Arlington National Cemetary

More than four million people visit the national military cemetery annually, many coming to pay final respects at graveside services, see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or visit the burial site of John F. Kennedy. I had some doubts about visiting this tourist spot but I am so glad I did.  There is a tour bus that will take you around this massive cemetery and you can get off and on at your leisure. It isn't just a military cemetery it is a place of history. So many great people have been laid to rest here. Again another must of your whistle stop tour of Washington DC.

The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., is also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and has never been officially named. The Tomb of the Unknowns stands on top of a hill overlooking Washington, D.C. On March 4, 1921, Congress approved the burial of an unidentified American soldier from World War I in the plaza of the new Memorial Amphitheatre.  Sculpted into the east panel which faces Washington, D.C., are three Greek figures representing Peace, Victory, and Valour. Inscribed on the back of the Tomb are the words:

HERE RESTS IN HONOURED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD

Well I think we can all say we remember this awful tragedy. This is the formal monument of that special team of astronauts. Let me take you back a few years and remind you of this horrific disaster....

The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, just seconds after take off, killing all seven crew members. It was nearly two months before the remains were recovered from the ocean floor, about 18 miles off the shore of Cape Canaveral. 

Capt. Michael Smith, the pilot of the Challenger was buried in Section 7A, Grave 208, May 3, 1986. On May 19, 1986, Francis "Dick" Scobee's cremated remains were interred in Section 46, Grave 1129.

Early on the morning of May 20, 1986, the unidentified remains of all seven astronauts were buried near Scobee's grave in Section 46.

On June 12, 1986, the 99th Congress passed a concurrent resolution stating "the Secretary of the Army should construct and place in Arlington National Cemetery, a memorial marker honouring the seven members of the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger."

It was decided by family members and NASA to construct the monument over the cremated remains in Section 46.

Family members of the seven Challenger astronauts and approximately 400 people attended the dedication ceremony on the morning of March 21, 1987, including then Vice President and Mrs. George Bush.

John F. Kennedy made his first formal visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1961, to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. At the conclusion of the ceremony President Kennedy spoke to more than 5,000 people gathered in the Memorial Amphitheatre.

President Kennedy's address began; "We meet in quiet commemoration of a historic day of peace. In an age that threatens the survival of freedom, we join together to honour those who made our freedom possible. ... It is a tragic fact that war still more destructive and still sanguinary followed [World War II]; that man's capacity to devise new ways of killing his fellow men have far outstripped his capacity to live in peace with his fellow man."

On Nov. 22, 1963, while on a campaign trip to Dallas, President Kennedy was shot and killed.

There are only two U.S. presidents buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The other is William Howard Taft, who died in 1930.

Though Kennedy is buried at Arlington, at the time of his death, many believed that he would be buried in Brookline, Mass. Woodrow Wilson was the only other president besides Taft who had been buried outside of his native state and in the National Capital Region. President Wilson is buried at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.