Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 08/27/2001

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
Your recent article in the Washington Times, "Cemetery Sites Honor Departed Veterans," did not even mention the U.S. Soldiers and Airmen's Home (USSAH) Cemetery. Otherwise, it was an excellent column.

J.T.L.
U.S. Army (Ret.) and Resident, USSAH

Dear J.T.L.:
The U.S. Soldiers and Airmen's Home Cemetery is one of the first 12 opened during the Civil War. After it filled, the government opened Arlington National Cemetery.

The USSAH Cemetery and Arlington National Cemetery are the only two national cemeteries run by the Department of the Army. This is primarily because both have restrictive burial eligibility. To be interred in the USSAH Cemetery, the veteran had to have been a resident of the U.S. Soldiers and Airmen's Home.

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
The Fall 2001 meeting of the VA Alumni Association will be held on September 20 at the Pier 7 Restaurant at 12:00 noon. Honored guest and speaker with be John Metzler, Jr., Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery. Mr. Metzler has been Superintendent since January 14, 1991, with duties that include escorting Heads of State and military and political leaders from around the world. Arlington conducts over 5,600 funerals and 3,000 ceremonies annually.

Anyone interested in attending the luncheon should contact Leon Sanchez at (703) 451-7529 for further information.

Jerry Berger
President, VA Alumni Association

Dear Jerry:
I am sure good friend John Metzler will discuss the criteria for interment (ground burial) and inurnment (placement of cremated remains) at Arlington. Those eligible include: 

• Those persons who have died on active duty;

• Those having at least 20 years active duty or active reserve service which qualifies them for retired pay either upon retirement or at age 60, and those retired for disability;

• Veterans honorably discharged for 30% or more disability before 1 October 1949;

• Holders of the nation's highest military decorations (Medals of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Air Force Cross or Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, and Silver Star) or the Purple Heart;

• Persons who have held any of the following positions, provided their last period of active duty (other than for training) as a member of the Armed Forces terminated honorably: an elected official of the United States government; Office of the Chief Justice of the United States or of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; an office listed in 5 USC 5312 or 5 USC 5313;

• The chief of a mission who was at any time during his tenure classified in Class I under the provisions of 411 of the Act of 13 August 1946, 60 Stat. 1002, as amended (22 USC 866);

• The spouse or unmarried minor (under 21) child of any of the above, or of any person already buried in Arlington. An unmarried dependent student qualifies up to age 23;

• An unmarried child of any of the above with physical or mental disability acquired before age 21;

• Provided certain special requirements are met, a veteran who is the parent, brother, sister or child of an eligible person already interred. Interment must be in the same grave as the primary eligible, the veteran's spouse must waive his or her eligibility for Arlington, and the veteran can have no dependent children at the time of death;

• Any former prisoner of war who was on active duty in the Armed Forces and who served honorably while a prisoner.

In addition to the above, the criteria for the Columbarium (a structure for cremated remains) are more liberal, and extend to all honorably discharged veterans. Those qualifying for inurnment include:

• Any member of the Armed Forces who dies on active duty;

• Any former member of the Armed Forces who served on active duty (other than for training) and whose last service ended honorably;

• Certain reservists and ROTC members who died while on active duty; while training or on authorized travel; or while hospitalized as the result of active duty training or authorized travel;

• Certain commissioned officers of the U.S. Coast Guard and Geodetic Survey (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) or of the U.S. Public Health Service; and

• The spouse or unmarried minor or permanently dependent child of any of the above, or of any person already in the Columbarium. A student qualifies up to age 23.

For additional information, readers are encouraged to visit the Arlington National Cemetery website at www.arlingtoncemetery.org.

Shaft Kudos

Semper Fi and a respectful repatriation to the remains from Makin Island. In a solemn ceremony on August 17 at Arlington National Cemetery, fellow Marines remembered the Marines from Companies A and B, 2nd Raider Battalion, who arrived at Makin Island in 1942 aboard two submarines. These Marines met heavy Japanese resistance; all were either killed in action, captured and executed, or drowned in trying to return to the submarines. Historical accounts indicate the First Sergeant paid a local villager to bury the remains of those killed in action, as circumstances prevented their removal from the island at that time. In late 1999, the Marines succeeded in acquiring the 19 sets of remains not previously retrieved from Makin Island. 

Congratulations to decorated war hero Thomas Corey of West Palm Beach, Florida, who was elected national president of Vietnam Veterans of America at the organization's 10th national biennial convention held recently in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Detroit, Michigan, native had served as the VVA's vice president since 1997 and has been a leading advocate for veterans' issues at the local, state and national level since 1975. In 1981 he was the founding president of VVA Chapter 25 in West Palm Beach. Corey entered the U.S. Army and was sent to Vietnam in May 1967. While service as a squad leader in the 1st Air Calvary Division, he received an enemy round in the neck that hit his spinal cord and left him paralyzed.

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-462-4430 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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