Army preserves items of remembrance at Section 60

Charles Dharapak, AP / April 13, 2010

Paula Davis, 55, of Gaithersburg, Md., a single mother who lost her only child, Army Pfc. Justin Davis, 29, in Afghanistan in 2006, sits at his grave at Section 60, at Arlington National Cemetery where more than 600 service members who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried, Sunday, April 11, 2010 in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Army preserves items of remembrance at Section 60, Arlington's place for Iraq, Afghan war dead
KIMBERLY HEFLING

Associated Press Writer

April 15, 2010 12:02 a.m.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Army curator James Speraw stood by Spc. Christopher Coffland's grave, tucked among the rows of white headstones at Arlington National Cemetery, and read the inscription on dog tags that he cupped gently in his palms.

"I thank God every time I remember you," said the tags. "We love you Chris, our brother."

Speraw had little time to ponder the 43-year-old soldier who was killed in Afghanistan. "8955," he called out to a fellow curator, who jotted that grave site number down. They took photos of the dog tags and placed them in an archival bag, part of a new trial effort to preserve graveside mementoes at Section 60 — Arlington's primary resting place for the dead from the Iraq and Afghan wars.

The two then moved on to another grave to collect a teddy bear and blue stuffed bunny left for another fallen soldier. A few rows away, a backhoe pushed dirt over the grave of a servicemember buried minutes earlier, its loud, steady rumble punctuating the air in a sad refrain.

"It's an honor to do it, but you just really hate to see the graves," Speraw said, choking back tears.
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Army preserves items of remembrance at Section 60