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Those Left Behind: The Legacy of Arlington's Section 60 (Riveting photo essay)
Reuters ^ | Wednesday, November 11, 2009 | Larry Downing

Posted on 11/11/2009 11:15:34 AM PST by kristinn

“People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” George Orwell

Veteran’s Day is a time to remember “All gave some….Some gave all.”

Before reaching the new gravestones in Arlington National Cemetery’s ‘Section 60’ it’s easy to recognize why a simple, quilted, patch of green grass and white stones buried alongside the quiet banks of the Potomac River troubles the heart.

Names etched into fresh marble tell the sad tale of early death …Travis L. Youngblood…. Justin Ray Davis….Andy D. Anderson….Thomas J. Barbieri Jr….. Kenneth E. Zeigler II….James R. McIlvaine …. America’s varsity players benched early in the game.

‘Section 60’ is America’s promise to honor its warriors for first serving, and then dying, in the strange dusts on foreign soil.

Its 22211 zip code is the final address for roughly ten-percent of America’s dead from combat action in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 570 service members from “Operation Enduring Freedom” and “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” are “interred, inurned or memorialized with honor inside the cemetery.”


(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; arlington; arlingtoncemetery; iraq; section60
The photos are achingly beautiful and moving. Some are heart-wrenching, especially if you know someone in them.

There are a multitude of photos at the source link. The prose gets a bit PC at times, but what the photos represent supercedes that.

Have a handkerchief handy.

Thank you to all who serve and those who serve with them on the homefront.

1 posted on 11/11/2009 11:15:36 AM PST by kristinn
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To: kristinn

..you were right...tears..


2 posted on 11/11/2009 11:22:32 AM PST by mystery-ak (gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: kristinn

Laura Youngblood was with us at Eagles Muster, back on March 15, 2007. Here's what I wrote in my AAR:

Laura’s a Veteran and she lost her husband, Travis, in Bagdad to an IED on July 21, 2005. She was pregnant with their daughter, Emma, at the time and they also have a son, Hunter. It was hard not to have a tear in ones eye listening to Laura Youngblood’s talk of the sacrifice that her husband and the kid’s father, Travis, made and how his sacrifice *will not* be in vain.

3 posted on 11/11/2009 11:35:11 AM PST by rochester_veteran ( http://RochesterConservative.com)
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To: kristinn

THANK YOU FOR THE POST...very sobering...i would recommend that anyone that has never been to Arlington you should make the trip....i have a few times...it is a great reminder of what our freedom costs....

THANK YOU TO ALL THAT HAVE SERVED......


4 posted on 11/11/2009 11:36:29 AM PST by tatsinfla
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To: kristinn

Bump


5 posted on 11/11/2009 11:45:39 AM PST by BulletBobCo
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To: kristinn

Hooah


6 posted on 11/11/2009 11:47:23 AM PST by big'ol_freeper ("Anyone pushing Romney must love socialism...Piss on Romney and his enablers!!" ~ Jim Robinson)
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To: rochester_veteran; 3D-JOY; Just A Nobody; trooprally

Thanks. I remember her.


7 posted on 11/11/2009 11:55:26 AM PST by kristinn (A conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words.)
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To: kristinn

This area is directly facing the Columbarium.

Each time I pass there I am overcome by the increasing number of graves. It had been a lovely open area of green grass between the two side roads.

Reality just shakes me, each time I drive by.


8 posted on 11/11/2009 2:59:34 PM PST by 3D-JOY
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To: 3D-JOY
Republicans and Democrats agree…In silence.

Gays are finally treated with respect. No one asks…no one tells…

Passages recited from the Koran are as beautiful as those recited from the Bible.

Gawd!

I'm sorry...but PROJECTILE VOMIT ALERT.

9 posted on 11/12/2009 11:02:31 AM PST by NucSubs ( Cognitive dissonance: Conflict or anxiety resulting from inconsistency between beliefs and actions)
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To: NucSubs
What did I say to bring that on.

I go there for the solitude and to remember my own husband whose memorial is there in the Columbarium.

When I first saw the new graves at the start of the Afghan war, I broke down in sobs,thinking “Not another War!”

DC Chapter, part-time,at Walter Reed, tea parties,100’s of Freeps....I am far from silent!

I read it again. Am I missing something?

VOMIT at your attack is close.

10 posted on 11/13/2009 6:54:21 AM PST by 3D-JOY
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To: kristinn

Where did that quote come from? Not me!

Help!


11 posted on 11/13/2009 6:56:30 AM PST by 3D-JOY
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To: 3D-JOY

Nothing to do with you. Those quotes are from the prose accompanying the photos. I warned people in my initial comment the prose got PC at times. I was able to look past that. I guess some aren’t


12 posted on 11/13/2009 7:36:15 AM PST by kristinn (A conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words.)
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To: 3D-JOY

That was not aimed at you at all. I simply replied to the last person on the thread. Did you not see the passages I quoted? I was referring to the article, not your post.


13 posted on 11/14/2009 10:26:52 PM PST by NucSubs ( Cognitive dissonance: Conflict or anxiety resulting from inconsistency between beliefs and actions)
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