Arlington National Cemetery

Today I am sharing the most known National Cemetery in The USA. It is so big , that if you get to go, I recommend make it more than a day trip. Take the tour, but then walk around to see more of it.
Lots of history surrounding this cemetery also.

Welcome

 

 

Gates into Cemetery

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of history here , I will start with the first person to be buried here:

Mary Randolph .  She is known for writing The Virginia House-Wife (1824), one of the most influential housekeeping and cook books of the nineteenth century.

 

 

 

close of stone

James Parks, was a freed slave who  is the only person buried there who was born on the grounds.

He was born a slave but was later freed by his owner and continued to work at the cemetery as a grave digger. He died at Freedman's Village ( more on this in another post) and was granted special permission to be buried at Arlington by the Secretary of War.

 

 

 

The most visited grave here is President John F Kennedy, and his wife , Jackie, two children, and his brothers. All though Ted died after I took pictures, Robert's I did get.



John, on his right Jackie and daughter Arabella ( Aug 1956),
on his left son, Patrick Bouvier , ( Aug 1963)



John F. Kennedy  

 

 

 

Jackie Kennedy Onassis




The Eterna Flame , designed by Clayton B. Lyle.  Mrs. Kennedy took a burning taper from her military escort. When she touched the lamp, the flame leaped up.

 

 

His brother Roberts:

 



Closer of Headstone



Others that rest here :



 

Robert Todd Lincoln
son of President Abraham Lincoln
 



closer of tomb





Front of Memorial



Memorial to the Space Shuttle 2003

 

Lee Marvin ( the Actor), also a Veteran





Joe Lewis the Boxer

Thurgood Marshall , Supreme Court  Associate Justice

 

 

 

War Heroes:

 

 

 

 

 

close up of Inscription

 

 

 

 

Medal of Honor Recipient

 

Ira Hamilton Hayes was a Pima Native American and a United States Marine corporal who was one of the six flag raisers immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during World War II.

 

 

Gregory "Pappy" Boyington was a United States Marine Corps officer who was an American fighter ace during World War II. For his heroic actions, he was awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.

TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep , was made for his heroics.

 

 

Medgar Evers , a Veteran and Civil Rights Leader

 

 

 

 

 

And the best for Last :

The Tomb of the Unknown Solider

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Old Guard keeps vigil 365 days a year. The Changing of the Guard, Ceremony is one the best things to see.

Their are remains here from World War 1 , World War 2, Korean War, and  Vietnam. The remains of the Vietnam Vet, were identified  as 1st Lt. Michael Blassie . He was interred in the National Cemetery in Missouri.

 

That concludes this portion of  Arlington, I will be doing another in depth post on a specific section .

 

Until Then, I leave you with :

 

 

 

 

Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us every day, unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed Tand very dear. - Anonymous

 

 

 

 

 

Savannah's Yellow Fever & The Colonial Cemetery

As promised , part two of the historic Colonial Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia .There is a section that has over 700 graves of the Yellow Fever outbreak of 1820. As I walked thru this section looking at tombstones mounted on  the brick wall, thinking of all the people that suffered from black vomit and high fevers,  the hysteria that the town must have felt during this period. It caused merchants to shut down their businesses, and people left the city to avoid catching it. What a scary time it must have been.

 

To the east of Forsyth Park is the Candler Hospital, many ghost tour companies still tell the stories about the death and dying which took place there. During one of the last Yellow Fever outbreaks in Savannah, as the story is told, there were a great number of people who died in the Candler Hospital from Yellow Fever. So many in fact, that tunnels were dug and secret burials were made throughout the entire area.  One of the secret burial grounds was a tunnel that ran underneath Forsyth Park. This tunnel didn’t have an exit. It was simply a place to put the bodies of the dead without bringing them to the surface. Founded in 1808, Savannah’s Old Candler Hospital has served as a Union hospital and an insane asylum, and thousands of patients, including those afflicted with Yellow Fever, died on the premises. A morgue tunnel once existed under the property, and some speculate the passageway was also the site of clandestine medical experiments. Though the building hasn’t been open to the public in over two decades, passerby report seeing lights and shadows in front of the windows. While on one of the many tours I was on, I was told that a mass grave was dug and bodies dumped under what is now Forsyth Park. Now whether it is true or not , I do not know.

windows where ghosts are supposed to be seen

beautiful iron work on fence next to hospital

Morgue Tunnel



The fountain at the park

There are many things in Savannah worth seeing , so if you get the chance to go, you won't be disappointed. so until next time I leave you with this:


Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us every day, unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed and very dear. - Anonymous

Duelists, Ghosts & Revoluntary Soliders

While in Savannah, Georgia I explored  a cemetery full of interesting history, haunting's, and give night time tours, as well. The Colonial Cemetery has 10,000 graves , including a revoluntary war hero, a Declaration of Independence signer, duelists , a consort and sightings of ghosts!  Because this is such an interesting cemetery, I will post in two parts.  I will started with some back ground info on the cemetery, it's first burial was in 1750, and it's last was 1850.  The Entrance:

Perhaps the most famous grave here would be Button Gwinnett, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence . Mr. Gwinnett meet his end after a duel with Lachlan McIntosh, after an argument about who was right regarding an invasion into Florida. 

Major General Nathanael Greene.of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was given a plantation named Mulberry Grove, for giving so much to the war, including his own money. He died here of a sunstroke in 1786. The cotton gin  created by Eli Whitney, was made here. He was interned here in the Graham tomb originally then moved to Jackson Square along with his son., in 1902. 

Jackson Square

James Wilde was the brother of the well-known American poet, Richard Henry Wilde. The cemetery commemorative plaque in honor of James Wilde contains a stanza from his brother's most famous poem whose completion was interrupted by the death of James in the duel.

This is the most interesting debated video shot here of a ghost:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C38ZvJjqX4c

You decide what you see. I make no claims to this , neither the person taking the video or saying it is true. 

Until my next post  I leave you with this :



Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us every day, unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed and very dear. - Anonymous