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Memorials and monuments at Arlington National Cemetery include 28 major and 142 minor monuments and memorials. Arlington National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery located in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. It is managed by the United States Army, rather than the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
The first major memorial in the cemetery was completed in 1866. Entry gates in the cemetery were later dedicated to Union Army generals. The Spanish–American War and World War I led to the construction of several more major memorials. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was constructed in 1921, although the large sarcophagus above the burial vault was not dedicated until 1932. Almost a third of the cemetery's major memorials have been constructed since 1983.
It takes an act of Congress to place a stone or bronze memorial monument that is not a headstone at Arlington National Cemetery. Donations of memorial trees are accepted, but new, living memorials with memorial markers in memory of organizations has been suspended.[1]
There are over 300,000 headstones and hundreds of memorials at Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington House itself is a memorial to George Washington. The son of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, John Parke Custis purchased the 1,100-acre (450 ha) tract of wooded land on the Potomac River north of Alexandria, Virginia in 1778.[2][3] When John Parke Custis died after the Battle of Yorktown, the final battle of the American Revolution, Arlington Estate was inherited by his son, then-six-month-old George Washington Parke Custis. John Parke Custis, his sister Martha (Patsy) Parke Custis, his son George (named after George Washington, the step-father of John). and his daughter Eleanor (Nelly) Parke Custis (later Lewis) grew up at Mount Vernon, the home of Martha and George Washington. George Washington Parke Custis built Arlington House as a memorial to George Washington. An Army veteran of the War of 1812, George W. P. Custis and his wife Mary Fitzhugh Custis were buried in a fenced-in area now located in section 13.
George W. P. Custis and his wife Mary Fitzhugh Custis who raised their daughter Mary Anna Randolph Custis at Arlington, left the estate to her.[4] Custis stipulated that whomever owned his beloved Arlington must be named Custis. Therefore, Arlington would go to his daughter and then to his grandson, Custis Lee. Mary Anna Custis married her distant cousin, United States Army Lieutenant Robert E. Lee in June 1831.[2] With the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War on April 12, 1861, Robert E. Lee resigned from the United States Army and took command of Virginia's confederate forces on April 23, 1861.[3] Mary Custis Lee left Arlington on May 15, 1861 to join her daughters at Ravensworth, a nearby home owned by Custis relatives. When Mary Custis Lee did not pay her property taxes in person, the estate was legally confiscated. The United States would later return it, and then purchase the property from Custis Lee. Union troops occupied Arlington on May 24.[5]
On July 16, 1862, the United States Congress passed legislation authorizing the purchase of land for national cemeteries for military dead.[6] In May 1864, large numbers of Union forces died in the Battle of the Wilderness, requiring a large new cemetery to be built near the District of Columbia.[7] A study quickly determined that Arlington Estate was the most suitable property for this purpose.[7] While Private William Henry Christmas became the first Union soldier buried at Arlington on May 13, 1864,[3] formal authorization for burials did not occur until June 15, 1864.[8][9]
The first memorials at Arlington National Cemetery were built during and immediately after the Civil War. These first memorials were small, as the federal government (burdened by the cost of the war) expended little money on the cemetery.[10]
The first memorial constructed was the Civil War Unknowns Monument. United States Army Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs ordered the construction of the monument in 1865.[11] The bodies of 2,111 Union and Confederate dead were collected and placed in a vault beneath the monument, which was sealed in September 1866.[11]
In 1867, Congress enacted legislation requiring that all military cemeteries be fenced. Meigs ordered the construction of a red Seneca sandstone wall around the cemetery. The construction of the wall (which would not be complete until 1897) necessitated the construction of gates as well.[12] Construction began on a memorial to Major General George B. McClellan (the McClellan Gate) in 1870, but delays in obtaining high-quality red Seneca sandstone delayed its completion until 1879.[13]
The Spanish–American War in 1898 led to the creation of several new memorials: The Spanish–American War Memorial in 1902,[14] the Spanish–American War Nurses Memorial in 1905,[15] and the Rough Riders Memorial in 1907.[16] Two more major memorials were added prior to World War I: The Confederate Monument in 1914,[17] and the USS Maine Memorial in 1915.[18]
Another nine memorials, most of them commemorating World War I, were added in the 1920s and 1930s. This included the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was dedicated on November 11, 1921. The cenotaph above the tomb is a later addition, and was dedicated on November 11, 1932.[19] At the end of World War II, the cemetery had a total of 16 major memorials. Another 12 major memorials were added after 1949, with eight of these constructed after 1983.
Several memorials and monuments in Arlington National Cemetery no longer exist. One of the earliest memorials to be built in the cemetery was the Sheridan Gate, named for General Philip Sheridan.[20] The gate was constructed in 1879 of four Ionic columns salvaged from the demolition of the War Department Building (located at the site of the current Eisenhower Executive Office Building).[21] Initially, there was no name inscribed on the gate's pediment, although the last names of Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Edwin M. Stanton, and Winfield Scott were chiseled into the front of each column.[22] After the death of Sheridan, his last name was added to the pediment and the gate became known as the Sheridan Gate.[23] Another early memorial was the Ord-Weitzel Gate, named for Major General Edward Ord and Major General Godfrey Weitzel. Also completed in 1879, it was constructed from two salvaged War Department Building columns.[24] Like the Sheridan Gate, this gate was initially not dedicated to anyone. But by 1902, with the passing of both Ord and Weitzel, their names were inscribed into left and right columns of the gate, respectively.[25]
Since 1864, Arlington National Cemetery's easternmost boundary was Arlington Ridge Road at present-day Eisenhower Drive. In 1971, however, the cemetery expanded eastward to its present boundary atJ efferson Davis Highway. At that time, the Sheridan and Ord-Weitzel gates were dismantled and the columns, marble pediments, and iron gates put into outdoor storage. Unfortunately, both gates were severely damaged during their dismantling. They were further damaged by inappropriate outdoor storage, and have been heavily vandalized.[26]
In 1884, a Temple of Fame was erected in the center of the flower garden on the south side of Arlington House. The U.S. Patent Office building had suffered a fire in 1877, and it was torn down and rebuilt in 1879.
In 1884, stone columns, pediments, and entablatures from this demolition were used to construct the Temple of Fame. The Temple was a round, Greek Revival, temple-like structure with Doric columns supporting a central dome. Inscribed on the pediment supporting the dome were the last names of great Americans such as George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, and David Farragut.
A year after it was built, the last names of several Union Civil War generals (such as George Meade, James B. McPherson, and James A. Garfield) were carved into the columns.[27] Since there wasn't enough marble to rebuild the dome, a tin dome (molded and painted to look like marble) was installed instead.[28] The Temple of Fame was demolished in 1967.[29]
A Confederate States Army monument is scheduled to be removed by December 22, 2023 because it reportedly represents "sanitized depictions of slavery" and promotes the Lost Cause of the Confederacy myth.[30]
In 1960, the United States Congress enacted "The Act of 2 September 1960" (74 Stat; 24 U.S.C. 295a). As codified in Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 553, a concurrent or joint resolution of Congress is needed before any new memorial or monument may be placed at Arlington.[31] This requirement does not apply to group burials, for which an aboveground marker may be erected without congressional approval.[32]
The rules were relaxed somewhat in 2012. On August 6, 2012, Congress enacted the "Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012" (P.L. 112–154; 126 Stat. 1165). Title VI, Section 604 of this legislation permits the Secretary of the Army to establish regulations for the erection at Arlington National Cemetery of memorials or monuments to an individual or military event if 25 years have passed. Such monuments may be placed only in areas designated by the Secretary of the Army, and must be paid for entirely by private donations. All alternative locations to Arlington National Cemetery must be ruled out, and the United States Commission of Fine Arts must be consulted on the memorial's appropriateness. The 25-year requirement may be waived if the event or service is ongoing, or if a "manifest injustice" would occur. In such cases, Congress may override the waiver by joint resolution within 60 days.[33]
In 2012, legislation began moving through Congress to approve a "Place of Remembrance" at Arlington National Cemetery. The memorial will be an ossuary designed to contain fragments of remains which are unidentifiable through DNA analysis. The legislation required that these remains be cremated before placement in the memorial. Cemetery officials said that Arlington National Cemetery has no means of receiving and burying these remains, and placing them in the Tomb of the Unknowns would be inappropriate.[34] The legislation leaves the design and placement of the memorial up to cemetery officials. On September 18, 2012, the House of Representatives approved the memorial, sending the legislation to the Senate.[35] This legislation was not acted on by the Senate, and died at the end of the 112th United States Congress.
In May 2014, Arlington National Cemetery officials renamed the Old Amphitheater, rededicating it as the James R. Tanner Memorial Amphitheater. Tanner, a Union Army veteran, lost both legs during the American Civil War. He became a stenographer and clerk with the War Department, and took down most of the eyewitness testimony during the early hours of the investigation into the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Tanner is buried a few yards from the amphitheater.[36]
Below is a list of the major memorials and monuments in the cemetery.[37]
The U.S. Army has statutory authority to manage Arlington National Cemetery under the National Cemetery Act, as amended.[58] Under regulations issued in Title 32, Section 553.22 of the Code of Federal Regulations,[59] the Army established a mechanism for proposing and building minor memorials at Arlington National Cemetery without requiring an act of Congress. Appendix A to Section 553 ("Specifications for Tributes in Arlington National Cemetery") lays out the specific form these minor memorials may take. In summary, most minor memorials must be a small plaque no more than 36 square inches (230 cm2) in area, and no more than 2 inches (5.1 cm) thick. Wording must be dignified, and the Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery has sole and unlimited authority to accept or reject the plaque's design and wording.
A short time prior to 2014, Arlington National Cemetery discontinued the practice of allowing memorial trees, accompanied by plaques, to be placed in the cemetery.[60]
Below is a list of the minor memorials and monuments in the cemetery.[61]
| Memorial | Section | Tree |
|---|---|---|
| 100th Infantry Division Association | 034 | Maple, Red |
| 104th Timberwolf Division, World War II | 032 | Cherry, Yoshino |
| 11th Airborne Division | 009 | Maple, Red |
| 125th Air Transport Group | 003 | Maple, Red |
| 13th Airborne Division | 033 | Zelkova, Japanese |
| 144th Army Postal Unit | 032 | Cherry, Kwanzan Japanese Flowering |
| 16th Infantry Regiment Association | 003 | Crape Myrtle, Common |
| 173rd Airborne Brigade (Sky Soldiers) | 033 | Maple, Red |
| 174th Field Artillery Battalion | 034 | Maple, Red |
| 17th Airborne Division | 033 | Zelkova, Japanese |
| 199th Light Infantry Brigade | 031 | Oak, Shumard |
| 1st Armored "Old Ironsides" Division | 046 | Pine, Eastern White |
| 1st Cavalry Division | 033 | Maple, Red |
| 1st Marine Division Association | 025 | Cedar, Blue Atlas |
| 23rd Infantry Regiment | 031 | Dogwood, Kousa |
| 2nd US Infantry Division | 037 | Holly, American |
| 319th Bomb Group Association | 034 | Maple, Red |
| 325th Glider Regiment | 007 | Maple, Sugar |
| 385th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, World War II | 046 | Cherry, Kwanzan Japanese Flowering |
| 3rd United States Infantry (The Old Guard) | 035 | Dogwood, Kousa |
| 416th Bombardment Group (L) | 048 | Cherry, Kwanzan Japanese Flowering |
| 423rd Army Field Artillery Battalion | 003 | Maple, Sugar |
| 446th Bomb Group | 034 | Maple, Sugar |
| 454th Bombardment Group | 022 | Oak, Pin |
| 455th Bombardment Group | 002 | Oak, Pin |
| 461st Bomb Group Association | 034 | Goldenrain Tree |
| 484th Bombardment Group | 033 | Gingko |
| 487th Bombardment Group | 009 | Holly, American |
| 4th Infantry (Ivy) Division | 021 | Dogwood, Kousa |
| 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team | 033 | Magnolia, Southern |
| 505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team | 033 | Zelkova, Japanese |
| 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment | 035 | Spruce, Colorado Blue |
| 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment | 048 | Cherry, Yoshino |
| 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion | 033 | Oak, Northern Red |
| 56th Field Artillery Battalion, 8th Infantry Division | 033 | Maple, Red |
| 5th Regimental Combat Team | 005 | Tuliptree |
| 63rd Infantry Division | 007 | Oak, Pin |
| 65th Infantry Division | 021 | Maple, Sugar |
| 82nd Airborne Division | 048 | Pine, Austrian |
| 82nd Airborne – Golden Brigade | 007 | Maple, Red |
| 83rd Infantry Division Association | 037 | Dogwood, Flowering |
| 8th Air Force Association | 034 | Maple, Red |
| 93rd Bombardment Group | 002 | Holly, American |
| 94th Infantry Division | 046 | Sweetgum, American |
| 96th Infantry Division Association | 034 | Maple, Red |
| 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry Association (Buffalo Soldiers) | 022 | Dogwood, Kousa |
| African American Korean War Veterans | 021 | Oak, Sawtooth |
| Air Force Arlington Ladies (Vandenberg) | 030 | Oak, Swamp White |
| Airborne (50th Anniversary Foundation) | 002 | Maple, Red |
| America the Beautiful Grove | 031 | Zelkova, Japanese |
| Americal Division | 034 | Maple, Red |
| American Ex-Prisoners of War | 033 | Dogwood, Kousa |
| American War Mothers | 035 | Cedar, Blue Atlas |
| American-Armenian Volunteers at Argonne | 018 | Magnolia, Southern |
| Amphibious Scouts and Raiders of World War II | 031 | Maple, Red |
| Army Arlington Ladies | 013 | Holly, American |
| Bataan and Corregidor, American Defenders of | 048 | Dogwood, Kousa |
| Battle of the Bulge, Veterans of | 046 | Cherry, Japanese Flowering |
| Battlefield Commissions, National Order of | 037 | Maple, Red |
| Beirut Victims of Terrorism | 059 | Cedar of Lebanon |
| Berlin Airlift Veterans | 006 | Maple, Sugar |
| Buffalo Soldiers (92nd Infantry) | 023 | Maple, Red |
| Catholic War Veterans | 012 | Oak, Pin |
| China-Burma-India Veterans | 002 | Oak, Pin |
| Civil Air Patrol | 033 | Maple, Red |
| Danish Fight for Freedom Grove | 024 | Oak, English |
| Daughters of American Colonists | 001 | Oak, White |
| Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America | 035 | Cherry, Kwanzan Japanese Flowering |
| Daughters of the American Revolution (National) | 031 | Maple, Red |
| Daughters of the American Revolution (Arlington Chapter) | 030 | Maple, Sugar |
| El Salvador | 012 | Oak, White |
| Elbe River, American-Soviet Link-Up | 07A | Birch, Heritage River |
| Ex-POWs of the Korean War | 002 | Maple, Red |
| Flying Tigers | 002 | Oak, White |
| Frogmen, U.D.T. (Underwater Demolition Team) | 031 | Maple, Red |
| Gilbert Azaleas | 035 | Azalea |
| Glider Pilots, World War II | 033 | Maple, Red |
| Gold Star Mothers | 002 | Cedar, Blue Atlas |
| Indigenous People (Native Americans) | 008 | Cottonwood, Eastern |
| Jumping Mustangs, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry | 048 | Cherry, Kwanzan Japanese Flowering |
| Khe Sanh Veterans | 002 | Ginkgo |
| Korean War Dead | 048 | Mountainash, Korean |
| Korean War Vets | 048 | Pine, Korean |
| Landing Craft Support Ships (LCS(L) 1–130) | 046 | Oak, Willow |
| Laotian Counterparts | 002 | Cedar, Atlas |
| Lexington Minute Men | 001 | Hemlock, Eastern |
| Marshall Plan Anniversary | 007 | Oak, Swamp White |
| Medal of Honor Grove (American Forests) | 048 | Elm, Chinese |
| Merrill's Marauders (5307th Composite) | 013 | Elm, Hybrid |
| Military Chaplains | 002 | Ginkgo |
| Military Order of the World Wars | 012 | Zelkova, Japanese |
| Military Police | 055 | Magnolia, Southern |
| Miller, Glenn (Army Air Force Orchestra) | 013 | Holly, American |
| Montford Point Marines | 023 | Pine, Eastern White |
| Mother of the Unknown Soldier (the Mother's Tree) | 035 | Birch, Heritage River |
| Nagata Japanese Cherry Trees | 054 | Cherry, Japanese Flowering |
| National Arborist Association | 054 | Oak, White |
| Naval Order of the United States | 001 | Holly, Japanese |
| Navy Arlington Ladies | 034 | Beech, Weeping European |
| Navy Bombing Squadron VB 104 | 012 | Oak, Shumard |
| Operation Restore Hope | 060 | Sweetgum, American |
| Operation Tiger | 013 | Pine, Eastern White |
| Pacific Island Americans | 026 | Serviceberry, Downy |
| Paderewski (Polish Legion of American Veterans) | 024 | Linden, Little-leaf |
| Peace Maker, The – December 1999 | 003 | Cedar, Blue Atlas |
| Pearl Harbor | 035 | Linden, Littleleaf |
| Persian Gulf War | 060 | Oak, Willow |
| POW-MIA | 035 | Serviceberry, Autumn Brilliance |
| Purple Heart, Military Order of the | 035 | Cherry, Kwanzan Japanese Flowering |
| Quartermaster Corps Association | 034 | Maple, Japanese |
| Rakkasans (187th Airborne) | 07A | Oak, Willow |
| Ranger Advisors | 013 | Magnolia, Southern |
| Retired Officers Association, The | 048 | Oak, Pin |
| Reuben H. Tucker Chapter, 82nd Airborne | 031 | Oak, Northern Red |
| Russian Orthodox Church | 013 | Magnolia, Southern |
| Schweinfurt | 035 | Oak, Northern Red |
| Special Operations | 046 | Oak, Northern Red |
| State Department African Embassy Bombing Victims | 051 | Tuliptree |
| Swiss Internees | 012 | Oak, Willow |
| Take Pride in America Grove | 054 | Dogwood, Kousa |
| Task Force Smith | 021 | Cherry, Yoshino |
| Triple Nickels (555th Parachute Infantry Division) | 023 | Hemlock, Eastern |
| Tuskegee Airmen | 046 | Maple, Sugar |
| U.S. Army Reserves | 013 | Maple, October Glory Red |
| U.S. Colored Troops and Freed Slaves | 027 | Maple, Red |
| U.S. LST Association (Liberty Ships) | 003 | Oak, Willow |
| U.S. Navy Cruiser Association | 033 | Maple, Red |
| Unit K-West and B-East (Navy Mess Stewards) | 002 | Cedar, Atlas |
| USS Boston Shipmates | 048 | Oak, Northern Red |
| USS Canberra Association | 034 | Maple, Japanese |
| USS Frank E. Evans Association | 006 | Magnolia, Saucer |
| USS Houston and HMAS Perth | 012 | Zelkova, Japanese |
| USS Iowa Victims | 060 | Redbud, Eastern |
| USS Salem Association | 012 | Oak, Northern Red |
| USS Underhill | 033 | Tupelo, Black |
| Victims of Terrorism | 055 | Magnolia, Southern |
| Vietnam | 028 | Maple, Red |
| Vietnam Veterans (VFW Ladies Auxiliary) | 048 | Spruce, Colorado Blue |
| Vietnamese Airborne Regiment Association | 047 | Maple, Red |
| War Correspondents | 046 | Oak, Willow |
| World War I | 034 | Spruce, Hoopsii Blue |
| World War II | 036 | Maple, Sugar |
Several memorials and monuments are immediately adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery. These are often mistakenly assumed to be part of the cemetery, but are not. These include:
A number of public improvements and memorials were planned for construction in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area for the 1932 bicentennial of the birth of George Washington, the first President of the United States and American Revolutionary War hero. Among these were Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway (now known as the George Washington Memorial Parkway). To link the Virginia landing of the bridge with Arlington National Cemetery, a wide avenue known as Memorial Avenue was constructed and a new entrance to the cemetery (the Hemicycle) constructed.
Memorial Avenue is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.[62] The roadway was formally transferred from the U.S. Army to the Department of the Interior in October 1940.[63] The memorials and monuments which line Memorial Avenue are often believed to be part of Arlington National Cemetery, but are not. The memorials and monuments on Memorial Avenue include (as of 2012):[64]
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