On Hallowed Ground
Page 43
16. Rick Hampson, “Fallout from 1983 Barracks Bombing Is Still Being Felt,” USA Today, Oct. 22, 2008.
17. “Terrorist Bombing of the Marine Barracks, Beirut Lebanon,” Oct. 23, 2008,http://arlingtoncemetery.net/html.
18. Hampson, “Fallout.”
19. Richard A. Serrano, “Detainees Describe CIA Agent Slaying,” Dec. 8, 2004, and “Driven by a Son’s Sacrifice,” April 7, 2005, The Los Angeles Times ; James Risen of The New York Times, interviewed on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, PBS, Nov. 29, 2001.
20. Ibid. Moments before he died, Spann had been interrogating John Walker Lindh, a Californian arrested with Taliban fighters and taken into federal custody. Lindh avoided trial by pleading guilty to aiding the Taliban and carrying explosives, for which a U.S. District judge sentenced him to twenty years in prison. Lindh told the judge that he had no role in Spann’s death, although members of Spann’s family believed that the Californian had been complicit. Richard A. Serrano, “Detainees.”
21. “CIA Honors Slain Officers at Annual Ceremony,” May 31, 2002, CIA press release.
22. Serrano, “Detainees”; Serrano “Driven”; The New York Post, Nov. 29, 2001; The New York Daily News, Nov. 29, 2001.
23. Ibid.
24. “DCI Remarks at the Funeral of Johnny Micheal Spann,” Dec. 10, 2001, CIA Speeches and Testimony,http://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/2001/dci-speech-12102001.html.
25. The Marine body bearers of Bravo Company, attached to the Marine Barracks at Eighth and I Streets in Washington, D.C., spend hours pumping iron to stay in condition for their work. Their unofficial motto: “World Famous Body Bearers, the Last to Let You Down.”
26.http://.
27. Karen Meredith, “Gold Star Mom Speaks Out: Section 60, the Saddest Acre in America,” Oct. 11, 2008,http://gsmo.blogspot.com/2008/10/section-60-saddest-acre-in-america.html.
28. Tom Sherlock, interviewed by author, May 17, 2005.
29. Michael A. Cottman, “Pride, Sorrow Mingle in Maryland Couple’s Loss,” The Washington Post, April 8, 2003; Annie Gowen, “Fallen Soldier Honored in Arlington: He’s the First Combat Death in the War to Be Buried at National Cemetery,” The Washington Post, April 10, 2003; Eileen Putman,“Nation Buries War Dead at Arlington,” Associated Press, April 11, 2003; Clay Latimer, “A Heart Laid Bare,” The Rocky Mountain News, April 3, 2004.
30. Ibid.
31. Robert Allen Durbin, “Die in combat—receive full honors,” The Winchester Journal Gazette, March 31, 2008; Sfc. Robert A. Durbin, e-mails to author, Sept. 17, Dec. 12, Dec. 22, 2008, Jan. 17, 2008; John C. Metzler Jr. to Sen. Richard G. Lugar, Nov. 28, 2007; Sen. Richard G. Lugar to Pete Geren, April 4, 2008; Pete Geren to Sen. Richard G. Lugar, April 30, 2008.
32. Durbin to author, Sept. 17, 2008.
33. Ibid.
34. Staff Sgt. Jerald Allen Whisenhunt e-mail to Betsy Whisenhunt, Feb. 5, 2008.
35. Durbin to author, Sept. 17, 2008.
36. William H. McMichael, “Should Arlington honors go beyond rank?” Military Times, April 2, 2008.
37. Ibid.
38. Durbin, “Die in Combat.”
39. Pete Geren, memorandum for Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs,“Funeral Honors at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) for Enlisted Soldiers Killed in Action,” Dec. 12, 2008, Department of Defense; William H. McMichael, “All enlisted KIAs to get full Arlington honors,” Military Times, Dec. 15, 2008; Jeff Schogol, “Army extends honors to enlisted soldiers,” Stars and Stripes, Dec. 17, 2008.
40. Mark Berman, “Full Military Honors Honor a Soldier’s Full Sacrifice: First Enlisted Soldier Buried Under New Arlington Policy,” The Washington Post, Jan. 24, 2009.
41. Confidential communication, Durbin e-mail to an officer, Dec. 12, 2008.
42. “Joseph M. Hernandez, Specialist, United States Army,” U.S. Department of Defense Immediate Release No. 022-08, Jan. 12, 2009; Vanessa Renderman, “Hammond soldier killed in Afghanistan,” The Northwest Times, Jan. 13, 2009.
43. Lolly Bowean, “Indiana soldier, father of 2, killed in Afghanistan,” The Chicago Tribune, Jan. 16, 2009; Lu Ann Franklin, “Hammond soldier returns home,” The Hammond Times, Jan. 16, 2008.
44. Berman, “Full Military Honors”; Mary Louise Kelly, “Enlisted Man Gets Burial Once Reserved for Officers,” All Things Considered: National Public Radio, April 21, 2009.
15: TAPS
1. Daytime duty, which is limited to half-hour patrols, is even more rigorous for tomb sentinels because they must pay strict attention to the appearance of their dress uniforms and to the presence of millions of Arlington’s visitors, for whom the Tomb of the Unknowns is a popular attraction.
2. Spec. Bruce Bryant, Staff Sgt. Stephen Kuehn, Pfc. Adam Boutross, Sgt. Christopher Moore, Pfc. Kyle Obrosky, sentinels interviewed by author, Dec. 4, 2006; Staff Sgt. Justin E. Bickett, interviewed by author, Nov. 28, 2006. Despite the Tomb Guard’s stern appearance, no sentinel has carried live ammunition since 1948, when a jumpy guard heard a noise in the night and fired two warning shots into the air. One of the shots whizzed over the cemetery and pierced the leg of a woman in an apartment building at Arlington Farm, some 500 yards away. Beulah Irene Coslett survived the incident but lost the use of her left foot. She sued the government, won a $50,000 settlement, and changed the policy for arming Tomb sentinels. “Shot By Shrine’s Guard: Woman Is Hit By Stray Bullet,” The Washington Post, Nov. 28, 1948.
3. Spec. Bruce Bryant, interviewed by author, Dec. 4, 2006; Bryant has since been promoted to sergeant.
4. Ibid.
5. Lisa Hoffman, “Guard Feels Bond With Vietnam War Soldier,” July 7, 1998, The St. Louis Dispatch. Although upset by Blassie’s departure from Arlington, the guard was happy that the airman’s remains had been returned to his family.
6. Bryant and others, interviewed by author, Dec. 4, 2006; Staff Sgt. Adam Dickmyer, interviewed by author, Nov. 20, 2006.
7. The first woman sentinel was awarded the Tomb Guard badge in 1996. Three others have since received the badge, which is the Army’s rarest award. Fewer than 600 have been given since 1957.
8. Bryant and others, Dec. 4, 2006.
9. Dickmyer, Nov. 20, 2006.
10. Thomas D. Holland, scientific director, memorandum to commander, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, “Identification of CIL 2004-101-1-01,” Oct. 17, 2005; Paul Duggan, “WWI Soldier Comes Home at Long Last,” The Washington Post, Sept. 25, 2006; Andrew E. Woods, “World War I Soldier Repatriated After 88 Years,” 18th Infantry Annual Meeting, Aug. 9, 2007, St. Louis, MO.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Duggan,“WWI Soldier.”
14. Author’s notes and interviews, Sept. 26, 2006.
15. Ibid.
16. Duggan, “Long-Lost Soldier Remembered,” The Washington Post, Sept. 27, 2006; Spec. Stephen Baack,“1st Division Soldier Identified, Laid to Rest,” Oct. 26, 2006, army.mil/news; Steven Donald Smith, “Longtime-Missing WWI Soldier Buried at Arlington National Cemetery, American Forces Press Service, Sept. 26, 2006.
17. Rudi Williams,“Arlington National Cemetery Gains 70 Acres of Land,” American Forces Press Service, May 27, 2005.
18. Kaitlin Horst, Arlington National Cemetery, e-mail to author, April 28, 2009.
19. John C. Metzler Jr., interviewed by author, Oct. 15, 2008. Most of Arlington’s new space will come from the Navy Annex, a World War II–era building sitting on 44 acres and slated for demolition in 2010. Another 17 acres will be absorbed from adjoining Fort. Myer. Twelve more will be taken from a wooded area near the Lee mansion, much to the dismay of the National Park Service, which had previously controlled the parcel and considered it an important buffer of historical importance. Because one acre of land typically provides space for 600 to 800 graves, the additional 70 acres could hold as many as 56,000 graves; in addition, Arlington is developing another 40 acres of land it already controls within the cemetery, which could provide space for 36,000 new gr
aves and inurnment sites. Thus Arlington’s total capacity could approach 400,000 graves by 2060.
A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR
Robert M. Poole is an editor and writer whose assignments for National Geographicand Smithsonian have taken him around the world. He is the author of Explorers House: National Geographic and the World it Made, and a contributing editor at Smithsonian . He lives in Virginia.
By the Same Author
Explorers House: National Geographic and the World It Made
Copyright © 2009 by Robert M. Poole
Map of Arlington National Cemetery: Republished with permission from the book Where Valor Rests: Arlington National Cemetery. Map copyright © 2007 National Geographic.
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Poole, Robert M.
On hallowed ground : the story of Arlington National Cemetery / Robert M. Poole.
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Includes bibliographical references.
eISBN: 978-0-802-71978-2
1. Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington, Va.)—History. 2. Arlington (Va.)—Buildings, structures, etc. 3. United States—History, Military—Miscellanea. I. Title.
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