Susan asked the question, and she deserved an answer. So here’s the regulation from Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations;
Sec. 553.15 Persons eligible for burial in Arlington National Cemetery.
(a) Any active duty member of the Armed Forces (except those members serving on active duty for training only).
(b) Any retired member of the Armed Forces. A retired member of the Armed Forces, in the context of this paragraph, is a retired member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or a Reserve component who has served on active duty (other than for training), is carried on an official retired list, and is entitled to receive retired pay stemming from service in the Armed Forces. If, at the time of death, a retired member of the Armed Forces is not entitled to receive retired pay stemming from his service in the Armed Forces until some future date, the retired member will not be eligible for burial.
(c) Any former member of the Armed Forces separated for physical disability prior to 1 October 1949 who has served on active duty (other than for training) and who would have been eligible for retirement under the provisions of 10 U.S.C. 1201 had that statute been in effect on the date of his separation.
(d) Any former member of the Armed Forces whose last active duty (other than for training) military service terminated honorably and who has been awarded one of the following decorations:
(1) Medal of Honor.
(2) Distinguished Service Cross (Air Force Cross or Navy Cross).
(3) Distinguished Service Medal.
(4) Silver Star.
(5) Purple Heart.
(e) Persons who have held any of the following positions, provided their last period of active duty (other than for training) as a member of the Armed Forces terminated honorably:
(1) An elective office of the United States Government.
(2) Office of the Chief Justice of the United States or of an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
(3) An office listed in 5 U.S.C. 5312 or 5 U.S.C. 5313.
(4) The Chief of a mission who was at any time during his tenure classified in class I under the provisions of 411 of the Act of 13 August 1946, 60 Stat. 1002, as amended (22 U.S.C. 866, 1964 ed.).
(f) Any former prisoner of war who, while a prisoner of war, served honorably in the active military, naval, or air service, whose last period of active military, naval, or air service terminated honorably and who died on or after November 30, 1993.
(1) The term “former prisoner of war” means a person who, while serving in the active military, naval, or air service, was forcibly detained or interned in line of duty–
(i) By an enemy government or its agents, or a hostile force, during a period of war; or
(ii) By a foreign government or its agents, or a hostile force, under circumstances which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs finds to have been comparable to the circumstances under which persons have generally been forcibly detained or interned by enemy governments during periods of war.
(2) The term “active military, naval, or air service” includes active duty, any period of active duty for training during which the individual concerned was disabled or died from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty, and any period of inactive duty training during which the individual concerned was disabled or died from an injury incurred or aggravated in line of duty.
(g) The spouse, widow or widower, minor child and, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Army, unmarried adult child of any of the persons listed above.
(1) The term “spouse” refers to a widow or widower of an eligible member, including the widow or widower of a member of the Armed Forces who was lost or buried at sea or officially determined to be permanently absent in a status of missing or missing in action. A surviving spouse who has remarried and whose remarriage is void, terminated by death, or dissolved by annulment or divorce by a court with basic authority to render such decrees regains eligibility for burial in Arlington National Cemetery unless it is determined that the decree of annulment or divorce was secured through fraud or collusion.
(2) An unmarried adult child may be interred in the same grave in which the parent has been or will be interred, provided that child was incapable of self-support up to the time of death because of physical or mental condition. At the time of death of an adult child, a request for interment will be submitted to the Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery. The request must be accompanied by a notarized statement from an individual who has direct knowledge as to the marital status, degree of dependency of the deceased child, the name of that child’s parent, and the military service upon which the burial is being requested. A certificate of a physician who has attended the decedent as to the nature and duration of the physical and/or mental disability must also accompany the request for interment.
(h) Widows or widowers of service members who are interred in Arlington National Cemetery as part of a group burial may be interred in the same cemetery but not in the same grave.
(i) The surviving spouse, minor child, and, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Army, unmarried adult child of any person already buried in Arlington.
(j) The parents of a minor child or unmarried adult child whose remains, based on the eligibility of a parent, are already buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
[42 FR 25725, May 19, 1977, as amended at 59 FR 60559, Nov. 25, 1994]
The short answer is “yeah, because he spent two years in the Army and got an honorable discharge and then got himself elected to Congress” (paragraph (e)(1)).
Added: Can Adam Kokesh get burial at Arlington if he gets elected to Congress? Nope – he got a General Discharge.
