Filiopietism Prism: Heather's Honor Roll Project (Memorial Day 2016) -- Arlington County, Virginia

Friday, May 27, 2016

Heather's Honor Roll Project (Memorial Day 2016) -- Arlington County, Virginia

Perhaps the best known and iconic memorial to those who died in America's conflicts and wars, or who served honorably in the country's military, is Arlington National Cemetery. The cemetery is located in Arlington County, Virginia on the west side of the Potomac River across from Washington, DC. "Arlington"consists of about 624 acres and, as many people know, the site is the location of Arlington House, the former estate of Robert E. Lee's family. Lee's wife was Mary Anna Custis, the great granddaughter of Martha Washington.

When the Virginia militia occupied Arlington County and Arlington House in May 1861 after the secession of Virginia from the Union, General Winfield Scott ordered Arlington and the city of Alexandria to be rid of any and all troops not loyal to the United States and on May 24, 1861 Brigadier General Irvin McDowell succeeded in occupying Arlington with little or no opposition. By May 1864 Union forces had suffered so many casualties that the burial places used until then (the United States Soldiers Cemetery in D.C. and Alexandria Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia ) were almost full. General Meigs, the Army Quartermaster, ordered that a search for eligible ground be made to establish a national cemetery. For political reasons, and because the site of Arlington House and its surrounding estates were on high ground outside the threat of floods from the Potomac with a lovely view of the national capital, the estate of Robert E. Lee's family became a new national cemetery. The first military burial there took place on May 13, 1864 (William H. Christman) and although Arlington was not desegregated for burial purposes until an Executive Order by President Truman in 1948, the first African-American buried in Arlington was William H. Johnson, who worked for President Lincoln. Lincoln asked that Johnson's tombstone be engraved with his name and the simple word "Citizen." [1]

Union Soldiers outside Arlington House (June 28, 1864)

Arlington House and Section 32 of Arlington National Cemetery (November 6, 2005)

Among the memorials within the Arlington National Cemetery are: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (represented by unknown remains of soldiers from WW I, WW II, and the Korean War -- the Vietnam War representative was later identified and eventually reinterred near his St. Louis home so it was decided that the Vietnam crypt will remain empty); the U.S. Maine Mast Memorial; the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial; the Women in Military Service for America Memorial; and others including the eternal flame at the resting place of President Kennedy.

With all the history, fame and recognition given to Arlington National Cemetery, it is perhaps somewhat understandable that the local memorial in Arlington County is little known and often forgotten.

Arlington County is located directly across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. and is the land that was once donated by the Commonwealth of Virginia to form part of the new federal capital district. The U.S. Congress made the area a subdivision of the District of Columbia and named it Alexandria County in 1801. In 1846, however, the area donated by Virginia was returned to the state and in 1920 the Virginia General Assembly renamed the area "Arlington County" to avoid confusion with the City of Alexandria, which lay adjacent to the returned area. The County is about 26 square miles in size and had a population of 229,302 in 2014. It is said that Arlington County is the smallest self-governing county in the country and there are no incorporated towns within its borders due to state law regarding population density. It is this population density and the rapid growth and urbanization of the county in the last few decades that probably accounts for the near anonymity of the local war memorial in Arlington County today.

The Arlington County war memorial is located in what is now a very built-up, bustling area at the confluence of the major thoroughfares known as Washington Boulevard, Fairfax Drive, and Wilson Boulevard.

Arlington County War Memorial east side (May 27, 2016)

The Arlington County stone war monument is pictured above. It was dedicated November 11, 1931 by the American Legion, but it was not dedicated at its present location. Originally, the monument sat adjacent to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in a part of Arlington National Cemetery close to the Potomac River and overlooking Washington, DC. The monument apparently was moved several times before settling in at the Clarendon area of Arlington. It was located at the intersection of Wilson Boulevard and Highland Street, then at Clarendon Circle, then at Courthouse, and finally back to its home at the pinnacle of a traffic island in Clarendon today.