by Mark Rhoads
Many Americans highly regard the privilege of burial at Arlington National Cemetery because it has always been considered a special place and home to military heroes, often medal winners and combat veterans with distinguished service in uniform. Sen. Ted Kennedy will be buried next week at Arlington and that might come as a surprise to some since he served only two years in the Army of light active duty in peace time in Europe.
But he is technically qaulified to be buried at Arlington not because he has two brothers there who were independently qualified. What makes Sen. Ted Kennedy qualified is a special law that Congress passed for its own members to be buried there if they had ever served any active duty time in any branch and also were elected to Congress.
To see the rules, CLICK HERE to see the regulations on the Arlington Cemetery web site.
Were it not for his election to the Senate, Ted Kennedy ordinary citizen and Army veteran would not otherwise be qualified to be buried at Arlington. This is not a criticism of the desire of the Kennedy family to have Ted buried in the most presitigious cemetery in America since he does qualify under a special law. But it does show that Congress and the governing political class will always demand special treatment for its own members even after they die. Shame on all of them in both parties or devaluing the status of Arlington Cemetery down to the level of special parking spaces at Reagan National Airport and other perks of office.
