Columnist Benjamin Grove: Pokorney takes his place at Arlington

Benjamin Grove

Friday, April 18, 2003 | 4:36 a.m.

INSIDE THE Pentagon on Thursday, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers gathered Defense Department workers for a "town hall meeting" to thank them. There was good news to celebrate: the toppled Iraqi regime, an end to major combat, rescued POWs.

"Your courage, your talent, your leadership have given us -- up to this point -- a tremendous combat victory," Myers said.

But Myers acknowledged that some soldiers had also given their lives for that victory, and he thanked their families.

Pentagon workers do not have to go far to be reminded of the price of war. On a grassy eastern slope of Arlington National Cemetery, within view of the massive military headquarters, soldiers killed in Iraq are being buried.

Nevada Marine Lt. Frederick Pokorney was laid to rest there Monday. The simple white marble headstone that will mark his grave has not yet arrived. It typically takes a few months for cemetery workers to place the markers. They are busy.

In a typical week, about 25 people are buried in the hallowed burial ground outside Washington. In 135 years, more than 280,000 servicemen and women and their spouses have been laid to rest on the 624 acres of rolling green Virginia hills.

Tourists at Arlington typically flock to the cemetery's most popular draws: the eternal flame at John F. Kennedy's grave site, the Iwo Jima Memorial on the Arlington's north border, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

But the true power of Arlington -- its ability to inspire awe for the sacrifice made by so many thousands -- can also be found in a quiet walk along the endless rows of simple white headstones.

Consider just one of the marble slabs -- the one that soon will mark grave No. 7861 in section 60. Last week 150 mourners huddled at that spot to honor 31-year-old Pokorney, who lived in Tonopah when he was a teenager. Standing aside the flag-draped coffin, Chaplain Cmdr. Lewis Brown offered a simple benediction, "May he rest in peace."

As part of a full-honors ceremony reserved for officers, six Marines in dress blues folded the flag into a tight triangle and it was presented to Pokorney's wife, Chelle. She let their 2 1/2-year-old daughter Taylor hold it. As the two knelt by the coffin, the girl asked, "Where's daddy?"

That question is only a glimpse into the story of sacrifice memorialized by a single stone. At Arlington, visitors can walk for hours along the perfect rows of grave markers, each with a story of its own.

And every day, more are buried. Fallen soldiers from Operation Iraqi Freedom are now joining veterans of the American Revolution, the Civil War, two World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam. The chilling notes of Taps and the sharp crack of three-round rifle volleys break the still quiet at Arlington two dozen times a day.

Lt. Pokorney was buried next to Army Capt. Russell Rippetoe, killed by a car bomb that exploded at a U.S. checkpoint. On Wednesday Marine Cpt. Benjamin Sammis was laid next to Pokorney.

Back at the Pentagon Thursday, Rumsfeld sounded a note of caution, amid notable good news.

"The war is not over," Rumsfeld told those gathered in the Pentagon's auditorium. "We know that. There are still pockets of resistance, shots are still being fired and people will still be killed. And as we gather here people are still fighting in Iraq and elsewhere."

Washington is full of monuments to democracy, independence and peace. Soon a new monument, an 18-inch marble tablet in Arlington's section 60, will be raised to honor one sacrifice paid to maintain those ideals. It will read, "Lt. Frederick Pokorney USMC."