Arlington cemetary

[Montcalm]

After reading the story Vympel posted,i`m wondering if what i heard about AC is true,if i`m correct the cemetary is supposed to be for presidents,important US officials and war heroes.

but recently i heard that rich SOBs got the right to be buried there,for x amount of money,if its true then where will they be buriing people who are more deserving?

[jegs2]

Believe that Arlington was Robert E. Lee's home at one time. Think the burying of Federal dead on his former land was intended to be a slap in the face. I'll look it up to clarify though...

[Ghost Rider]

That or his summer home.

I am unsure of the malignant intent but the Union did basically use his home as a burial ground(heck you can see Lee's home and tour it)

As for Rich SOB's...no idea...it was a news story but no new ones have cropped up about it, though the rescritions are in some ways odd, depends on death and years of service.

Though it is a nice cemetary, I have an uncle there...and in the past 20 years it's grown(though the new tourist center always gives me a morbid chuckle.)

[jegs2]

Ah, here it is from this site:

Under Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, the 1,100-acre plot became a buffer zone on the border between the Capitol City and the "Insurrectionists". It was the ideal location for a hospital, and two military forts were erected to defend it (Fort Whipple which later became Fort Myer and Fort McPherson). On January 11, 1865 the federal government offered Arlington House and its land for sale at public auction. It was purchased by a tax commissioner "for government use, for war, military, charitable and educational purposes." It was the open door for the man who now commanded the garrison at Arlington House to vent his hatred for Robert E. Lee.

Brigadier General Montgomery Meigs jealousy for Robert E. Lee predated the beginning of the Civil War, and General Lee's defection to the Confederacy only fueled the fire. By the Spring of 1864 a Nation wearied by three years of Civil War, tragic battles at places like Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg, Chicamauga and others, waited desperately for an end to war. General Meigs was determined to insure that Robert E. Lee would never return to Arlington. On May 13, 1864 Union Private William Christman became the first American to be buried on the grounds at Arlington. Meigs excavated the once-beautiful rose garden to create a 10-foot-deep stone and masonry vault to inter the remains of 1,800 soldiers killed in 1862 Battle of Bull Run near Manassas, Virginia. By the time the Civil War ended, more than 16,000 Union soldiers were interred on the grounds of Robert and Mary Anna Lee's estate. General Meigs vendetta proved a success, Robert E. Lee never returned to claim the now uninhabitable estate for his son, George Washington Custis Lee. In 1870 Robert E. Lee died and was buried in the chapel of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. In 1892 General Meigs died in Washington, D.C. He was buried nearby in what was now a National Cemetery...only 100 yards from Arlington House.

[Baron Scarpia]

After reading the story Vympel posted,i`m wondering if what i heard about AC is true,if i`m correct the cemetary is supposed to be for presidents,important US officials and war heroes.

but recently i heard that rich SOBs got the right to be buried there,for x amount of money,if its true then where will they be buriing people who are more deserving?

Wouldn't be all that different than Westminster Abbey, though, would it?

[TrailerParkJawa]

I always thought it was reserved for troops who where highly decorated or high ranking. It seems to me like you can be buried there if you simply died while on duty.

I dunno, how big is the place? I tend to think of everything on the East Coast as being really small and cramped, but Ive never been there so I could be full of it.

[Howedar]

Its very very big.

[Joe]

As far as I'm aware, rich folks can't buy their way into Arlington. There would be absolutely uproar in the military if this sort of thing was going on.

The Lincoln Bedroom, on the other hand...well, maybe not under Bush...

[Traceroute]

No, you can't buy your way in. But a surprising number of rich people have served in the US armed forces. Here are the full guidelines from www.arlingtoncemetery.org

[Montcalm]

The Lincoln Bedroom, on the other hand...well, maybe not under Bush...

I guess under Clinton it was rented by the hour,if you know what i mean.

[Joe]

The Lincoln Bedroom, on the other hand...well, maybe not under Bush...

I guess under Clinton it was rented by the hour,if you know what i mean.

It was made into the country's most expensive four-star hotel, essentially...