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MAY 26 – JUNE 1, 2017
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As the U.S. observes Memorial Day, here are
some fast facts about the place considered
the nation’s most hallowed ground.
L
PHOTO COURTESY OF OTIS BROOKS
• There is one
man in the cemetery who was also
born on the property. His name is
James Parks and he
was a slave there
that dug some of
the very first graves
in Arlington National Cemetery.
ARLINGTON HOUSE
Parks is buried in
section 15.
• There are almost 3,800 former
slaves who lived on the Arlington
Estate interred in Section 27. Their
headstones can be told apart from
the others by the
inscription “citizen” or “civilian.”
• Thurgood Marshall was laid to
rest in Arlington.
Marshall was the
first Black justice in
the United States.
He was appointed
to the position in
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
1967 by President
Lyndon B. Johnson.
• There are 12 former Supreme
Court chief justices buried in Arlington including: William Howard Taft,
Earl Warren, Warren Earl Burger and
William Hubbs Rehnquist.
• The first woman Naval pilot, Barbara Rainey, is buried in the cemetery. She was killed
in an air accident
while training another pilot.
• Mary Robert
Rinehart, America’s
first woman war
correspondent during World War I for
the Saturday Evening Post, is buried in Arlington.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Rinehart also wrote
mystery novels, including “The Circular Staircase” and “The Bat.”
• There are more than 20 astronauts buried in Arlington National
Cemetery.
• There are two presidents buried
in Arlington National Cemetery,
William Howard Taft and John
Fitzgerald Kennedy.
• There are currently about 5,000
unknown military serviceman and
women interred at Arlington National Cemetery. The first two unknowns,
both Union Soldiers, where laid to
rest on May 15, 1864.
ying just across the river from Washington D.C., Arlington National
Cemetery bears witness to America’s history, pays tribute to our
military and recognizes the sacrifice made by our men and women in
uniform.
The Arlington Mansion and the surrounding 200 acres were designated
an official military cemetery on June 15, 1864, by Secretary of War Edwin M.
Stanton.
Since then more than 400,000 people have been buried there. Among them:
Soldiers from all the nation’s wars (pre-Civil War dead were reinterred after
1900), presidents, Supreme Court justices and former slaves of the property.
The cemetery is still active and conducts nearly 7,000 burials each year.
Here are a few things you may not know about Arlington National Cemetery.
— South Florida Sun-Sentinel, MCT
• The flags in Arlington National
Cemetery are flown at half-staff from a
half hour before the first funeral until a
half hour after the last funeral each day.
Funerals are conducted six days a week
with between 27 and 30 services each
weekday and six to eight on Saturday.
• The Arlington Estate was originally
built as a memorial to George Washington by one of his grandsons, George
Washington Parke Custis. Congress
bought the property on March 3, 1883,
for $150,000.
• The first serviceman laid to rest in
Arlington National Cemetery was Private William Henry Christman from the
67th Pennsylvania Infantry on May 13,
1864.
• Robert E. Lee lived on the property with his wife as a custodian but was
never an owner of the property.
Visiting Arlington
More than 4 million people visit Arlington National Cemetery every year.
The site, which includes a comprehensive visitor center, is opened to the public at 8 a.m. 365 days a year. Between
April 1 and Sept. 30, the cemetery closes
at 7 p.m. The rest of the year it closes at
5 p.m.
There is no charge to visit the cemetery, but you must pay to park.
Burial at Arlington
Active duty Armed Forces members,
veterans retired from active military service, certain decorated veterans, former
prisoners of war and U.S. presidents, are
among those eligible to be buried at Arlington. Also eligible: Spouses, widows,
minor children and certain unmarried
adult children of eligible veterans. A
complete list of eligibility requirements
is available online at www.arlingtoncemetery.mil.
Upon the passing of an eligible veteran or family member, funeral directors
can contact the Internment Office at Arlington to make arrangements (1-877907-8585).
Online
OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/MCT
Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last
surviving American World War I veteran, passed away on Feb. 27, 2011,
at age 110. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on March 15,
2011.
• www.arlingtoncemetery.mil — Find
information on funerals, including eligibility requirements and scheduling services, as well as visitor info.
• http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/ —
Find out locations of those buried in Arlington National Cemetery, or any other
government cemetery.
SAUL LOEB/TNS
OLIVIER DOULERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS
Just prior to Memorial Day weekend,
the 3rd U.S. Infantry places American flags before the gravestones and
niches of service members.
The ceremony is called “Flags In.”
President Obama lays a wreath at
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at
Arlington National Cemetery on Nov.
11, 2015, in Arlington, Va.
CHUCK KENNEDY/TNS
Salutes
and tradition
The “21-gun salute” is often confused with the ceremonial act of firing three volleys
at military and police funerals,
but these are two completely
different rituals. The “21-gun
salute” stems from naval tradition and is an expression of
welcome offered to dignitaries,
like U.S. presidents.
The ritual of firing gun salutes has existed for centuries
and the act of firing an odd
number of shots reflects long
held superstitions that odd
numbers are considered lucky.
Early naval gun salutes consisted of seven shots. Forts on
shore, which could store more
gunpowder, would sometimes
fire three shots for each shot
fired by the ship, thus 21.
The firing of three rifle volleys by the honor guard at military and police funerals is a
burial custom, intended as a
reminder, not a salute or greeting. The tradition most likely
stems from
battlefield
practices.
As firearms
were introduced, the
custom of firing three volleys was established to
cease fighting
TNS so the dead
and wounded could be retrieved from the
battlefield.
After the last rifle volley during a funeral, the bugler then
sounds taps also known as
“Butterfield’s Lullaby.” When
taps is played at a funeral, only
serving members of the military or veterans should salute.
Civilians should place their
right hand over their heart.
— Jennifer Pritchard, TNS
SOURCES: ARLINGTON
NATIONAL CEMETERY WEB
SITE, WWW.HISTORY.NAVY.MIL,
WWW.WEST-POINT.ORG
PHOTO COURTESY OF ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY