How Arlington National Cemetery became a sacred site to honor our fallen military

USA Today

26-05-2025

How Arlington National Cemetery became a sacred site to honor our fallen military
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Memorial Day flags hold special meaning for one soldier
Over 1,000 joint service members placed flags in front of 260,000 headstones across Arlington National Cemetery in preparation for Memorial Day.
Jarrad Henderson, USA TODAY
It's one of the most solemn places in the United States, a sacred site that is the final resting place for the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
Arlington National Cemetery is hallowed ground, a peaceful spot to remember those who died in the chaos of war and combat. Its 639 acres include the graves of more than 400,000 U.S. service members and their family members, from every war and conflict fought by Americans since the Revolutionary War.
In that way and in many others, the history of Arlington National Cemetery is our history, telling our story in rows upon rows of white gravestones, monuments and memorials. Its grounds abide across the ages the same way its trees − some older than the United States, some memorializing the service and sacrifice of the people buried there − continue to stand sentinel. And it's where we pay special tribute as a nation each year on Memorial Day to our fallen troops.
Memorial Day "is not about barbecues or sales or the opening of the swimming pool," said Allison Finkelstein, senior historian at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Memorial Day is a solemn day, a day of mourning and remembrance," Finkelstein said. "We trace it to the Civil War, a conflict that tore our nation apart," killing more than 600,000 soldiers and affecting the United States in ways that continue to reverberate today.
As we mark Memorial Day, here are some things to know about our national cemetery.
Arlington's connection to George Washington — and the Confederacy
First called Arlington Estate, the site was established by George Washington Parke Custis, the step-grandson of the first president. In 1931, Custis' daughter Mary married Robert E. Lee, then a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Custis left Arlington to Mary, and then to her oldest son. Lee, who would later lead the Confederate Army, was the executor of Custis' will, but never owned the property.
The Lees abandoned the property as the Civil War broke out, and the U.S. Army seized the site to defend Washington, D.C. Three forts were built on the strategically important site, as was a refugee camp for freed and escaped enslaved people, Freedman's Village.
The first burial: A cookbook author
The first person buried at what is now Arlington National Cemetery was not a soldier, a general, a war hero or even a veteran. It was George Washington Parke Custis' cousin Mary Randolph, who died in 1828. Randolph drew on her experience running a plantation when she wrote "The Virginia House-Wife," published in 1824 and considered the first American regional cookbook. Her recipes drew on African, Native American and European culinary traditions, and helped define what came to be known as Southern cuisine.
Private William Christman was the first military member to be buried at Arlington, on May 13, 1864. Brigadier General Montgomery Meigs, the Army's Quartermaster General, ordered the site be used as a cemetery, as the existing national cemeteries in the area − Soldiers' Home (now called Soldiers' and Airmen's Home) and Alexandria National Cemeteries − were running out of space.
Burial in a national cemetery was not initially seen as a means of honoring veterans and war dead. Instead, it was a way to ensure that service members whose families could not afford to bring them home for a funeral were given a proper burial.
The first memorial day wasn't called Memorial Day
Decoration Day, May 30, 1868, was held at Arlington National Cemetery, which was just one of 74 national cemeteries established after the Civil War. Called "Decoration Day" because of the tradition of adorning gravesites with flowers, the observances at Arlington had become popular enough by 1873 that an amphitheater was built to accommodate ceremonies. By the late 19th century, the terms "Decoration Day" and "Memorial Day" were used interchangeably, though it wasn't until 1971 that Memorial Day was officially designated as the last Monday in May.
Growth, repatriation, racial integration
Originally 200 acres, Arlington has changed and grown as our nation has.
"You can explore every aspect of American history at Arlington," said Finkelstein, the cemetery historian. Changes that happened in the country have been reflected there, like desegregation.
Like many cemeteries, and all national cemeteries at the time, Arlington was initially segregated by race. Section 27 had been the area for Black soldiers and free Black people, and more than 1,500 Black soldiers and 3,800 free Black people are buried there. Arlington remained segregated by race and by rank until 1948, when President Harry S. Truman desegregated the military.
Initially, the only women buried at Arlington were widows and wives of servicemen. But in the late 19th century, Finkelstein explained, women who'd worked as nurses during the Civil War, even though not part of the Union or Confederate armies, lobbied for and won the right to be buried at Arlington. Contract nurses who'd served in the Spanish-American War, many of whom had died from disease, are also buried there.
And, of course, said Finkelstein, "as time progressed and more women were given the opportunity to serve in the military, more of them gain the right to be buried in Arlington as well."
Military heroes, cultural icons, political figures
"Any topic that someone is interested in, any community they come from, we have a story for you at Arlington," Finkelstein said. "We may surprise you with all we have to offer."
There are astronauts from the failed Apollo I mission buried at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as three from the Space Shuttle Columbia. Two U.S. Presidents — John F. Kennedy and William Taft — are buried at Arlington. Robert F. Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., Edward (Ted) Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis are buried there as well. Robert Todd Lincoln, the oldest son of President Abraham Lincoln, is buried there, though President Lincoln is buried in Springfield, Illinois. Secretaries of State, including Colin Powell, John Dulles, Alexander Haig and George Marshall are interred at Arlington.
Child star Jackie Cooper Jr. (Navy), actors Charles During (Army), Lee Marvin (Marines), Audie Murphy (Army), Maureen O'Hara (whose husband was an Air Force general), and Arctic explorer Robert Byrd (Navy) are also in Arlington.
Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers (Army), early baseball pioneer Abner Doubleday (Army), boxer Joe Louis Barrow (Army) and several Supreme Court Justices are also among those buried at Arlington.