Kennedy to Be Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

Aug. 26, 2009 - Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near his brothers, Defense Department officials said here today. Kennedy, who died yesterday after a long battle with brain cancer, is eligible for in-ground interment, officials said. "He served in the Army, and he was an elected official of the U.S. government," an official said, speaking on background. "No [eligibility] waiver was needed."

Kennedy served in the Army from 1951 to 1953. He will be buried near the grave of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968. That site is just up the hill from the grave of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete. The Kennedy family had contacted Arlington National Cemetery officials about arrangements for the 77-year-old senator, officials said.

Arlington National Cemetery is located across the Potomac River from Washington. It is the site of the Tomb of the Unknowns and the burial spot for more than 300,000 people. It was established in 1864 on land once owned by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Servicemembers representing all of America's wars rest at Arlington. Those from pre-Civil War conflicts were reinterred there in 1900. The cemetery also is the resting place for fallen servicemembers from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.