Qualifying for Burial or Inurnment at Arlington

BURIAL

Current and former presidents of the United States
Any former member of the Armed Forces who served on active duty and held an elective office of the federal government or the office of chief justice or associate justice of the Supreme Court
Service members on active duty
Those with at least twenty years of active duty
Those on active reserve who qualify for pay upon retirement or retire at age sixty
Those retired for disability
Veterans honorably discharged with a disability of 30 percent or greater before October 1, 1949
Those who have received one of the following: the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Air Force Cross, the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, or the Purple Heart
Former prisoners of war
Spouses or unmarried minors of any of the above

Any of those qualifying for in-ground burial
Any veteran whose last discharge was honorable
Spouses or unmarried minors of any of the above

The president can make exceptions to regulations on recommendation of the Secretary of the Army