Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Friday, November 22, 2019

World War One Is Not Forgotten at Arlington

Our resident documentarian and my fellow Air Force (SAC) veteran Steve Miller visited Arlington National Cemetery on this past Veterans/Armistice Day. Since his last pilgrimage there he discovered that several measures have been taken to insure the nation's sacrifices during the Great War are remembered.

The visitors center has added a nicely done informational kiosk—







The standard tour program includes a stop at General Pershing's grave, which is in the midst of the section set aside for his fellow WWI vets.




Unfortunately, the crowd and security considerations prevented the tram from operating on 11 November.  Steve, though, promises to send photos of the graves of Great War notables such as General Pershing's above (an earlier photo from Steve) and Last Doughboy Frank Buckles (Wikipedia photo below).




2 comments:

  1. Thanks for all the pictures. Frank Buckles at 110 was and is truly amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Mike. A slight correction and some additional info. The trams were running but because of the Veterans Day ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns, they did not start until 2 PM. If visiting, avoid a day where the Secret Service is involved. Walking was permitted, but vehicle passes require you hav a relative buried there.

    The Cemetery has a web site (www.arlingtoncemetery.mil)which is very helpful. Finding a grave can have some issues. I searched by name for a gravesite but drew a blank. I knew the full date of death, which yielded the location of his wife! (It was a shared grave). Their map program can be problematical. In some cases, it's spot on, in others it may get you in the ballpark, but require a bit of searching, perhaps more than a hundred yards.

    Steve Miller

    ReplyDelete