Arlington National Cemetery

Jeni and I have recently started a tradition where we take a day or two off from the kids somewhere around our anniversary and spend some time together.  This year, we were going to take a couple of days in DC and see some things that we haven't seen, but it got shortened to one day and one night due to the rotten weather on day two.  Never the less, we spent the night in the Rosslyn Holiday Inn (only about 12 miles from home, but like I said, no kids.  Thanks Granny and Granddaddy. :) )  It was very nice and I made this picture (which I am extremely proud of) from the balcony.

For the rest of the post, click play for some fitting background music from Trace Adkins.


The first thing we did on that Friday was to go to Arlington.  Jeni had never been to Arlington but I've been a few times.  It is truly a humbling experience to walk among the rows and rows and rows of American patriots who lie there.

That's Robert E. Lee's house up there on the hill.  Before the war he had some of the best real estate in DC (Arlington County, Virginia was part of DC back then).  Check out this view:

That's the five sided puzzle palace down there, just beyond the cemetery grounds.

The really famous and well connected folks are buried right at the bottom of that hill.  The Kennedy eternal flame is right at the bottom of Gen. Lee's hill.  I don't have a picture of it, because I was never into the Camelot thing and I don't see why one veteran should have such a high place of honor over the thousands of others (full disclosure: I do have a pic from an earlier visit, but I'm not sharing because I'm making a point here).  Near John Kennedy is Ted.  They discovered that he was drafted and served a few months and was, therefore, eligible to be buried near his brothers and among men much, much his better on this hallowed ground.  Meanwhile, real heroes rest unassumingly among the thousands of Warriors buried here.

There are also tributes to those who didn't necessarily fall in battle, or even serve in combat, but were heroes, none the less:

And there are some great stories, that are only told here, about amazing Patriots and Warriors like this man:

Of course, we watched the Changing of the Guard.  Jeni had never seen it.  Although, as a Soldier, my first impulse is to smirk a bit at this overly grandiose display of drill that will be found nowhere in an Army manual and is not practiced anywhere else in the Army, when you realize that these soldiers go to all the trouble to memorize and perfect that routine to honor the men in that tomb, it is very humbling.

 
While we were there, a Naval Officer was being buried.  (We went to Ft. Myer, which borders the cemetery, before our visit to buy a few things, and we saw the Navy band forming up outside the chapel and we saw the procession coming into the cemetery while we were waiting at the Tomb of the Unknowns).  During the changing of the guard, in honor of the Naval Officer, four F-18's did a "missing man" flyover.  If you've never seen one, four jets came over in a "V" formation with a lead plane with one plane in echelon on the left and two in echelon on the right.  When they came over the cemetery the first plane on the right broke sharply skyward and climbed high into the sky, symbolizing the soul of the fallen Warrior ascending to heaven, and the rest of the flight flew on with an empty position in the formation.  If was a breathtaking sight.... the changing of the guard honoring the unknowns of wars before and the missing man formation for a recently deceased Warrior, but just as easily symbolizing those Unknown Soldiers in the tomb.  I will admit that my eyes watered up just a bit, and when the changing of the guard was over, Jeni had to take a moment before she could ask where we were going next.

This is what the missing man formation looks like over a noisy football stadium.  Now use your imagination to see this over the reverent quiet at Arlington. 

 If you look closely at the crest of the hill, behind the trees, you can see the caisson that carried the Naval Officer to his grave, returning to Ft. Myer.


The Tomb of the Unknowns is backed by an amphitheater, and I must admit I have no idea why, or what they do there, but this is the inscription over the entryway:

If you can't read the top line, it says, "dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"  That's Latin for "it is sweet and beautiful to die for one's country".  Here is the only place I will go off script.  When I was a younger man, I believed that.  Now, I will only say that anyone who says it is sweet and beautiful to die for your country, has never done it.  I understand the sentiment, but it is far better to fight and live.  If you must die, you must, but it sure as heck isn't sweet and beautiful.

If you get the chance to go to Arlington, I would encourage you to get away from the eternal flame and the Tomb of the Unknowns, and all the tourist stuff, and just wander around the cemetery a bit and soak it in.  It is truly humbling.  I would say go over to section 60, because that's were the dead of our current wars are being buried, but I think its better to let the grieving have their peace.