A man places flowers at a gravestone in Section 60, the final resting place of military personnel, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on May 27.
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A solemn 14-acre section of Arlington National Cemetery, reserved primarily for U.S. veterans who died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, has suddenly become the focus of controversy after cemetery officials tried to block a photo op by former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
As First reported by NPRThere was an altercation Monday between cemetery officials and members of the Trump campaign over photos that were taken in the eastern half of the cemetery, an area known as Section 60. A source with knowledge of the incident told NPR that Arlington officials had made it clear that only cemetery officials were allowed to take photos or videos in that area.
Alison Jaslow, an Iraq War veteran and CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), visits Section 60 regularly and told NPR that to her, it’s “a humbling reminder of how fortunate some of us are to have come home.”
Trump’s Arlington speech came on the third anniversary of the deadly attacks in Afghanistan. 13 American military personnel A photo of the former president, who was killed during the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops in August 2021, shows him smiling and giving a thumbs up sign next to the gravestone of Marine Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover, along with the family of the fallen soldier. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is also in the photo.
But two other gravestones are visible, one of which belongs to a US Army Special Forces soldier who committed suicide. A person close to the soldier’s family confirmed to NPR that they did not give permission for the gravestone to be in the photo. NPR has not received a response from the Trump campaign about whether it sought permission from the Green Beret’s family.
Speaking of Monday’s incident, IAVA “It’s incomprehensible to me that someone hoping to run for elected office would consider doing something like this,” Jaslow said.
President Trump also laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Former President Donald Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia on August 26, along with Marine Corps Lance Corporal Kelsey Reinhart (retired) and Marine Corps Sergeant Tyler Vargas Andrews (retired), who were injured in the Abbey Gate bombing.
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A “Code of Conduct” handout for visitors to Arlington National Cemetery specifically prohibits “political or election-related activity on the cemetery’s premises.” In a statement to NPR on Wednesday about the incident, the cemetery emphasized that “federal law prohibits political or election-related activity on the premises of the Army National Cemetery, and this includes photographers, content creators, or anyone else visiting in direct support of the campaign of a partisan political candidate.”
The statement confirmed that an incident occurred and that a “report had been filed,” but did not name the Arlington officials involved.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Chang denied the allegations that there was a physical confrontation and said the campaign was “prepared to release the footage if any such defamatory allegations are made.” So far, the Trump campaign has been unable to release such footage. Chang also said the Arlington staffer who tried to block the Trump campaign’s access to Article 60 suffered from mental illness.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment, and America’s Gold Star Families, an organization whose mission is to “provide honor, hope and healing to those grieving those lost while serving on active duty in the United States Armed Forces,” also declined to comment, saying only that NPR’s reporting “distracts from honoring our fallen heroes and further divides the American people.”
Arlington National Cemetery was established on May 13, 1864, as the American Civil War raged. The cemetery was carved out of land on the Arlington Estate that the US Federal Government had confiscated from the family of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The cemetery is the burial site of the dead from all branches of the US military, but is administered by the US Department of the War.
Ward 60 opened in 2018 and is the burial site of approximately 900 military personnel who died in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Robert Poole, author of “Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery, Where the War Comes Home,” Talking about his book on C-SPAN In 2015, he said of Section 60 of the cemetery, “the emotions are closer to the surface.”
“From a distance, it looks just like any other part of Arlington Cemetery,” Poole said, “but when you get a little closer and look at the names on the graves and talk to the people who visit, [look at] You’ll find that some of the things people bring there to leave behind for friends, associates and loved ones are quite different.”
The US withdrawal February 2020 peace agreement The agreement was signed with the Taliban during the Trump administration. The Biden administration missed the May 1, 2021 deadline set in the original agreement, but committed to honoring the terms of the withdrawal agreement by September 11 of that year.
