# How is senator Kennedy eligible to be burried in Arlington? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203 "2009-08-29T22:11:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![unclelem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ac91a4/32.png) [@unclelem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclelem)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/1 "2009-08-29T22:11:45Z")
As far as I know he never served in the millitary, and was never president. What qualifies him to be buried in Arlington? Note this is GQ - I’m not asking whether, or why, he might deserve it - only by what rule he is permitted to be burried there. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/2 "2009-08-29T22:21:54Z")
[Arlington Interment Eligibility.](http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/funeral_information/guide.interment.html) Sen. Kennedy served two years in the army and held elected office in the Federal Government. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/3 "2009-08-29T22:30:44Z")
From **runner pat** ’s link: > [@](#): > > m. Provided certain conditions are met, a former member of the Armed Forces may be buried in the same grave with a close relative who is already buried and is the primary eligible. Given the wartime profile of JFK, and the celebrity of the family, I would think this also would give Ted a leg to stand on. Tripler But his active military service also gives him the Honor Guard as well. ---
**Author:** ![unclelem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ac91a4/32.png) [@unclelem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclelem)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/4 "2009-08-29T22:35:51Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Sen. Kennedy served two years in the army Ah, thanks. Ignorance fought. That was the missing fact that I strangely could not find. You would think it would be easier to find out whether he had served. I was left wondering if it was one of the “close relative” criteria or something. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/5 "2009-08-29T22:40:00Z")
I _thought_ I read that his burial spot was at some distance from his brothers, so the “close relative” clause wouldn’t have applied. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/6 "2009-08-30T00:36:32Z")
Nitpick: Kennedy was still in office up until the time of his death. He only became a “former” senator when he died. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/7 "2009-08-30T00:40:03Z")
And before the question is asked (as it was already asked of me today), Bobby Kennedy was in the Naval Reserve during WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/8 "2009-08-30T01:26:42Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I _thought_ I read that his burial spot was at some distance from his brothers, so the “close relative” clause wouldn’t have applied. I thought they said 200 ft. away on the radio this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/9 "2009-08-30T01:35:40Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I thought they said 200 ft. away on the radio this morning. The link above has “… a former member of the Armed Forces may be buried in the **same grave** with a close relative who is already buried …” 200’ seems to stretch the definition of “same grave”. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/10 "2009-08-30T01:41:39Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > 200’ seems to stretch the definition of “same grave”. No matter. He is already qualified under other requirements. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/11 "2009-08-30T01:55:11Z")
> [@unclelem](#): > > Ah, thanks. Ignorance fought. > > That was the missing fact that I strangely could not find. You would think it would be easier to find out whether he had served. For all signs I can get, his tour of service was entirely unremarkable and at the end of the minimal enlistment term in the Army at the time he discharged as a PFC. So one can understand why it’s hardly mentioned by many biographies, which may misguidedly want to avoid a contrast to Joe Jr. and John’s records. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/12 "2009-08-30T01:56:57Z")
The president can waive the requirements and allow people to be buried there such as Joe Louis [Joe Louis - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Louis) He was a veteran but did not meet the normal requirements so Reagan gave him a waiver. ---
**Author:** ![unclelem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ac91a4/32.png) [@unclelem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclelem)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/13 "2009-08-30T14:15:32Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Nitpick: Kennedy was still in office up until the time of his death. He only became a “former” senator when he died. If a moderator would please kindly change “former” to “late”. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/14 "2009-08-30T16:49:48Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Nitpick: Kennedy was still in office up until the time of his death. He only became a “former” senator when he died. he became a late senator. he did not resign or retire from the office. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/15 "2009-08-31T08:50:09Z")
I heard during the burial commentary that the site that is reserved for the Kennedys is about three acres. The President and Jackie are buried by the eternal flame with two of their infant children – Patrick, who was born while JFK was in office, but lived only a few days, and a girl born in 1956. About 100 feet away is Robert Kennedy whose grave is marked at the head by a white cross and at the feet by a flat marker. My understanding is that Teddy’s cross and marker is another one hundred feet from his, but I’m not certain. I do know that the light from the eternal flame cast a very mellow light on the Robert E. Lee home in the background during the playing of “Taps.” That would make a beautiful painting – the reflected light, the soldier, and part of the house in the background. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/16 "2009-08-31T21:35:32Z")
don’t forget the really nifty lightning. the intra-cloud lightning during the end of the funeral was quite a dramatic statement. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/17 "2009-08-31T21:42:00Z")
> [@unclelem](#): > > If a moderator would please kindly change “former” to “late”. I removed “former” from the thread title. “Late” is implied since we’re talking about where he was buried. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/18 "2009-08-31T23:11:59Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > he became a late senator. he did not resign or retire from the office. You are quite right, of course. Thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/19 "2009-09-01T17:26:05Z")
Minor point but Patrick Kennedy mixed up his Robert Frost poems. I suppose you can forgive a lapse like that because of the circumstances. On the other hand, he was reading a previously written speech. I don’t think the eternal flame was lighting the Lee house. In the other shots, it didn’t give sufficient light to see the family members standing only a few feet away. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-senator-kennedy-eligible-to-be-burried-in-arlington/508203/20 "2009-09-01T21:28:18Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You are quite right, of course. Thanks for the correction. of course, if he should become the zombie senator from ma… that could present a few new questions in many new threads.