5 Pentagon Victims Denied Arlington Burial

The survivors of five civilian Pentagon employees killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack have been refused permission to bury their relatives in Arlington National Cemetery.

With space at one of the nation’s best-known burial sites filling up, there are tight rules about who can be laid to rest there.

Active military duty personnel, military retirees, reserve personnel receiving retirement pay, presidents and former presidents, recipients of the Medal of Honor and the military’s other highest decorations, and former prisoners of war may be buried at the 612-acre site.

Spouses and dependent children of eligible military personnel also are qualified, as are spouses of those missing in action.

Members of Congress, the vice president, Supreme Court justices, Cabinet secretaries and ranking diplomats who completed military service are also eligible. And the inurnment of cremated remains at Arlington is allowed for all honorably discharged veterans and their immediate family members.

Army Secretary Thomas E. White denied the waiver requests sought by the victims’ families, Army spokeswoman Martha Rudd said. Among the factors were Arlington’s limited space and the denials of similar requests from the families of civilian Defense Department employees killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.