Arlington National Cemetery
From LoveToKnow Travel
Tomb of the Unknowns
One of the most visited sites at Arlington National Cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknowns, a memorial dedicated to the unidentified service personnel lost during United States’ past wars. The Colorado marble monument contains the remains of unknown soldiers from World War I, World War II, and the Korean conflict. The unknown soldier from the Vietnam War was later identified and the crypt is currently empty. The memorial is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by the prestigious 3rd U.S. Infantry, along known as the “Old Guard.” Near the Tomb of the Unknowns lies a memorial to the 266 servicemen who died during the attack on the U.S. Maine in 1898. The site includes the mast salvaged from the ship’s wreckage.
Arlington House (Custis-Lee Mansion)
The manor house of the Custis-Lee plantation at Arlington National Cemetery and is the focal point of the cemetery. Once the gracious home of generations of Custis’, including George Washington’s wife, Martha Custis, and later Lee’s (by marriage), the home was confiscated with over 1000 acres of land from Robert E. Lee after the Confederate States’ defeat in the Civil War. During that conflict, the house served as the base for the Army of the Potomac. Today, the home is a memorial to General Lee and looks much as it did in the 19th century. Many of the furnishings and household objects in the home were once owned by the Lees.
Other Notable Memorials
Arlington National Cemetery contains the grave of President John F. Kennedy, marked by an eternal flame. His wife, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, is buried beside him as are two of their children who died in infancy. President Kennedy’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy, is buried nearby.
A memorial to the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger who died during its launch January 28, 1986 is adorned by the John Gillespie Magee, Jr. poem “High Flight.” A similar memorial the crewmembers of the Space Shuttle Columbia is nearby.
Two memorials are dedicated to Americans who perished from acts of terrorism: The Pentagon Memorial honors those 184 Americans who were killed in that building during the 9/11 attacks. Another nearby memorial is dedicated to the 270 killed in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Just outside the cemetery gates is the United States Marine Corps Memorial, better known as the Iwo Jima Memorial. This stirring memorial is dedicated to Marine Corps personnel who have perished since the Corps was formed in 1775. The statue atop the memorial is based on the famous Pulitzer Prize winning photograph by Joe Rosenthal of five Marines raising a flag atop Mt. Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during World War II.
Notable Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington performs over 5000 funerals annually. Any honorably discharged veteran is eligible for internment in Arlington, most frequently in the columbarium. Arlington National Cemetery includes the burial sites of many notable military figures, including William Halsey, World War II Navy Fleet Admiral; Audie Murphy, actor and the most decorated soldier of World War II; John Pershing, commander of the American forces in World War I, and Omar Bradley, the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Other service men and women interred at Arlington are best known for their civilian achievements, such as novelist Dashiell Hammett, actor Lee Marvin, news anchorman Frank Reynolds, and boxing champion Joe E. Louis.
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