Every year thousands of visitors attend Memorial Day remembrance services Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for many of the nation’s greatest heroes. The interred include more than 300,000 veterans of every American conflict, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan. Some other facts about the national cemetery include:
- George Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of George Washington acquired the land that is now Arlington National Cemetery in 1802.
- In 1864 the 200-acre Arlington plantation of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was made a cemetery. The intent was to render the house uninhabitable should the Lee family ever attempt to return.
- Private William Christman, 21, of the 67th Pennsylvania Infantry was the first burial at Arlington National Cemetery. Pvt. Christman was buried in a plot on Arlington’s northeast corner on May 13, 1864.
- President Herbert Hoover conducted the first national Memorial Day ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1929.
- Every tombstone, monument, and columbarium row in the cemetery has a flag placed by them each Memorial Day.
- Almost 4,000 former slaves are buried in Section 27, land that was known as Freedman’s Village, Arlington’s first freedpersons neighborhood.
Stay safe out there this Memorial Day !
Related article Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.