Arlington National Cemetery Survey

[FPrice]

I just received an email from DFAS which contained a link to a survey on the future of Arlington National Cemetery. It is rapidly approaching the point where future interments may have to be limited.

"Eligibility Survey Launched on Future of Cemetery
By Arlington National Cemetery on 4/4/2018
Cemetery leadership encourages the public and stakeholders to be part of eligibility discussion

ARLINGTON, VA - Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) launched a second survey and encourages the public and its various stakeholders to continue to share their thoughts on an important issue - the future of Arlington National Cemetery. The survey can be accessed on the cemetery’s website at: www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/eligibility-survey.

"Your opinion matters - not only to us, but to our military and civilian leaders as they face a difficult future for our hallowed national shrine," said Executive Director of Army National Military Cemeteries Karen Durham-Aguilera.

The cemetery is at a critical crossroads in its history. In approximately 23 years, Arlington National Cemetery will run out of space and no longer be an active cemetery. The Army has been asked by Congress to consider what might be done to preserve ANC as an active military cemetery well into the future, or for generations to come.

https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/News/Post/4519/Eligibility-Survey-Launched-on-Future-of-Cemetery

My personal view, as a retired veteran, is that I do not want to be buried there, I would prefer to be buried where I have lived.

And if space becomes that serious of an issue, we will have to consider some restrictions to the eligibility requirements.

 

[Picton]

No brainer. Every cemetery fills up, sooner or later. By all means, tighten eligibility: silver star or higher seems reasonable.

Bury me close by, far away; wherever. I won’t care. It’s whatever my survivors want.

 

[CoastieRon]

No brainer. Every cemetery fills up, sooner or later. By all means, tighten eligibility: silver star or higher seems reasonable.

Bury me close by, far away; wherever. I won’t care. It’s whatever my survivors want.

I'm hoping to buried in Boscowan at the NH State Veteran's Cemetery. It's pretty close to the property we have in Andover that we are going to retire to.

I agree with tightening eligibility if need be....

 

[cams]

I’d be happy with a Viking raft and a flaming arrow.

 

[Nick Leduc]

Burying our dead is an outdated human practice. Land is going to become pretty limited.

 

[not new guy]

Burying our dead is an outdated human practice. Land is going to become pretty limited.

Nah, just truck the corpses away from the cities/coasts. There's plenty of room in flyover country. You could even stack them in pairs if you had to.

 

[Nick Leduc]

Nah, just truck the corpses away from the cities/coasts. There's plenty of room in flyover country. You could even stack them in pairs if you had to.

55.3 million people die annually. Average coffin size is 6ft x 2 ft (12 sq ft). (663,600,00 sq ft of coffin space). Which means we could lose 23.8 square miles of land annually just to coffins. Never mind the area that is needed around grave sites. We are going to have to stack them deeper than 2 if we are going to save any land. Lol

 

[not new guy]

55.3 million people die annually. Average coffin size is 6ft x 2 ft (12 sq ft). (663,600,00 sq ft of coffin space). Which means we could lose 23.8 square miles of land annually just to coffins. Never mind the area that is needed around grave sites. We are going to have to stack them deeper than 2 if we are going to save any land. Lol

We can spare 24 square miles a year. How big is Kansas?

 

[Mountain]

55.3 million people die annually. Average coffin size is 6ft x 2 ft (12 sq ft). (663,600,00 sq ft of coffin space). Which means we could lose 23.8 square miles of land annually just to coffins. Never mind the area that is needed around grave sites. We are going to have to stack them deeper than 2 if we are going to save any land. Lol

I do agree that it would be better to take up less space when I kick the bucket, but it would take 8.3 million years to cover the earth in (new) coffins.

 

[KBCraig]

Donate everything I leave behind that is useful to others; study the rest for whatever medical science can discover; burn the rest, and my family will scatter the ashes at whatever place is meaningful to them.

 

[jct61765]

We can spare 24 square miles a year. How big is Kansas?

How big is Massachusetts?

 

[tuna]

Burying our dead is an outdated human practice. Land is going to become pretty limited.

Burying IMO is stupid, granted it's been said that I tend to lack empathy. As a kid, once we put a family member in the ground we never went back, so paying for land to put your bones doesn't make sense to me. When my Dad died, he wanted his ashes spread over our favorite fishing river - turns out years later they put a brewery there, I think Dad would approve. Personally, I'd be just as happy left out for trash truck, dumped in the woods to feed coyotes or made into food for a restaurant.

As for Arlington National Cemetery, it has a unique place of honor among our National Cemeteries, so it is fitting that tightening up eligibility would be needed.