The parents of a U.S. Army officer who was stabbed to death in an attack that was labeled as a hate crime are continuing their fight to have him buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
Richard Collins III, who was Black, was stabbed to death while visiting friends at the University of Maryland in 2017 days after being commissioned as a second lieutenant. A white University of Maryland student, Sean Urbanski, was convicted of first-degree murder in Collins’ death.
“We feel that our son was at the pinnacle of life, and that he should receive all military honors, he took an oath to defend this country against all and I'm using the word all foreign and — both foreign and domestic terrorists,” Collins’ mother Dawn recently told PBS News Weekend. “So we feel that our son was murdered in an act of terrorism. And so, therefore, he should be placed at rest in Arlington Cemetery — National Cemetery.”
Collins’ father Rick said that following their son’s death the family was consumed with making sure those responsible for his death were brought to justice and in forming a non-profit that honors his legacy.
But, Rick Collins said the family has also spent a lot of time reaching out to both the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Army to petition for their son’s burial with full military honors at Arlington, “which is something that wasn't offered at the time he was murdered due to the technicality of the Army's policies. So that's what we're trying to have rectified now.”
According to Rick Collins, the Department of Defense said his son could be buried at Quantico National Cemetery if the family paid all of the expenses related to exhuming and transporting his body there.
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“This is kind of a gut punch, you know, you're telling me, yeah, I'll help you up,” he told PBS. “But at the same time, you're going to punch me in the gut and tell me, but you've got to pay all the expenses of having our son's body exhumed and transported to be able to be buried in a national cemetery.”
In a statement to PBS, Arlington National Cemetery offered its heartfelt condolences to the Collins family.
“Their requests for an exception to the burial policy at Arlington National Cemetery underwent a thorough review,” the statement reads. “While First Lieutenant Collins's death was tragic and his commitment to serve in the Army is extremely admirable, the Secretary of the Army made the decision to deny the request. Exceptions to the policy are rarely approved.”
The statement goes on to note that burial space at Arlington National Cemetery is extremely limited and service members with no active duty military service other than training do not qualify to be laid to rest there.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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