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Why Arlington National Cemetery is an Important Piece of American History and Who Is Buried There

Over 4 million people, come through Arlington National Cemetery each year. It has over 200 acres and was originally set up to be a military natural burial site in the mid 1800′s . It is the second largest national cemetery in the US with over 300,000 Americans buried there. This famous natural cemetery is situated in Arlington, Virginia and brings visitors here for many different reasons. Some simply wish to be able to see a piece of American history, some come to pay their respects and honor the nation’s war heroes and others are there for a funeral service and burial of a friend or family member .

For those people that are there to go to a funeral, they are in the company of a lot of others each week at Arlington. The cemetery has average of about 28 funerals everday during the week with no funeral services occuring on the weekends. Veterans from all of the {nation’s|country’s] wars are buried at this cemetery from the American Revolution all the way to Iraq and Afghanistan. There are specific ceremonies that happen {during|at] a funeral here. They have a wreath laying ceremony {to have|where] a wreath placed on the gravesite as well as a 21 gun salute in honor of the soldier. They also follow the burial with the playing of taps and the presentation of the flag that was on the coffin to the relatives.

One of the most visited parts of the Arlington national cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknowns. This is a monumental tomb that was built and houses the remains of an unknown soldier from each war. It is meant to symbolize all of the service members that lost their lives during war. There was a ceremony when each Unknown Soldier was interred into the tomb by the presiding President of the United States at the time. The only war that is no longer represented is the Vietnam War where the remains were taken out and identified and then the family of that deceased veteran preferred to have him buried near them. The Tomb of the Unknowns is guarded by the U.S. Army 24 hours a day 365 days a year .

There are famous people that are well thought of in American History that are also honored by being buried at this cemetery. These people were not military figures but mad an impact in our history. There are quite a few explorers buried including some astronauts here. Also, laid to rest here are famous political people such as the Kennedy brothers. Famous literary and medical figures are burial in Arlington too. There are also 2 Presidents of the United States buried here and they are William Howard Taft and John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Many visitors enjoy walking all around and seeing all of the famous names buried in one cemetery .

If you would like to travel to the Washington, D.C. area and take a visit to Arlington, Virginia to see this famous cemetery, it may be exciting to go there on a day that has special events going on . Veteran’s Day typically has the current President speak in honor of those that lost their lives for our country .

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