Arlington Cemetery - Part One

I'm trying to coordinate the pics from both the digital camera and my iPad into one cohesive photo album.
Not easy to do when there are over 1000 pictures and my iPad refuses to play nice with my Microsoft computer. I have to jump back and forth between two albums and then edit each one. Then I have to choose the best ones and categorize them by location. This is the first set I chose to work on since I am home.
The entrance to the Arlington Cemetery is indeed impressive. This is the sight you see when you emerge up the escalator from the metro station below. Directly behind us is the bridge over the Potomac where the beginning of The Mall is and the Lincoln Memorial.


Everywhere you look are rows of headstones for the infantry soldiers that died in the service of their country.

They are arranged so that no matter where you should stand (360°) they are all in evenly spaced rows. There is something calmly serene and beautiful about all this, yet sad quiet.

Officer's families have the choice to buy a custom made headstone and these are placed in special locations amongst their men. Not just the military are buried here, There are three President's, a Supreme Court Judge, spouses and even a few politicians.

Between the cemetery entrance and the Lee House, is the grave site of the Kennedy family. This is the view from the site.

On March 3rd, President Kennedy and Charlie Bartlett had made an impromptu Sunday visit to the Custis-Lee mansion. One of the park guides went on to recall that after touring the house the president remarked that the view of Washington, D.C., was so magnificent that he could stay forever — a statement which seemed to confirm their selection of the grave site.

The markers are of JFK, Jacqueline, their first son and a still born daughter that was not named.
The eternal flame is being replaced and a temporary one has been set off to the side. It is the only time it was shut off and re-lit since JFK was buried.
Mrs. Kennedy had expressed a desire to mark the president's grave with an eternal flame similar to that of the French Unknown Soldier in Paris.

Surrounding the site is a concrete wall that is broken into sections, and in each section are quotes from speeches President Kennedy made.

Looking back up the hill is the Lee House.
Arlington Cemetery was built on the property of Robert E. Lee. When he surrendered, the government took his land to use as a place to bury the soldiers killed in action on both sides of the Civil War.

I suggest that if you are planning on visiting the cemetery, pay for the trolley. You can get off and on any time you wish and if you plan on also visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it will save you time to get it all in. For seniors and small children, it's a must.

My next set of pictures will be the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and will be posted on the best day of the year to do so....Memorial Day.
Stay tuned for part two.