Should Arlington honors go beyond rank?

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A caisson carries the remains of Maj. Joseph T. McCloud during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Dec. 15. McCloud died when the CH-46 helicopter he was in crashed in Anbar province, Iraq.


Should Arlington honors go beyond rank?
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 25, 2008 16:43:20 EDT

An enlisted service member killed in battle and posthumously awarded the Silver Star for heroism is rendered lesser honors at Arlington National Cemetery than an officer who dies in a car crash the day after being commissioned.

That statement took officials at several veterans’ organizations by surprise. But it is true: Burial honors at Arlington, the nation’s most storied military cemetery and home of the Tomb of the Unknowns, are accorded strictly by rank, not by the circumstances of death.

“That is the custom that has been prescribed,” said Jack Metzler, the superintendent at Arlington for the past 17 years.

Most enlisted troops receive “standard honors” — military pallbearers, a firing party led by a noncommissioned officer, a bugler and, on request, a chaplain.

All others receive variations on “full honors,” which also include a horse-drawn caisson, a band and, if requested, escort troops. The only enlisted troops who may receive full honors are those in the highest enlisted grade, E-9.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/marine_burialdisparity_032508/