Quote

Every American should have a say in the memorials we choose to build in our nation. Family members have a special responsibility.

I believe that the truest parts of people can be buried, and for many different reasons.

In America, burial means an embalmed body in a heavy-duty casket with a vault built over it, so that the ground doesn't settle. That body is encased in many layers of denial.

At a family's most difficult time, I want to make sure at a minimum that they have the very basic of comforts: the ability to grieve their loss privately and the knowledge that their country is grateful for their loved one's sacrifice and service.

Because of his military service, Dad was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The biggest problem is the funerals that don't exist. People call the funeral home, they pick up the body, they mail the ashes to you, no grief, no happiness, no remembrance, no nothing. That happens more often than it doesn't in the United States.

Ceremonies are important. But our gratitude has to be more than visits to the troops, and once-a-year Memorial Day ceremonies. We honor the dead best by treating the living well.

Virtually every civilized society today holds sacred the right to peaceably bury their dead.

We are not programmed to bury our kids.