Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60 is a focus of controversy. What is the area?

A solemn 14-acre section at Arlington National Cemetery that is largely reserved for deceased U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has suddenly become the focus of controversy, after a cemetery staff member tried to prevent former President Trump’s campaign from staging a photo opportunity there.

As NPR first reported, on Monday, there was an altercation between a cemetery staff member and Trump campaign officials over photos taken at an area in the eastern half of the cemetery known as Section 60. A source with knowledge of the incident told NPR that Arlington officials had made clear that only cemetery staff members would be authorized to take photographs or film in the area.

Allison Jaslow, an Iraq war veteran who is CEO of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), tells NPR that she regularly visits Section 60, which for her serves as “a humbling reminder of how some of us were lucky enough to make it home.”

Trump’s appearance at Arlington came on the third anniversary of a deadly attack in Afghanistan that killed 13 American servicemembers killed in August 2021 amid a chaotic U.S. withdrawal. A photo of the former president shows him smiling and giving a "thumbs up" sign beside the grave marker of Marine Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover, with members of the fallen soldier's family. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox also appears in the photo.

But there are two other headstones visible — one belonging to a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who died by suicide. Someone close to that soldier's family confirmed to NPR that they did not give permission for the marker to appear in the photos. NPR has received no response from the Trump campaign as to whether it sought permission from the Green Beret's family.