OP here. My husband retired from the Army. He was cremated and we are waiting for internment at the Columbarium. I requested graveside service. My husband requested to be buried with full military honors in his last will.

Still waiting for my uncle, who passed in August. FYI the funeral director mentioned Army vets usual have the shortest wait, then Air Force, then Navy.

Anonymous wrote:My husband passed away recently and he requested to be buried at Arlington. I submitted all of the paperwork and I now have a case number. I'm waiting on the Scheduling Department to call with a date for the burial. He has been cremated and we requested inurnment in the Columbarium.

Does anyone know how long the current wait times are?

We just went through this. The wait for a normal plot with full honors ceremony was 13 months. Yes, more than a year after death. I'm sure the wait for the columbarium is shorter, but I was told by everyone that the wait would be 4-6 months and it was much longer.

We waited a month for my grandfather's burial. Mostly because my grandmother preceded him in death and he got approval to have her buried there first. I think it took a few months for that approval to go through. He was a decorated WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam Veteran.

I'm sorry for you loss, OP.

Anonymous wrote:If the bodies are not cremated, where are they preserved until burial? I don't understand.

You pay for storage at your funeral home. I thought this would be a big deal but it wasn’t. The funeral home we used was used to it.

Sorry for your loss OP. I hope you hear something soon.

Anonymous wrote:If the bodies are not cremated, where are they preserved until burial? I don't understand.

At the funeral home. It can be costly for the family to store the body there for a long time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. MIL is going to be buried right next to FIL, who was in the military. How fair is this, when current military members are not guaranteed burial (and certainly not in a timely manner)?

Spouses have always been buried together, or at least for a very long time. Read the dates on many of the tombstones.

Do you have a citation for the info that current military members are not guaranteed a place at Arlington? That is the opposite of what I have been told.

My understanding spouses are entitled to burial with their spouse, however not all vets or retirees are eligible for Arlington.

If a service member is eligible for burial at Arlington Cemetery then spouses and dependents also may be buried with the service member. They are stacked. The service member does not need to be buried there first. Obviously only the service member would be eligible for specific types of ceremonies attached to the burials.

Friends of ours lost their son when he was very young. The son is buried at the father's grave site. The parents will be buried with their son when they pass. The father is a decorated combat veteran if that makes a difference.

It's definitely trending longer over the years. For three columbarium interments (grandfather, father, grandmother, no special rank or honors) the death months/ceremony dates were: Feb '08/April '08, Dec '14/March'15, September '16/April '17 (we were offered Feb but didn't want to freeze after my dad's icy service). I'm so sorry for your loss. I think we generally got the call from them (via the funeral director) within two months. The nice thing about the delay is it allows out of town relatives time to plan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. MIL is going to be buried right next to FIL, who was in the military. How fair is this, when current military members are not guaranteed burial (and certainly not in a timely manner)?

Spouses have always been buried together, or at least for a very long time. Read the dates on many of the tombstones.

Do you have a citation for the info that current military members are not guaranteed a place at Arlington? That is the opposite of what I have been told.

My understanding spouses are entitled to burial with their spouse, however not all vets or retirees are eligible for Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:My husband passed away recently and he requested to be buried at Arlington. I submitted all of the paperwork and I now have a case number. I'm waiting on the Scheduling Department to call with a date for the burial. He has been cremated and we requested inurnment in the Columbarium.

Does anyone know how long the current wait times are?

Isn't the funeral director handling the communication regarding the scheduling? You shouldn't have to do this.

If the bodies are not cremated, where are they preserved until burial? I don't understand.

Pp her. Sorry, to be more clear. We were told in April he would be buried in August, almost a year to the day of his passing.

My father died in August, we got his burial date in April. Is was the day before his one year anniversary of his death. A friend of mine ( same rank etc ) knew the date in 2 weeks and we buried within 7 months. They said it was Bc my dad was cremated.

Those killed in combat “jump the list”. If you don’t want full honors, etc. it’s a lot faster as well.

Anonymous wrote:My dad died in April. We just got the date for his interment, which will be this April.

Wow. What was his rank? Are you waiting for a time slot at the Old Post Chapel, or is it a graveside ceremony?

I’m sorry for your loss, OP.
I have grandparents buried there. This was a few years ago, but the wait time was 1-2 months. They were not cremated.