Today, we decided to head to
Arlington Cemetery to watch the "changing
of the guards" at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Unbeknownst to us, there was a big wreath laying ceremony going on
and so many, many people were there and we had a hard time seeing
over everyone. Christy had a better view and got
better pictures than I did with her new fancy, schmancy camera.
I'm jealous.
The Tomb of the Unknowns (also known
as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) is guarded 24 hours a day, 365
days a year, and in any weather by
Tomb Guard sentinels. Sentinels, all volunteers, are considered
to be the best of the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard),
headquartered at Fort Myer, Va.
It was all too much for Caden.
Can you find him in the picture below? He's wearing red and is
asleep.
After the ceremony, we headed over to
the gravesites of President John F Kennedy, First Lady Jackie
Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy, an infant son who only lived 2 days, and a
daughter who was born stillborn.
The Kennedy graves and the
Eternal Flame - the Eternal Flame was requested by Jackie two
days after President Kennedy was assassinated and the gas lines were
laid that very night. She was inspired by the eternal flame at
the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
This is the gravesite of President
John F Kennedy's younger brother,
Robert
Kennedy, who was also assassinated.
The kids were too tired and hungry
after all the walking we did today to continue any further so we're
planning a return trip to find the graves of
President William H. Taft, polar explorer Admiral
Richard E.
Byrd, North Pole explorer
Robert Peary, North Pole explorer
Matthew Henson, highly decorated WWII soldier
Audie Murphy,
Medgar Evers, Astronaut
Robert
Overmyer (I went on a blind date once with his son in
college and didn't know he had died until I was searching the
Arlington Cemetery website today), the Memorial and partial remains
of the crew of the
Challenger Space Shuttle, the
Iwo Jima Memorial ,
Arlington House (Robert E Lee mansion) and the many
other memorials.
Interesting facts:
-
There are 15-30
funerals in Arlington Cemetery everyday.
-
Three unknown
servicemen were buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
One was from WWII. One was from the Korean war and one
was from the Vietnam War.
-
The unknown
soldier from the Vietnam War was disinterred and identified
in 1998 and later reburied near his family.
-
More than
300,000 people are buried in Arlington Cemetery.
