Arlington National Cemetery

Have you ever visited the Arlington National Cemetery? Do you know what it is? I am sure somebody told you about it. But you probably don’t know how it came about.The Arlington National Cemetery is a wonderful site.

Arlington National Cemetery once belonged to George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Washington and step grandson of George Washington. Custis spent his life commemorating Washington and built Arlington House on the 1,100 acre plantation as a memorial to the first president. In 1857, Custis handed the property to his daughter Mary Anna Custis, who married U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Robert E. Lee. George Washington was the first president of the United States, first person to sign the U.S. Constitution and one of the founding

On Memorial Day, 1921, four servicemen (unknown) were dug up from four World War I American cemeteries in France. The World War I Unknown lays in the Capitol Rotunda from his arrival in the U.S. until Armistice Day. They chose the soldier for WW1 by putting wreaths on caskets then randomly chose the casket three to the left. The white marble sarcophagus has a box like form and is relieved at the corners and along the sides by neo-classic pilasters, or columns, set into the surface. Sculpted into the east panel which faces Washington, D.C., are three Greek figures representing Peace, Valor and Victory. The six wreaths, three on each side, represent the six major campaigns of World War I. On the back of the tomb it says “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God”. The changing of the guard occurs every 30 minutes. There is a guard in front of the tomb every minute of the day and there has been since 1937. There are guards outside of the tomb to show respect to those who are not identified but risked their lives for the U.S. The selection ceremonies for WW2 unknowns took place in 1958 The WW2 Unknown was selected from remains exhumed from cemeteries in Europe, Africa, the Phillipines and Hawaii. Two Unknowns from World War II, one from the European Theater and one from the Pacific Theater, were placed in identical caskets and taken aboard the USS Canberra, a cruiser resting off the Virginia Capes. Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class William R. Charette, then the U.S. Navy's only active-duty Medal of Honor recipient who was an enlisted man, selected the World War II Unknown. The remaining casket received a solemn burial at sea. Four unknown Americans who died in the Korean War were unearthed from the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. Army Master Sergeant Ned Lyle made the final selection of the casket. The designation of the Vietnam