Arlington cemetery pic - Is this real?

[Anonymous]

Just wondering. Could this photo and description be true? A facebook friend keeps posting photos and stories from a FB page called Veteran's Reflections. All are heartwarming stories and I hope they are true, but I'm skeptical because many don't seem realistic. There are plenty of real stories regarding veterans that are just as touching, so I hate to think people are wasting their time with made up stories.

I'm questioning this one because I find it hard to believe that Arlington Cemetery would allow someone to walk up to a grave, set up a chair, and drink a beer. When I visited, everyone had to stay on the sidewalks. I'm sure family can go to the grave, but could a friend? Would they allow someone to do this because he served with the guy?

Also, this just looks photoshopped.

equestrianna:

This guy was at Arlington Cemetary. He visits his buddy every Friday night and continues the tradition of having a beer together. Then he packs up, pats the tombstone, and heads back to his truck. Why can’t all friendships be like this?

(Source: saddles-n-spurs)

? ORIGINALLY FROM SADDLES-N-SPURS ? REBLOGGED FROM VIERZEHNSTERNEN
? PERMALINK POSTED 2 MONTHS AGO TWEET THIS 2,921 NOTES

[Anonymous]

Oops. Here's the link again:

http://3cheers4hockey.tumblr.com/post/26389076607/equestrianna-this-guy-was-at-arlington

[Anonymous]

I don't know if it's real or not, but if it is, this feels like an incredibly rude invasion of privacy and extraordinarily tacky.

[Anonymous]

by tacky, i don't mean what he's doing, but rather the distribution of the photograph.

[Anonymous]

According to this LA Time article, it is his brother, Chad, drinking the beer. I don't think it's tacky. We all grieve differently and I think it's more rude to judge the brother of a soldier that died.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/11/nation/la-na-arlington-war-widows-20101111

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to this LA Time article, it is his brother, Chad, drinking the beer. I don't think it's tacky. We all grieve differently and I think it's more rude to judge the brother of a soldier that died.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/11/nation/la-na-arlington-war-widows-20101111

As I said, I don't find the act of drinking a beer at the grave to be tacky. I do find the voyeuristic nature of the photo and its distribution to be tacky.

[Anonymous]

I don't know about the chair and the beer, but yes, you can walk up to the graves of random people at Arlington. At least nobody stopped us and we have visited quite a few times.

[Freeman]

I don't recall any restrictions about walking among the graves from when I visited, beyond the admonition to be respectful. I've seen plenty of people visiting specific graves there. As for being tacky, I followed the link posted, and I didn't find it tacky at all. The person that took the picture was an 18 year old kid visiting the grave site of a fallen soldier from the same high school, and they obviously admired the loyalty and dedication of the man in the picture and wanted to share that. I'm sure this isn't the first picture that's been taken of the man in the chair, and I think the tone and intent behind taking the picture is what matters.

[Anonymous]

My father is buried at Arlington. I have a pass that allows me to drive into the cemetery, but I don't need to present identification or go through any official channels to visit his grave. I have parked in the lot and walked to his grave without being asked for ID. As for the chair/beer, I don't know whether its allowed but my dad would have loved it. I'd imagine you could find rules/guidelines online somewhere.

[Anonymous]

I think *technically* visitors to the cemetery are forbidden from eating and drinking there, but I can't imagine anyone making a stink over this.

[Anonymous]

I don't know about the picture, but the idea is not that unusual. In the 1800's, families used to travel to the outskirts of town and picnic at grave sites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about the picture, but the idea is not that unusual. In the 1800's, families used to travel to the outskirts of town and picnic at grave sites.

I know. I thought the no-eating policy was weird the first time I visited Arlington. Then I worked in a museum and realized that a small and churlish minority of visitors can be depended on to crap up anywhere, no matter how sacred.

[Anonymous]

I know who took this photo and I can guarantee it was not photoshopped...also, the "distribution" wasn't meant to be this big. The photographer was shocked when it showed up on her facebook page. She never imagined that many people would see one of her photos. She just wanted to share it because of how sweet and dedicated that man is to his brother. She didn't mean anything harmful or negative towards it...