Arlington National Cemetery is about a 20-minute drive from our house and we have visited it many times, but we chose not to go there. We figured Arlington Cemetery would get plenty of attention, and it did. Instead we went to a smaller cemetery only a few minutes from our house, Alexandria National Cemetery. Most of the 4,000 graves in this cemetery are from the Civil War, including some for what was then known as the U.S. Colored Troops. But there are a few graves from more recent conflicts: World War I, World War II, Korea, Viet Nam, and even the Persian Gulf. It is one of the oldest military cemeteries in the country but remains an active cemetery, accepting new burials of veterans long removed from the days of the Civil War.
It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, with temperatures near 70. What must have been several hundred people turned out. There were many Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, church and community groups, a few military personnel in their fatigues, families and couples. The wreaths had already arrived in large boxes that were positioned around the cemetery. There was a short opening ceremony in which ceremonial wreaths were placed representing each of the military services (including the merchant marine, nicely enough), followed by instructions. There were about 2,000 wreaths available so we were to place a wreath at every other grave. Then we set to work. Thanks in no small part to large numbers of very enthusiastic Cub Scouts, every other grave had a wreath in about 15 minutes. I barely had time to grab two wreaths and place them. Then my wife and I spent the rest of our time at the cemetery strolling around, reading the grave markers.
As I said, most of the graves are from the Civil War and most of the grave markers are very brief: a name, a state, maybe a date, occasionally a regiment number, that's all. There were quite a few that said only, "Unknown U.S. Soldier." Those really grabbed me. The Civil War is so far removed from my experience, I admit, that I rarely think of that war, despite the many battlefields that are found only a short journey from my home. Certainly I never pondered at any length, until today, the lives and deaths of those men from a century and a half ago.
Those men, and their comrades who survived that war, had the same experiences as those who fought, died in or survived later wars; only the details differ. And their sacrifices were as significant to the history of our country as any who fought and died in more recent wars.
The men who lie in that cemetery came from far and wide to fight the Civil War, and now they rest in a beautiful cemetery in a quiet corner of Alexandria, Virginia. Their families never come to visit them, these many generations later. Most families probably don't even realize a long-forgotten ancestor went off to that war and never returned. Some families, those of the Unknown U.S. Soldiers, never knew what became of their father or son or brother. It is left to us today, my wife and me, our neighbors, more recent veterans, young people who know even the most recent of our wars only in the pages of history books, to visit their graves and remember their sacrifice.
Wreaths Across America places wreaths at cemeteries across the country -- that's what their name says after all -- not just at Arlington National Cemetery or, as we experienced, at Alexandria National Cemetery. Look up the organization online, see if there is a cemetery near you that participates in Wreaths Across America, and plan to involve yourself next December. Each of those graves deserve a visit and a moment of reflection.
Attached to each wreath at the cemetery was a little tag that read, "Today I placed a wreath on the grave of an American Hero." I removed the tag from one of my wreaths and took it home with me, to remind me of the heroes, both those in that cemetery and those who still walk this earth, who are all around me.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
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