The below opinion piece is authored by Janine Dunne, a long-time political activist who has been working to get Democratic candidates elected over the last decade. Janine has been active on several fronts such as volunteering for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and she periodically distributes call-to-action letters steering volunteers to meaningful and impactful advocacy work. Janine resides in Washington, DC.

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President Trump announced plans to build a 250-foot “Independence Arch,” 150 feet larger than the Lincoln Memorial, on the area known as Memorial Circle which rests between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery (ANC). Per one pending lawsuit, the structure would massively interrupt the line of sight between the Lincoln and ANC. Trump’s objective for bigness runs contrary to the memorial objective of the site he has chosen.

We should continue to let the markers at ANC, which represent the countless sacrifices of service members, speak our nation’s glory. They should be the design of this nation, one soldier’s headstone equal to his or her neighbor’s, together, a democratic picture of our country. 

Despite Trump’s penchant for declaration and executive order, we can and should strongly oppose this project. 

America’s military families struggle. The Coast Guard waits for paychecks during this partial government shutdown. And we’re told Trump wants to build an arch. Let’s be clear when we say there are suitable ways for this administration to support the military community that don’t include building an arch no one asked for. 

There isn’t much time for the public to register its opposition. Trump’s architect has designed the arch, and in December 2025 Trump said he wants to break ground within months. But Trump’s builders must submit to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) for approval. No formal proposal has been submitted yet.

What can we do? All of us can say no to the arch - say no to our congressional representatives, to the White House, and to the NCPC. Tell them that as American citizens, we overwhelmingly oppose an arch that would disrupt the intended memorial nature of Arlington National Cemetery.

I’m doing this to preserve the place where my father who honorably served our country rests. Family members of veterans deserve a space to honor our loved ones in peace, which is, after all, what they fought for.  

I encourage you to read The Washington Post coverage of the proposed arch and the above-mentioned lawsuit.

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[The author also previously penned an “open letter”-style essay on the same topic, which can be viewed below.]

“Dear Americans with a beloved father,

That’s most of you, isn’t it. I want to talk to you. 

My father lies buried under a small, marble marker. Classic, rounded at the top like a tablet in Moses’s hands. A Celtic cross is etched above his name, Gerald William. His gravesite sits under a tree, which makes visits during hot summers much nicer for me and my sisters. When the wind blows, the leaves let through the dappled light. A natural stained-glass effect of sorts. 

He rests in a sacred place. The folks who run it won’t let cars drive through. They do a nice job lining the markers together to look like rows, a drill team in step. They care for the lawns around the markers. It’s as if marble swims on waves of green hills, like stars on an undulating flag. 

The objective of all of this care and the promise of it has always been clear and certain to me. We paid a price for entry, and we know he’ll be cared for. 

Well, a developer is threatening to build a structure 250 feet tall by the entrance of the cemetery. The word overshadow comes to mind. I’m afraid the structure will overshadow my dad. I’m afraid it will blot out the space carved out for my dad and those buried near him. 

I want to cry. But my dad would reason through it. 

To overshadow is to what? To shade? That we can live with. Occasionally. But the structure is made of concrete and won’t move with the wind. Or at all. Instead of sky and headstones, we’ll see … the developer, one man who needed all of the sky for himself.   

My heart feels like beating glass when I consider this. 

To overshadow means to be more important or significant. To darken. To make sad. In fact, I can’t find a positive definition that doesn’t prioritize the structure’s place, the developer’s place, above the men and women with the little tablets that mark their being, their having been. 

I wonder if the developer who dreamed up this structure has taken in perspectives beyond his stated - evidently he thinks this structure will be felt by generations to come. Does he mean to menace? Awe? Dazzle? And who will be menaced and awed and dazzled? 

Has he thought of other outcomes? 

For example, for the men and women who will one day be buried in the then-blotted cemetery, what can he think it means for them? Who sees a tooth behind a mountain? A lot of soldiers are buried there. The developer did not serve. Statesmen too, who gently guided their charge, are buried there. The developer is not gentle. 

He should read the room. For the dead, brutality isn’t called for. 

I don’t think my dad’s groundskeepers would approve of the developer either. Not with all that attention they pay. 

Think of a farmer neatly dropping seed that ushers fruit in lines that climb hills. Now think of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery laying the dead in lines that climb hills. Their fruit, the reminder of freedom’s fare. Their fruit, our knowledge that sacrifice matters. Our fruit, the sun-flecked national lawn that abides. 

There’s a Greek word for the pollution that stains a person who doesn’t properly care for the dead - the word is miasma. An erasure of land and sky between the Lincoln Memorial and our war dead might earn miasma for the developer. 

Let the markers swim in light, untouched by the designs of one developer. Let ages of men and women be the stars in healthy sunlit soil. Let the unnumbered marbles speak our glory. Tell the developer to let us be. 

I’m tired. I loved my dad and proudly buried him at Arlington. Can we agree to let his sacrifice be the design, one soldier equal to his neighbor, together, a pointillist picture felt now and by generations to come.

We talk about sacrifice. That’s the price they’ve all paid for entry and the price we’ve paid for visiting rights. Can the developer please sacrifice just this one project. For my beloved dad and yours. 

With love and gratitude to our service members,

Janine”

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U.S. citizens living abroad, both civilian and military, are highly encouraged to check your voter registration status and request your ballot for any upcoming elections in your home voting state that you are eligible to vote in.

The Global VMF Caucus has a membership of over 1,400 members located in dozens of countries and proudly consists of veterans, military family members, Department of Defense civilians, other national security professionals, and strong allies of veterans and military family causes.

For questions or comments pertaining to this statement, please reach out to
[email protected].