Arlington , Virginia ( CNN ) -- It may surprise the casual visitor at Arlington National Cemetery to see a rubber duck on a headstone or an old football helmet lying in the manicured grass of a fallen soldier 's grave . After all , America 's most hallowed ground is the final resting place for war heroes , astronauts , even a U.S. president . But it happens all the time , especially in Section 60 , where many of those killed in the current wars are buried . Leaving a flower arrangement is still common . And many graves have tiny American flags placed on them . But this new generation of warriors are frequently remembered with mementos like cans of beer , teddy bears and even tiny bottles of hot sauce . The message in the mementos is unknown but likely very personal . `` I have seen everything from report cards to an Alabama football ticket stub , '' said Roderick Gainer , a curator with the Center of Military History . `` Obviously , these deceased service person was a Crimson Tide fan . Letters , hotel keys . I 've seen jewelry , lots of things . '' Gainer is part of a new effort by the Army to make sure these items do n't end up in the trash . For the first time the Army , which runs Arlington National Cemetery , is collecting many of the items left on the graves , cataloging them according to what grave they were left on and storing them for posterity . Before this effort began late last summer , most of the items were thrown away . Some cemetery employees tried to gather some special mementos , but no record was kept about what graves those items came from . Now , curators from the Center of Military History are making sure a thorough record is kept . `` We are going by , grave to grave , on a weekly basis recovering items that have been left and then we basically put these items into a database and photograph the grave , '' Gainer said . Read about the demanding work of Arlington 's burial crews . Then the mementos are put into plastic bags with a note card with the date of collection , the fallen service member 's name and the grave number . Not everything is saved . Perishable items like food or flowers are left on the grave . But if a note is attached , it 's collected and saved . A plain pebble on top of a headstone will be left alone , but if someone has written or painted something personal on the stone , it will be saved . They even save some of the empty beer and liquor bottles that often turn up next to the headstones . And on some graves , like that of Pfc . Kenneth Zeigler , nothing is disturbed . Zeigler 's mother asked the Army not to collect anything off his grave and the curators gladly respect her wishes . There was a case where some items were collected from a grave , but the family did n't want the items moved , so the center returned the materials to the family . The curators also pay attention to when the materials are left . If they are birthday cards and a birthday is approaching , they will usually leave them . But if the birthday has passed , they will collect them . While Gainer does this job every week , some things still get to him . Like a poem left on Cmdr . Phil Murphy-Sweet 's grave that reads : . `` In Arlington , a small white stone there , . a small white stone , three little pebbles , . an inscription , and a patch of green grass . That 's where he 'll stay . He should be home laughing with kids or still serving his country . But instead , he stays there . '' The poem is signed `` Jeanne and Lelila Musgates . '' But it 's unclear why it was left on Murphy-Sweet 's grave . Were they relatives , friends or just patriotic Americans who wanted to remember a fallen soldier ? Once the poem and all other mementos have been collected , catalogued and saved , the Army secretary will decide what will be done with them . They may become part of a museum exhibit . Or maybe , someday , a historian will go through them to teach about the two wars .
Most fallen soldiers of current wars are buried in Section 60 . People leave personal mementos , including cans of beer and hot sauce . Army making effort to ensure the mementos do n't end up in trash .