Can i be buried at arlington national cemetery

The next-of-kin or funeral director should contact the customer service center at to arrange for the service at Arlington. After you call you will be given a case number and asked to send copies of the veteran's DD , death certificate, and cremation certificate if applicable. You can email, fax, or mail them. Be prepared, since there is a large demand for interment in Arlington it may take several weeks to several months until your request is approved.

Also, special requests such as full military honors or use of a chapel may add to the approval time. There are no fees or costs for a burial or inurnment. However, all costs associated with preparation of the remains, casket or urn, and shipping of the remains to the Washington, DC area are at the expense of the estate unless the deceased is currently on active duty.

The VA or Social Security may pay some or all or the costs. Standard graveside honors can be provided enlisted service members by the appropriate branch of service at Arlington National Cemetery.

These honors include a casket team, a firing party and a bugler. Additionally, some branches of the armed services will use the caisson for service members who have reached the top NCO grade. Inurnment in Columbarium Court or Niche Wall. Any member of a Reserve component of the Armed Forces, and any member of the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard, whose death occurs under honorable conditions while on active duty for training or performing full-time service. Any former prisoner of war who, while a prisoner of war, served honorably in the active military, naval or air service; whose last period of service terminated honorably; and who died on or after Nov.

Privacy Statement Disclosure. I Accept. About , individuals are buried at the site now. About 7, individuals are interred at the cemetery in a typical year, although those numbers were reduced in because of the restrictions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Expansion plans are expected to add about 80, new burial spaces to the cemetery.

But other efforts to add more land to the site are limited by the nearby Potomac River and the growing northern Virginia suburbs. With the eligibility changes, officials estimate the site can remain an active cemetery for more than years. None of the proposed rule changes for Arlington would affect veterans cemetery sites run by the Department of Veterans Affairs across the country.

For some, it is a chance to walk among headstones that chronicle American history; for many, it is an opportunity to remember and honor the nation's war heroes; and for others, it is a place to say a last farewell during funeral services for a Family member or friend. Soldiers who die while on active duty, retired members of the Armed Forces, and certain Veterans and Family members are eligible for burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The persons specified below are eligible for ground burial in Arlington National Cemetery.

The last period of active duty of former members of the Armed Forces must have ended honorably. Interment may be casketed or cremated remains. Any active duty member of the Armed Forces except those members serving on active duty for training only. Any Veteran who is retired from active military service with the Armed Forces.

This includes any Veteran who is retired from the Reserves is eligible upon reaching age 60 and drawing retired pay; and who served a period of active duty other than for training. If, at the time of death, a retired member of the Armed Forces is not entitled to receive retired pay stemming from their service in the Armed Forces until some future date gray area retiree , the retired member will not be eligible for ground burial.