[QUOTE=cited regulations]
(6) Any veteran who served on active duty (other than active duty for training) and who held any of the following positions:
(i) President or Vice President of the United States;
[/QUOTE]
It would seem superfluous to hold that acting as CIC means that one is a “veteran” and “served on active duty” solely by virtue of being President when the regulations require both statuses. The implication is that one does not automatically satisfy the other.
I don’t think that actually covers Jackie Kennedy’s grave. She has her own separate grave next to her husband. I don’t think regular folks get that.
Which is why there’s no telling whether Trump would be eligible or not. The rules for everyone else were not followed the last time a president was buried there, so there’s no reason to think they would be again.
What do the regular folks get? Do they have to share a casket or something? I’m not being snarky, but doesn’t everyone have their “own separate grave”?
Often family members are interred in the same plot, or at least they used to be. I tracked down a single family grave from the late 1800s that had four adults and three children in it. I believe the caskets were stacked as new burials were made.
Right, but I can’t imagine this was done at Arlington.
Of course, I could be wrong, but it would seem that burying caskets on top of caskets would lead the later burials to be too close to ground level, causing a horrific sight when an animal has disinterred your loved one and drug pieces of the corpse all over the cemetery.
Service as President or Cabinet Secretary of War/Defense/navy/etc. does not by itself vest in you the status of Veteran for entitlement purposes. Serving in the Armed Forces as an enlisted member or warrant or commissioned officer and complyingwith certain service time and status requirements does.
And even in the case of the other post-WW2 Presidents who *had *Veteran status and have passed away (Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Reagan), the heirs have not sought to muscle in for an Arlington gravesite, choosing instead mausoleums at their presidential library/museum sites or in LBJ’s case at the family cemetery at LBJ Ranch, which itself then was made part of LBJ National Park (AFAIK Carter has expressed he wishes to be buried at his hometown cemetery in Plains and GHWBush41 at his Presidential Library). They *would *have been entitled to burial at the National Cemetery that corresponded to their retirement domicile or hometown of record. But why try and wrangle space befitting a President that will end up eating up land that could be used for several other worthy eligible vets, when you can have a whole family mausoleum done to your specs by donors at a building dedicated to you?
Fascinating link. I had not idea that author Dashiell Hammett, boxer Joe Louis, and actor Lee Marvin – all American armed-service veterans – were buried in Arlington.
Given the space limitations at Arlington, I would think that double-depth burials of spouses might be a common option.
In earlier times the body might not be embalmed, and the casket would be made of wood and not that sturdily built. As the casket and its contents decayed, the space they took up would collapse, causing the grave to settle. There would be plenty of space for later burials, if they took place after a few years.
As I said, I know for a fact that one of my family graves contains seven burials: my great-grandfather, my great-grandmother, her sister, her sister’s husband, and three of their children (two infants and a 4-year old). They were poor Irish immigrants and all died in the space of 6 years between 1884 and 1890, and are buried in Calvary Cemetery in New York City.
This is the answer, and it’s kind of important, in the sense that the US Military is under strict civilian control (i.e. the President and Secretary of Defense).
That said, Presidents are eligible for burial at Arlington, although only two so far have availed themselves of that privilege- William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy.
In order to keep this so, Eisenhower, who as a 5-star had a lifetime post, resigned his commission (NOT “retired”) to become President, and was reinstated in commission and rank by JFK and Congress after leaving office.
My Grandmother is buried in the same grave as my Grandfather in Arlington. Her casket is below my grandfather’s as she predeceased him. The headstone lists my grandfather on the front and my grandmother on the back.
The usual abbreviation for commander-in-chief is CINC, not CIC.
And Taft had served as President and Secretary of War before serving as Chief Justice of the United States, which, in 1930, probably strengthened his claim to burial at Arlington.
Also remember the first general to set this tradition, George Washington. He got reappointed by Adams after his presidency and got a retrospective promotion courtesy Congress in 1978…
