Arlington National Cemetery...

While on my way to New York for a shoot, I had planned a two day stop in Maryland to visit a friend and his family. It's always good to visit old friends, and I've known Mark over 40 years, so he certainly qualifies.

As I would be arriving on Father's Day, I decided I'd give Mark some "Dad time" with his two boys and show up later in the day.  So, to pass the time, I decided to visit Arlington National Cemetery.

I've long held that every American should visit Washington DC at least once. I went first when I was very young, during a family trip. Years later, I visited while attending a seminar at the Naval Surface Weapons Center (NSWC) in White Oak, Maryland.

Over the years since, I've visited when my travel schedule allowed, but I never made it across the Arlington Memorial Bridge, located behind the Lincoln Memorial, to visit Arlington National Cemetery.

For $15 you can ride a "hop on/hop off" tram which takes you to most of the major areas of the cemetery. If you're active duty military in uniform, the tram is free. If you're a Veteran, it's only $6.75 and it's worth every penny.

The first stop on the tram tour is the grave of President John F. Kennedy. I was surprised to learn that Kennedy is one of only two Presidents buried here, the other being William Howard Taft. Arlington National Cemetery. More than 3,000,000 people a year visit Arlington, and it's a fair bet that every last one of them stops at Kennedy's grave.

The Eternal Flame atop John Kennedy's grave...

The graves of John  and Jacqueline Kennedy...

The former President and First Lady aren't the only Kennedy's buried here. Among the others are JFK's brothers Robert and Edward (Ted). The only one to see age 50 was Ted Kennedy, who died at age 77. President Kennedy was assassinated at age 46, and his younger brother Robert was assassinated at age 42. There's a commemorative headstone for Kennedy's older brother, Joseph, who was killed in action during World War II. He was only 29.

While the Kennedy grave site is undoubtedly the most popular site in Arlington, running an extremely close second is the Tomb of the Unknowns. 

The Tomb of the Unknowns...

The first 24-hour guard was posted on midnight, July 2, 1937. The Tomb of the Unknowns has been guarded continuously; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since then.

It's interesting to note that no guard wears a uniform which displays a rank, so as not to run the risk of being of a higher rank than those unknown ranks of the interred. While the Relief Commander wears a rank, he also has a uniform which displays no rank for when he stands guard.

The Relief Commander (with back towards the camera) inspects the guard being relieved...

The guard

The Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknowns...

While there are meaningful adornments on all sides of the tomb, perhaps none is as famous as the inscription on the front:

HERE RESTS IN

HONORED GLORY

AN AMERICAN 

SOLDIER

KNOWN BUT TO GOD

The Tomb of the Unknowns actually contains the remains of unidentified servicemen from World War I, World War II and the Korean War. There was, at one time, a service member from the Vietnam War, however his body was disinterred and identified, through DNA testing, to be that of Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie. Following this, it was determined that the crypt for the Vietnam War would remain empty.

All servicemen interred at the Tomb have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The tomb is located behind the Memorial Amphitheater, which was opened on May 215, 1920.

The Memorial Amphitheater...

Across the road from the Memorial Amphitheater are the memorials for the Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia. Challenger, of course, exploded and broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff in 1986, and Columbia broke apart over northern Texas during re-entry in 2003. 

Memorial to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia...

Memorial to the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger...

The grave of  Air Force Lt. Col. Dick Scobee, Commander of the ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia...

Over 400,000 people have been interred in the 624 acres of Arlington National Cemetery. Now, you might think that's pretty big and, in fact, it is. After all, you can't put 400,000 of anything anywhere without requiring a lot of space. For whatever reason, I always assumed Arlington was the largest National Cemetery in the country but, in fact, it's not. It's the eight largest. Between 20 and 30 funerals a day are held here every day except Sunday.

And, in case you're wondering which is the largest, that would be Calverton National Cemetery near Riverhead on New York's Long Island.

Arlington National Cemetery...

To see all of Arlington National Cemetery would take a massive investment of time. It's too big and too sprawling to allow visiting the entire facility in a full day, not to mention the afternoon I was able to dedicate to it. So, unless you have the ability to spend a couple days exploring, I think it's best to pick the sites you want to see and ride the tram to get to the spots you want to see most.

As you might expect, left to your own devices, finding a single grave at Arlington would be like finding a needle in a haystack, and you probably have better odds of finding the needle. Fear not. The Visitor Center has kiosks into which you can enter a name and locate the grave. Once you do that, you can take a free shuttle from the Visitor Center to that grave. They drop you off and give you a phone number to call when you're ready to be picked up.

I wanted to visit the grave of R. Lee Ermey. When I told friends I was going to visit this grave, I was met with blank stares. 

"I don't know who that is."

Well, see, you do. You just don't realize it (Warning: Adult language, and a lot of it):

Ermey was hired by Stanley Kubrick as an advisor for the movie "Full Metal Jacket". When he made an instructional video for Kubrick, he was hired to play the role of Marine Drill Instructor (which he once actually was) Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. "The Gunny" passed away on April 15, 2018, due to complications from pneumonia.

The grave of "The Gunny"...

The day was getting late, so I decided to make my way back to the car and continue on with the day's plans. I'm glad I made this stop, though, as it's resided on my "bucket list" for quite some time. And, while I don't know when I'll be back, I know I will, and I'll be sure to spend a little more time here.

I'd suggest you do the same...