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Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60 honors Iraq, Afghanistan vets

(NewsNation) — Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery is hallowed ground, where more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried. It's also where loved ones leave mementos at their graves. Arlington previously had a longstanding policy of considering items left on government property abandoned, ultimately discarding them. But families, particularly those who returned frequently, were upset the items were removed. In 2009, the policy was changed for Section 60, and some of the items have been preserved by the cemetery. Gold Star family's enduring love for fallen soldier, Sgt. Brian K. Baker 'One of the powerful things about the Section 60 memorial collection, in my opinion, is it not just tells us something about the service member that was killed and is interred here,' said Steve Carney, command historian at Arlington. 'I think it also tells us about just how Americans are grieving this, this, you know period of intense loss that started on Sept. 11 of 2001 and, you know, certainly lasted at least the first 15 years of this century,' Carney added. As of February 2024, the United States had lost 7,085 military members in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to USA Facts. 'I think they leave these mementos as their way to grieve their loss and show a very personal touch and remembrance for their service member,' said Bob Quackenbush, the cemetery's deputy chief of staff. There's a specific way to fly your US flag on Memorial Day: What to know Mementos left behind include quilts, photos, military patches and insignia — and personal items reflecting the interests of often-young military members. 'Types of items that were left by friends or family members of the fallen would be something that would, you know, kind of focus on their childhood interests … Avengers or other types of action figures were very common,' Carney said. Cemetery officials say in the last decade, far fewer items have been left at the graves. They speculate that as people processed their grief, the need to leave physical reminders of their loved ones receded, even though the loss remains Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.