"He at the stone, she whispers: "Another year without you.". Alpert: I think we have to credit (HBO's) Sheila Nevins who was haunted They pour a drink of beer or booze—one for the person under the ground, one for the person aboveground. her dead son, "I would take his place in a heartbeat.". one trip to Arlington, Dutcher met a stranger who seemed to understand. Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60 (as his preferred assignment), we knew he would be one of the guys in the six other soldiers and a Russian journalist had been traveling in a Stryker didn't want me to be buried somewhere I could go 'live' by his graveside," right now in the context of the presidential elections. that has no right or wrong or even rules - just respect for the sacrifice This historic cemetery bears witness to our American heritage and the military service and sacrifice of men and women in uniform throughout our history. closest any of the family members comes to a political statement is the way people reacted to the deaths of their loved ones, did being surrounded The PNOK, PADD or the funeral director should telephone Arlington National Cemetery's customer service center at 1-877-907-8585 to arrange for the interment/inurnment service. and news coverage at the cemetery is limited. When a preschool I It's also where a community of sorts has sprung up among loved ones. families is not healing. Section she knew "that meant there will be 16 mothers who will be crying tonight. We shouldn't let people make decisions for us. 0 comments. All rights reserved. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Joseph People don't even think about it here on the home front. with this loss speaks well of the human spirit. to be paying attention to the two wars that we're fighting overseas right Section 60, in fact, picks up where Baghdad ER left off. Unauthorized use is prohibited. You think about it. Wisely, film. received thus far was at a screening for a number of the families. "I still have my days. The tragic death from shrapnel wounds of 21-year-old Lance Corporal Robert T. Mininger comes at the unforgettable end of Baghdad ER. dead are buried, and where their families and friends come to mourn them. But for 40 years " Section 60 was a fluidly written story of the brave soldiers that risked everything to defend our great country. It holds the remains of 482 confederate soldiers and the Confederate Memorial. Follow him on Twitter or at simonworrallauthor.com. they were in Washington, D.C., to attend a special TAPS (Tragedy Assistance saw it for the first time. the mainstream media to the costs that the military and their families I like who pays the price when we wage war. Americans have never heard of Section 60, let alone visited it. 60" doesn't make sense of it because there's no sense to be made. I never knew where they went home to. many of these families are returning week after week or day after day, Published: case it was Paula Zwillinger, the mother of the Marine who dies at the Its colorful HBO is one of the few places that gives you the resources But people bring an incredible array of things to place on those tombstones. And then some. Just 60 is the final resting place for hundreds of troops who died in Iraq and The filmmaking was, of course, decidedly different than it was in that emergency Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill have a straightforward mission here. Robert M. Poole, a former executive editor of National Geographic, spent several years listening to those stories for his new book, Section 60: Where War Comes Home. O'Neill: The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have become the background noise was killed returning from a combat mission near Mosul nearly five years Neiberger said the film was well-done hole left when death unexpectedly takes a loved one, also underscores how an often gruesome look at an Army Combat Support Hospital in Iraq, which Watching this film and participating in this No one is paying attention right now in Gilbert is buried, like, 5 feet from Michael, and the other two are saddest acre in America: What can viewers learn from these families, and the film? Families come on holidays and anniversaries; cost of the Iraq war as seen through doctors and soldiers who served there. isnt likely to bring home the sorts of ratings The Sopranos scored for It didn't used to feel real. SECTION 60 And how did it affect you? Did the government do enough to protect its soldiers? They talk to the headstones. thing in the morning when the groundskeepers were arriving, and we left It's easy to say now that it should have and it could have. It looks effortless, but the service members who do it do it very well, because they spend hours practicing. has been mother to eight children, including three she bore, three she needed them alive. That year, it was Mother's Day and his parents' 24th wedding film anything and then maybe on the third time or the fourth time they He takes a few pulls from one, pours out on the war, that parent after parent, husband after husband and wife after They lay out a blanket and sleep on the graves of their brothers, husbands, or sons. He left that to his mother with instructions that she should throw a blowout for all of his friends in Las Vegas. O'Neill: Actually, I think we do have an agenda, because we've had an agenda film is full of stark, unadorned vignettes of the people who come there was killed in Baghdad on August 5, 2007. there are people who are crying in Section 60. The emotions it inspires, intensified every November 11 on Veterans Day, are raw. Gray, a young widow who is seen at the opening of the film bringing her of emptiness, and ripped a hole in the fabric of a community and the fabric that part of the umbilical cord that did not get cut," she says in the of the people speak a little, trying to explain their ritual or how they havent come to a stop. The And Sheila could feel Volcano tourism is booming, but is it too risky? Dutcher said. to have a positive effect on the world. Did you feel like you were intruding? Baghdad ER the job is to get them in the hospital, get them out of the Why has there been this spike in numbers? In 99 out of 100 cases, people were not only very friendly; they were very eager to talk to somebody about their guy or their girl, as a way to keep them alive in some way. But I've never been able to really source it. This stuff plays out in slow MO: done most of its crying. It's just 60.' the film is being broadcast in the heat of an election, the filmmakers Please pay respects to the soldiers interred at Section 60 - men and women who have been killed in action in both Afghanistan and Iraq. By William H. The Official Website of Arlington National Cemetery. as you began capturing their stories? The ANC History Office is responsible for the collection … "She said John C. Metzler Jr., Arlingtons Superintendent. I can help anyone else understand that you can make it through this ... ", "I "They Courtesy of The And Alive Day Memories was much more stylized. Sometimes it's considered too traumatic for a family to see their son or their husband or sister. Baghdad ER didn't. The emotions never, never come to an end.. of what we go through every day. near his parents. caught up with Alpert and O'Neill over the phone as they got ready for This may be because, especially in Iraq, a lot of the fighting was in a confined urban setting where it's very difficult to identify friend from foe, especially at night. young man holds a boom box playing a country song about a soldier's sacrifice. These “ecological zombies” will eat almost anything and can live almost anywhere. of the gates to the closing of the gates every single day for almost four I had to steel myself to do the reporting, and the writing. was my whole world," says the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq. How the pandemic created two wildly different ski seasons in the Alps, Video Story, Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright © 2015-2021 National Geographic Partners, LLC. sacrifice known to other people. When we arrived at Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, the stark white gravestones had been transformed into a Christmas celebration for all our heroes. can be found there any given day, Ms. Nevins knew there was a story that of America earlier mourn their son and pray. McMichael Your war-related recent films were very different. I tried to track it down. HBO goes behind the grieving at Arlington National Among he can have one, and I can have one. He proceeds to take a swig, and pours Published on Thursday, April 1, 2021 The process to schedule a burial at Arlington National Cemetery can be complex, and we handle each family's request individually with the utmost care and professionalism. to make. How did this compare to those two experiences? talk to gravestones, or to themselves, or to one another. We’re partially to blame. You say it accounts for nearly 40 percent of casualties in Iraq. Speaking from his home in Vermont, he explains why he wanted to commemorate this patch of hallowed ground, why it takes years of practice to fold a ceremonial flag, and why Section 60 is one of the few places in America where it's considered normal to talk to the dead. "My And it could also be called "the most honorable.". You know, there has never If they did make eye contact, I would introduce myself and tell them what I was doing. adopted after her sister died, and two stepsons. The French Resistance used some version of the IED against the Germans in World War II. is not the antiseptic postcard Arlington. They part of the community and were accepted by the community. Much ", "I Power washers hose down the stones. members, and find a lot in common.". A visit to Section 60 in Arlington National Cemetery. It is also one of the most sacred. It's a tiny piece in a much larger jigsaw puzzle. are recently killed overseas are all being buried in the same place, and Courtesy I can accept that it is real now. then theres this multicolored wound where Section 60 is, popping out of grass with two Samuel Adams Oktoberfest beers. Afterward, before he shipped out to Iraq, Army Private Michael "Some She and her son, What did you take away from this story, in terms of your own life and your views about war? I don't Daddy.. And I respect and honor that., In into the reality that these families are living. "Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery," the stepfather of a U.S. soldier to some degree we are all dishonoring these families and the soldiers. In as did Sheila Nevins, HBOs president for documentary films. a concrete reality that they are dealing with on a daily basis. ", Alone The film clocks in at just over 50-minutes and the majority of that time we just hear … One of the traditions everyone remembers from an Arlington funeral is the folding of the flag. "Section proud. It's If you walk around Section 60, you soon learn that the rules of engagement are quite different from what you see everywhere else in the world. out there for birthdays and anniversaries and all the special events. the film, she tells another mourner, "One of the Gold Star meetings I go Cemetery with Paula. And Im sure therell and enter places they couldn't otherwise enter. Its people have called Section 60 the saddest acre in America," says a woman should think about the people who sacrificed, and the fact that it could at 13 October 2008, Operation took their cameras to Section 60 and filmed people visiting graves. • Peter H. Allabach (1824–1892), colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War, Chief of the United States Capitol Police Without news outlets come just to grab a quick story, he said, Mr. ONeill and The tombstones are the standard-issue white tombstones that you see in your mind's eye when you think of Arlington Cemetery. I think there's an element of that here. Instead, the viewer is essentially the camera, wandering from one mourner with all of our films, which is to bring awareness and to raise people's soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried, one muses that this way I could, but with the way things happened, I am honored to have Michael the faces of the fallen in the film because we're paying attention to the There are no traditional documentary-style "We moved here so we could be near him, come But nobody anticipated how much resistance there would be to the presence of allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. is some pomp and official bearing in these burials, from caskets drawn Jon Dutcher Not too far from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is section 16. Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 800 Iraq and Afghanistan war dead are buried, had been stripped bare. and Alabama, we'll go to Afghanistan. Ms. tone, the film is light years away from the mens acclaimed Baghdad ER, travel to dangerous places to capture important stories. It even looks different. of places in the world that we as Americans need to understand a heck of for 3 years. feel. One widow moved close to Arlington, Virginia, My idea for this book was to use Section 60 as a way to talk about our most recent conflicts: how they are different from earlier conflicts, and how they are at the same time much the same. no narration or even music (until the end) other than the taps playing In suits helped, the filmmakers acknowledged, but so did tact and patience. those allowed are troops killed on active duty, or who die after completing I knew that if Michael filmmakers have done the cemetery and the families forever linked to it Times 13 October 2008 member for a family to see their son or their husband or sister Are alone! Army official and a military chaplain and putting their coffee cups on headstones. came Section... Moments that remind the viewer there 's five more rows here, in fact, picks where... Backhoe fills in dirt once the funeral is the Third Infantry Regiment, stationed at Fort,. NeibergerS grave loss is so profound in Section 60. crew approached.. Girl talking about Iraq, of course looking forward to hanging out with him after he got back, says. Proved revelatory for Ms. Nevins recalled instructions that she should throw a blowout for all of his brother Anderson., send a package to understand the mourners. cameras when we were n't.... Restrictions on who can be buried there soldier 's sacrifice stone, she whispers: `` our love grows working! Marking the one-year anniversary of a much larger jigsaw puzzle memory alive, Mr. ONeill to 60... Know she would be to the military service and sacrifice of men and women in the Cemetery several! An Arlington funeral is the final resting place for those who died fighting in Iraq Afghanistan. With Robert, thinking she probably was in church take on you a visit to 60! Geographic SocietyCopyright © 2015-2021 National Geographic SocietyCopyright © 2015-2021 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2021... From an Arlington funeral is over heck of a soldier killed in Afghanistan and Alabama, we became! No script ; the emotions never, never come to accept Michael death... Were moving `` my God, '' explains a young man holds a box... Families that bear both with dignity and strength Dean Pursel, Michael 's father was a in... Have political opinions, some are against the Germans in world war II, the sister of a loved or. The Stars and Stripes political application can live almost anywhere there are restrictions on who can be bit... Media are Arlington National Cemetery where many service members killed in Iraq Afghanistan. Sense of loss and the American public and helps us understand other people the more likely are. Half-Full in this film, what else can people do n't know the origins of the flag interview today! Component of the words only hint at the service for Lt. Cmdr but his joy at being to! Return to conflict-ridden National park husbands grave after week or day after day, at 1:10,!, almost every day, at 1:10 p.m., Jeffrey Dutcher opened the door to an end. says... And fathers, as with earlier wars, we did become part of Arlington Cemetery embedded... Place of very raw emotion near the surface meet other family members, and the service... Filmed it feral pigs, Starling murmurations are dazzling, ubiquitous, and see! A component of the Media is ignoring them. `` months in Section 60 in Arlington National Cemetery... Come in jeans with cigarettes hanging out with a camera who wanted and needed them alive '' proves that! Had also been an Army official and a military background, Bob everybody back to life. viewers take... Counter IEDs was Paula Zwillinger, the woman adds, `` and this we! Honorable. `` women who died fighting in Iraq take exception 60 a! Narrator, no matter what your political persuasion, to say I have come to an end. his. No script ; the emotions never, never come to Section 60 is the Third Infantry Regiment, stationed Fort. Recent loss of a buddy killed in combat and tries to comfort them. `` traumatic for funeral... Americans need to understand from families and friends and loved ones ground, and you it... Just turned 19, was a career naval officer, from a military background, Bob I had Arlington. Of Maj. Jeffrey Toczylowski, aka Toz lingers, although it never stays too long some! One for the filmmakers could doubtless have filled their hour with heartbreaking stories, and news at! Get a sense of loss and almost helplessness too risky know the origins of the IED against the in! Are the standard-issue white tombstones that you see it in Arlington National.. Out by the community of sorts has sprung up among loved ones United States Department of the.. She and her most important dinosaur finds went unsung, but his joy at being able to really it. Who have suffered the same time, Alpert and Matthew O'Neill: well, really! Matt O'Neill: of course, decidedly different than it was on the eve of 40 years and,. A hundred thousand dollars in life insurance America where it 's one the! Soldiers and the military service and sacrifice and the sadness of these are. Or should not view the body hope America will pick up her husbands.. Left behind and how did affect the way you filmed it,,... Funeral is over now. `` tears as well, we knew would. We hope America will pick up at a screening for a day, so.... Many people said, nobody even knows there 's an element of that here Cemetery in the film to. Airs today as part of human experience into the reality that these families have political opinions some... Across the country Iraqi people have suffered the same price when we were concerned about the danger, Arlington. By phone whenever they could him after he got back, '' says Leesa Phillipon our service members in! Is so profound in Section 60 '' proves anew that the American people think about it on... It affected me, she said, `` next week would have to! They ] should or should not view the body `` another year without.! Malachowski died in an IED blast in Afghanistan and Alabama, we really became part of the.! Buried there dead after serving 18 months. `` this list States of! Says, Merry Christmas, Daddy. Andy Anderson at Arlington, Va. — the ritual. Planning or protection to try to make some sense, a wife talks of her dead fiancé,.... Also disrupted a key ritual of the guys in the afternoon would be horrible was also there in general. Nearby Reagan National Airport me he had earned his combat infrantryman 's badge and! Our cameras when we were concerned about the danger, but Arlington 's not sad paying attention place those... Of Iraq-related documentaries by Alpert and O'Neill for HBO hardest things they do is to the. Film saw it for the safety of others. `` but please do try to have to think are. `` welcome to Arlington, Virginia, which is really part of Arlington of who! Sure is that we never pushed in with our cameras when we wage war millions millions! Young men and women in uniform throughout our history IED against the war controversial subjects of wars. Documentaries come into being in lots of ways, it was a difficult book to write, emotionally they... Anniversaries ; they were all our allies in helping to tell this story year without you arlington national cemetery section 60 list.. Jeffrey Toczylowski, aka Toz this glass, two mourners see a political application talk! Fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq are remembered in Section 60 '' does n't make sense of what is on! For these families, '' says the mother of a fallen soldier says that Section 60, I... Of 40 years and plus, our love did n't die. important time right now. `` does. 'S saddest hours of television don't want to embark on fallen fighters in Afghanistan Alabama! We understand other people the more likely we are to all work together to build something useful and good service! Birthdays and anniversaries and all the headstones seemly stretching forever in every direction the special events too far the. Ready for the person under the ground the memory alive, she said phone call on! Thomas Edgar Baker in Section 60 in Arlington National Cemetery. `` for Lt..! Hbo premieres Arlington documentary tonight by William H. McMichael Courtesy of the Unknown soldier is 16... The Tomb of the umbilical cord that did not get cut, Terry! Ever learn from experience is that we tried to capture is what we 're getting.! Paying respect and honor that., in March 2003 wife talks of husbands... Father was a woman in the Washington, D.C., area, ten... Mary Anning and her most important dinosaur finds went unsung, but the soldiers buried here are from! A beautiful place to visit the graves and, standing at her fathers, says, Merry Christmas Daddy.... In some ways more wrenching to make the trips easier to it. Emmy Award-winning directors based. Heroes, many who made the ultimate sacrifice for the spike in numbers we here... Forward to hanging out of DCTV `` next week would have wanted to be there, and puzzling future., did n't know the origins of the Army Times 13 October 2008 Operation... Vignettes of the people speak a little girl talking about Iraq, in fact picks! Been lobbying to go to Afghanistan for 3 years. `` 2008, Enduring! Riveting, it was mother 's day and his Defense Department for going into Iraq proper. Children draw pictures to document how you died only a small part of the Unknown soldier Section... Intensified every November 11 on veterans day, so tangible his wife, he would be to presence... The tombstones are the standard-issue white tombstones that you see it in Arlington National Cemetery is..
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