Show looks at day in the life of Arlington

On the eve of Veteran’s Day, the “National Geographic Special” (7 p.m., PBS) “Arlington: Field of Honor” offers viewers a documentary look at America’s most hallowed burial ground.

A culture of exactitude has spawned many rituals and regimens. Soldiers assigned to guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are known to polish their boots for upwards of eight hours. Their officers check the straightness of their belts, sashes and medals with rulers that measure up to 1/64th of an inch. They also use matches to burn off tiny hints of lint or fuzz from ties, jackets and sashes. Workers cut acres of grass and power-wash thousands of tombstones every day, but maintain an unobtrusive solemnity so as not to disturb the more than 5,000 burials that take place every year.

“Field of Honor” follows employees on an average day at Arlington, one that includes a half-dozen funerals. One of the burials involves the recently discovered remains of an Air Force pilot whose body was lost in Indochina in the 1960s. A cemetery manager is seen on the phone organizing a tribute flyover of jets from a base in South Carolina. Emotions run high at a funeral for a soldier recently killed in Iraq. Cemetery representative Joe Mercer explains that the exhaustive preparations and rituals are a necessary part of the job. “There are just hours and hours of preparation put into a service that lasts 20 minutes,” he explains, “You can never stop and say, ‘Whoa, let’s back up and do that again.’ You have one chance to do it right, and that’s it.”

Tonight’s other highlights

  • David Faber is host of “The Age of Wal-Mart: Inside America’s Most Powerful Company” (6 p.m., CNBC).
  • Scheduled on “60 Minutes II” (7 p.m., CBS): a profile of Jamie Foxx, star of the new movie “Ray.”
  • A hectic holiday on “LAX” (7 p.m., NBC).
  • Sawyer hoards vital medicines on “Lost” (7 p.m., ABC).
  • Doug’s group therapy on “King of Queens” (8 p.m., CBS).
  • A renegade from the Republic of Georgia arrives with weapons of mass destruction on “The West Wing” (8 p.m., NBC).
  • A restaurant shootout on “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS).