September 11 pilot to get Arlington burial

The pilot, Charles Frank Burlingame, of hijacked American Airlines flight 77, which crashed in to the Pentagon, will be buried at Arlington National Cemetary.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Army has agreed to give Charles Frank Burlingame, the pilot of the American Airlines jet that crashed into the Pentagon Sept. 11, a hero's burial in his own plot at Arlington National Cemetery, Sens. John Warner and George Allen announced Friday.

"The secretary of the Army, the administration found enough space in their heart to make the right decision. And that right decision is to allow Captain Burlingame to be buried in his own plot," said Allen.

Burlingame, a former F-4 fighter pilot and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who had 25 years of active and reserve service as a Navy pilot, is to be buried December 12. His mother is buried at Arlington alongside his father, an Air Force veteran.

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Allen said Burlingame's widow was very happy to hear the news.

"She was pleased, she was relieved," he said, adding that a great burden had been lifted off of her when it became clear that next week's funeral service would be the sole burial ceremony. She had feared her husband would have been laid in a temporary resting place until legislation cleared the way for him to be buried in Arlington, Allen said.

The pilot of American Airlines flight 77 was killed along with five other crew members and 58 passengers when the hijacked plane crashed into the west side of the Pentagon at 9:38 a.m. EDT September 11.

Friday's announcement by Warner and Allen came after days of efforts by lawmakers and negotiations between the military and Burlingame's family.

Warner, who introduced legislation to waive the age requirement that had prevented the Navy reservist from getting his own burial plot, said the secretary of the Army informed him of the Pentagon's reversal Friday afternoon.

"This matter has now been reviewed by the White House, by the Secretary of the Army, and the secretary of the Army has indicated to me that he will, under the regulations, exercise his authority to enable this very courageous and distinguished American and Navy veteran to be buried in his own grave and at such time as in the future, further have his wife interred with him," said Warner.

Both senators, Republicans from Virginia, gave credit to the pilot's family, whom they called courageous.

"With humility and conviction and determination, they pursued this goal," said Warner.

The Army, which oversees the crowded cemetery, had originally turned down a request from his family that Burlingame, who died on the eve of his 52nd birthday, be buried in his own grave. It cited a requirement that reservists must be at least 60 at death to qualify for burial there.

His sister argued the military should make an exception for the Herndon, Virginia, resident.

"He merited the spot and didn't make it to 60 because a bunch of bastards killed him in what his own president is calling an act of war in a combat zone," Debra Burlingame said.

The Pentagon had offered to give Burlingame, whose nickname was Chic, a spot at his father's grave site -- but that proposal would have barred burial of his widow by his side. A second Pentagon proposal was that if Burlingame were cremated, his ashes would be placed in an honorary wall at the cemetery. That proposal would allow the ashes of his widow to be deposited there as well, an Army spokesman said.

"The Army is trying to conserve space," said the pilot's sister. "This is just housekeeping."

His family refused to let her brother share a grave with his father, who was a chief master sergeant in the Air Force, without a separate headstone. Burlingame's wife, Shari, refused to sign a Department of Army affidavit to authorize it.

In an October 23 letter to Secretary of the Army Thomas White, the sister wrote: "We know our brother. We believe 'Chic' was killed in action. We have no doubt whatsoever that he would not have hesitated to do whatever it took to prevent armed intruders from gaining control of his cockpit.

"Nor would he have stood by and allowed them to harm his passengers and crew .... These knife-wielding attackers would have had to take him out, and he would not have gone quietly."

The Pentagon crash followed on the heels of two other hijacked jets that were flown into New York's World Trade Center towers. A fourth jet was also hijacked, but crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside when passengers apparently rose up against the hijackers.

Warner and Allen, had been aggressively lobbying the Pentagon and the White House. They also proposed legislation to waive the age requirement for reservists who died as a result of the September 11 attacks, meaning they would be eligible for a separate burial plot at Arlington.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, chairman of the House Veterans Committee, introduced similar legislation in the House Thursday.