HEROES’ REST

May 29, 2012      Arlington National Cemetery is a must see on any visit to D.C., especially on Memorial Day weekend.  We only spent a brief time there yesterday, and that mostly at the Women’s military monument.  Today we’d see the rest.

We entered through these fancy gates and stopped first at the Memorial Amphitheater, which is the site of the Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day ceremonies.  Dignitaries and the favored sit on the marble benches within the ring of flags.  Most of the action was yesterday when the Prez presented the wreath, so the place was empty today.  Loni’s trying to keep herself shaded in the stifling heat.

Adjacent to the Amphitheater is the Tomb of the Unknowns, where the wreath was presented.  The Tomb was established in 1921.  A sentinel of the Third U.S. Infantry maintains vigil around the clock, pacing 21 steps alongside the tomb, pausing for 21 seconds, and then returning.  The changing of the guard takes place every half-hour March through September, then every hour the rest of the year.  Interestingly, the unknown soldier from Vietnam was disinterred in 1998 when he was identified through an advanced DNA process.

We then hiked over to the Kennedy gravesite, which lies at the foot of Arlington House on the hill beyond.  Bobby’s grave is off to the left of the tree at the left of the pic, and is marked by a simple white cross.

Arlington House is now the Robert E. Lee memorial, and therein lies a tale.  It originally was built (1802-1818) as a memorial to George Washington by George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Martha by her first marriage, but who was raised (after his parents’ deaths) by George and Martha as their son.  Thus he was George’s stepson while being Martha’s grandson.  The house was the centerpiece of Custis’ 1100 acre plantation.  In 1831, Custis’ only surviving child, Mary, married the then Lieutenant Robert E. Lee, and they resided at Arlington House for 30 years until he resigned his commission and moved south to head the Confederate Army.  U.S. federal troops then occupied the house as a headquarters.  D.C. became flooded with dead soldiers from the war, and by the end of it there were nearly 16,000 dead buried on the old plantation.  So, that’s how the memorial to the rebel commander sits perched in the catbird seat above the National Cemetery.

We kept wandering around, enjoying the grounds, but were sobered by what they held.  Real heroes. 

By mid-afternoon we were hungry and thirsty, so we headed back into town and decided to check out the Newseum, repository of five centuries of news history and technology.  Since the place has so much to see, a ticket is good for two consecutive days, a good deal since we were getting there late in the afternoon.  We decided to not try for the exhibits today, but rather to look the place over generally and to catch the views from the top level gallery.  They were pretty darn good.

Of course, we had to mug for the camera as well.  Loni’s holding her “just-in-case” umbrella.

Looking the other way down Pennsylvania Avenue is the headquarters of my old outfit, the Federal Trade Commission, with its iconic statues of the heroic FTC-er reining in the runaway horse of free-market capitalism.  Or something.  Whatever.

Closing time was coming up, so we skedaddled for the metro to beat the 5:00 rush.  We had to get groceries on the way back, since the scoot is still laid up in Annapolis.  Fortunately, there is a grocery store on the route the bus takes from the metro terminus to our park.  All we had to do was to get our shopping done in time to make the next bus back home.  Mission accomplished.