Senate Discussion On Arlington Rules

Senate committee members are currently reviewing the rules of burial for Virginia's Arlington National Cemetary. The big issue on hand is whether a convicted murderer should be able to be placed in the cemetary. Army Times has more:

Russell Wayne Wagner, 52, a Vietnam War-era veteran, died Feb. 7 of a heroin overdose in prison. In 2002, he was convicted of the Valentine’s Day 1994 murders of Daniel Davis, 84, and Wilda Davis, 80, and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. The victims were found bound and stabbed in their home in Hagerstown, Md.

Some are saying that upholding the 1997 law of prohibiting people convicted of federal or state capital crimes and sentenced to death or life imprisonment without parole from being buried at Arlington and other military cemetaries will keep convicts such at Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh from being placed in a national cemetary.

Veterans groups are saying that upholding the law could exclude too many veterans from military cemetaries.
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The honorable service of a combat or non-combat veteran should never be forgotten. Arlington, as well as other military cemetaries are burial grounds of heroes. Here is my proposal for the Senate. With the effects of war playing immediate and long-term effects on the emotional and psychological self of the veteran, if the capital state or federal crime that results in a conviction of a life term or the death penalty can be directly attributed to the mental trauma of that combat veteran, it is in the best interests of the nation to take some credit for his medical condition and honor his service by allowing the placement of his remains in a military cemetary. If by jury or judge it can not be found the veteran's crime can be directly linked to the trauma caused by combat, his rights to burial in a military cemetary should be stricken.