Swiss-born man to rest in Arlington cemetery for spy work in WWII Joyeuse received the Distinguished Service Cross, the military's highest award for valor after the Medal of Honor. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, then supreme Allied commander, personally pinned it on him. But the honor Joyeuse most wanted - burial at Arlington National Cemetery, the most hallowed ground of his adopted country - was initially denied to him after his death last June, at 92, in Upstate New York. He did not qualify, his family was told, because his attachment to the Office of Strategic Services, the CIA's wartime predecessor, did not meet the cemetery's requirement of active U.S. military service. With up to 30 funerals a day at the nation's burial ground, the rules and culture are strict and can be broken only with a waiver from the U.S. president or the secretary of the Army. Only 62 foreign nationals who perished while working with the American military have been buried at Arlington since the cemetery was established in 1864, said retired cemetery historian Tom Sherlock. That does not include several exceptional cases, including enemy soldiers who died in U.S. captivity. "It seemed almost completely wrong that people who fought against Rene Joyeuse are buried there, and he couldn't get in," said military and espionage historian Patrick K. O'Donnell, who helped the family make its case to influential members of the armed forces establishment. After months of appeals from the family, Secretary of the Army John McHugh granted the extremely rare waiver - in large part because of the intervention from then-CIA Director David H. Petraeus and Navy Adm. William H. McRaven, who helped plan the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Joyeuse, who became a surgeon and medical teacher and researcher in the United States, was cremated and will be inurned Friday at Arlington. O'Donnell said Petraeus was a crucial player in persuading McHugh to concede the waiver. "The situation seems very unique and the rationale quite exceptional," Petraeus wrote by hand to McHugh in his official letter of support. He signed off, "Many thanks - Dave." Remi Joyeuse and his older brother, Marc-Jerome, said they were baffled by the initial decision to deny their father a burial spot and felt an imperative to challenge the ruling on his behalf. "One of my earliest memories was looking at my father's Distinguished Service Cross when I was 3, and he explained then, "That is the medal that will allow me to be buried at Arlington cemetery," " said Remi, a business consultant in Knoxville, Tenn. "He considered America his country, his home," Remi added. But he also gave up a lot to come to this country - he left his family over in Europe.