Arlington National Cemetery

Occupying 624 acres in northeastern Virginia, Arlington National Cemetery is situated on the Potomac River, directly across from Washington, DC. The site was officially designated as a military cemetery by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton on June 15, 1864. The cemetery serves as the final resting-place for more than 400,000 people.

The majority of those buried in Arlington National Cemetery are active, retired, or former members of the armed forces, those who died while on active duty, high-ranking government officials, Medal of Honor recipients, and their spouses or unmarried children under twenty-one years of age.

History

In 1802, George Washington Parke Custis began building a house on his estate. Known as Arlington House, the home was built as a memorial to Custis's grandfather, President George Washington. Although Custis lived in the house with his wife, he also used it to store his grandfather's personal items and other memorabilia that he had collected. After his death, his daughter, Mary Anna Randolph Custis and her husband, Confederate general Robert E. Lee, lived on the estate. They left Arlington House in 1861, fearing for their safety during the Civil War. In 1864, the federal government confiscated Arlington House and its grounds for use as a cemetery for Union casualties.

In 1863, a portion the estate was dedicated to serve as a settlement for former slaves. Named Freedman's Village, the settlement was home to more than 1,100 freed slaves, also known as "Contrabands," until 1890, when Arlington was designated for exclusive use by the military. Today, there are more than 3,800 former slaves buried in Section 27 of Arlington National Cemetery. Their headstones are inscribed with the word "civilian," or "citizen."

Memorials

More than four million people visit Arlington National Cemetery each year, to pay their last respects to loved ones, or simply to walk through the historic grounds. Famous monuments and memorials in the cemetery include Arlington House, the Memorial Amphitheater, the Tomb of the Unknowns, and the Eternal Flame at the grave of President John F. Kennedy.

The Memorial Amphitheater, located in Arlington National Cemetery, is used for services to honor American service members. Three major services take place annually on Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day, and other military memorial services are performed throughout the year. There is a chapel located under the amphitheater stage, as well as a memorial display room containing plaques in honor of those interred at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Tomb of the Unknowns is a memorial to American servicemen killed without being identified during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The Tomb of the Unknowns was opened to the public in 1932. Currently, there are three unidentified servicemen buried in the tomb: one soldier from World War I was interred in 1921, and one soldier from World War II and another from the Korean War were interred in the tomb in 1958. A fourth unknown serviceman from the Vietnam War was also buried there in 1984; however, his remains were disinterred in 1998, and he was identified through DNA testing as Air Force First Lieutenant Michael Joseph Blassie. It is now believed that because of such advanced testing practices, there will never be another unknown serviceman again. Since April 6, 1948, the US Army has guarded the Tomb of the Unknowns twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year.

President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy are both buried at Arlington National Cemetery. An eternal flame marks the grave of President Kennedy, and his brother is buried in an adjoining gravesite, marked by a simple white cross. Robert F. Kennedy's funeral took place in Arlington National Cemetery in the evening because of delays in getting the body from New York to Washington. To this day, it remains the only funeral to have taken place there at night.

Arlington National Cemetery is administered by the Department of the Army, and conducts more than 100 funerals per week. Flags are flown at half-staff each day from thirty minutes before the first funeral until thirty minutes after the last funeral.

The cemetery's administrators came under intense criticism in July 2010 when it was discovered that over 200 grave sites in Arlington had been mislabeled. The cemetery's deputy, John Metzer, was forced to resign and testify before a Senate committee investigating the matter. Metzer stated that the errors occurred as result of a lack of funding and because of staffing issues and denied reports that the cemetery had been grossly mismanaged. Gravestones known to have incorrect names were soon repaired and replaced.

Bibliography

Arlington National Cemetery, US Army, www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2017.

"Arlington National Cemetery Fast Facts." CNN, 26 June 2017, www.cnn.com/2013/10/21/us/arlington-national-cemetery-fast-facts/index.html. Accessed 17 Oct. 2017.

Atkinson, Rick. Where Valor Rests: Arlington National Cemetery. National Geographic Society, 2007.

Poole, Robert M. On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery. Bloomsbury, 2010.