Section 60

A woman stands among the headstones of Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60, an area where war dead from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are laid to rest.

A small memento painted with the personal note, "American Hero," is left on a grave marker.

A woman sits and weeps in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery.

Nicki Bunting sits with her children, Connor, 2, and 7-month old Cooper, at her husband and their father, Captain Brian Bunting's grave at Arlington on Father's Day. Bunting, 29, of Potomac, Md., died February 24, 2009 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Four days after he died his wife found out she was pregnant with Cooper.

Janae Morrison, 2, gets a helping hand from Eleanor Davis, 78, to put a stone on top of her cousin, Justin Ray Davis' grave. The grandmother and cousin joined other relatives of Davis, who was killed in Korengal Outpost, Afghanistan (near Kunar Province), on June 25, 2006, when he came in contact with indirect fire while on patrol during combat operations, to clean his headstone and place fresh flowers on his gave.

Isaiah West, 10, of Frederick, MD., cleans the headstone of 1st Lt. Forrest Ewens while his cousin, Justin Ray Davis' grave. Ewens was killed in the Pech River Valley, Afghanistan, on June 16, 2006, when his all terrain vehicle struck an improvised explosive device during combat operations.

A young girl writes a Father's Day card for her father she sits on his grave.

Rick Tieman, 51, of Waynesboro, PA., leaves a note to his son, Staff Sgt. Richard Tieman, 28, also of Waynesboro, PA., who was killed on May 18, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered in a suicide car bombing.

Elizabeth Belle, 55, of Fairfax, VA sits at her son, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Cain Kirven's grave. "It is an awful beautiful," she says of Arlington. Her son, Lance Cpl. Kirven, 21, was killed on May 8, 2005 as a result of enemy action in Alishang, Afghanistan, while conducting combat operations. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Brooke Nyren, 13, kisses her father, Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Nyren's headstone at Arlington on Father's Day. Staff Sgt. Nyren was killed in Iraq in December 28, 2004.

These are some photos from Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery. Section 60 is reserved for the war dead of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and has become a place where families and friends gather to remember, reflect, and mourn the loss of their loved ones.

Justin Merriman

Justin Merriman, a freelance photojournalist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has traveled the world to cover politics, wars, natural disasters, civil unrest as well as covering assignment throughout the United States. His work has appeared in leading national publications and he has received multiple top journalism awards.   

After covering the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – including the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania – Merriman committed to chronicling the U.S. military and its war on terror.  He has followed this story across the United States and into the conflict zones of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He also has covered life in Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 2002, India’s efforts to eradicate polio from its population, the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba in 2012, the 2013 conclave and election of Pope Francis in Rome, the second anniversary of Egypt’s revolution and subsequent unrest, Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the international political crisis that unfolded in Ukraine in 2014, a look inside of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in 2015 and its uncertain future, and most recently, traveled the entire U.S. border with Mexico documenting issues on immigration. 

Merriman’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Time, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and other publications across the globe. 

He has been recognized with numerous regional, national and international awards from organizations including Pictures of the Year International, Society of Professional Journalists, the National Press Photographers Association, the Society for News Design, the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, the Northern Short Course, the Southern Short Course, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the Military Reporters and Editors Association, and the Western Pennsylvania Press Club. He was awarded Photographer of the Year by the News Photographer Association of Greater Pittsburgh four times and most recently was honored with the Keystone Press Award’s 2016 Distinguished Visual Award from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Merriman graduated from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Writing. In 2009, the university awarded him its prestigious Alumnus of Distinction award. 

Currently Merriman lives in Oakmont with his fiancé, Stephanie Strasburg, a photojournalist with PublicSource. 

http://www.justinmerriman.com
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