Arlington National Cemetery expands due to lack of capacity

Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, near Washington, where US soldiers and veterans are buried, is running out of space and is again getting a costly expansion.

More than 400,000 servicemen, from the War of Independence to today’s conflicts, are buried in the cemetery.

Since 1864, when the first military burial took place in Arlington, overlooking the Pentagon and Washington DC, the cemetery has had six expansions.

The seventh is underway in the southern part, at a cost of 420 million dollars, a figure that could rise.

“The expansion will add 80,000 graves in three different ways. A third will be traditional graves in the ground, another third will be cremated remains buried also in the ground and the rest will be cremated remains above ground, “explained Colonel Thomas Austin, director of Engineering of the Arlington National Cemetery.

Even with expansion, capacity would peak by the 2060s.

With two million members of the military and veterans, eligibility rules are under review.

Those killed in action, former prisoners of war, and recipients of the Silver Star and above would be among the few eligible for burial in the ground.

Arlington, however, isn’t the only option, says Mark Belinksy of the Military Officers Association of America.

“The National Cemetery Agency is in charge of 155 cemeteries managed by the Veterans Association, so they could continue to manage them while the military would move its ceremonial troops to any existing and operational national cemeteries,” Belinsky said.

ecological burials

There is also another recent alternative: changing conventional practices, says Edward Bixby, an expert on green burials.

“You don’t have to embalm an individual, so you don’t introduce any kind of potential toxic substances into the body or into the water system in the future. They would be placed in something biodegradable, such as a pine box or Muslim shroud. They would be placed directly on the ground without an outer vault. That way there is no carbon footprint or the creation of the concrete.”

Arlington National Cemetery officials told the voice of america that the facility complies with all environmental standards within its grounds and in construction.

Despite this, there is a growing trend to find ecological alternatives to conventional burials. California, for example, is the latest state to legalize so-called human compostingturn carcasses into compost.

Green burials, in which cremated remains are placed in biodegradable urns or directly in the ground, are already an option in Arlington, but the practice hasn’t been promoted.

“The most recent burial (of that type) was, I believe, in 2013. However, there are currently four remains in section 27, an ecological burial area. If demand increases, there is room for more,” said Neal McIntyre, director of Burial Operations at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has set aside sections in three of its newest cemeteries for green burials, but approval from Congress is pending.

“In many cases, there is no mark of a green burial, wherever it is, and we have a requirement to ensure that each grave is properly marked and can be identified, so we are working to obtain those authorizations,” explained Liza Pozzebon, from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It is a revered place

Donna DiFelice, the daughter of a World War II veteran who was laid to rest in Arlington with full military honors in 2016, supports expanding the cemetery so it can accommodate other soldiers.

“Those freedoms that we take for granted are the ones that they stood for and they deserve this level of care,” he told the voice of americaand recalled the ceremony with the delivery of the flag and the 21 salvos.

He also believes that honoring soldiers may be environmentally correct, but that change is up to the veterans themselves.

“The more it is proposed, the more it will become a regular option,” he added.

Until then, up to 30 conventional funerals will take place daily at Arlington National Cemetery.

Expansion works are expected to continue until early 2028.

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