AUTHORS

TIMOTHY JAMES LAWSON

The Meanings of “Wreaths” for One ANC Employee

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/14/2023

Like many staff members at ANC, Quality Assurance Specialist Patrick McGrady has family members buried or inurned at the cemetery. McGrady, who served for 14 years as an Army mechanic, visits his parents’ niche in Columbarium Court 7 almost every day. McGrady’s father, a major in the Marine Corps, served during the Vietnam War and earned a Bronze Star for his actions.

World War II POW—and Bataan Death March Survivor—Buried at ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/14/2023

When U.S. Army Pvt. David Whipple’s descendants could not attend his funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 3, 2023, Army soldiers and an Army Arlington Lady made sure he was laid to rest with honor and dignity.

Joint Burial Service for Two WWII Fliers

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/14/2023

U.S. Army Air Forces navigator 2nd Lt. Porter M. Pile and radio operator Tech Sgt. James M. Triplett went down with their B-24 bomber over Germany on Sept. 27, 1944. For the next 79 years, Pile and Triplett were considered missing in action.

24 Notes

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/6/2023

During wreath laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Master Sgt. Matthew Byrne marches out to the Tomb, brings his bugle to his lips and slowly sounds out the 24 notes of the bugle call Taps. When finished, he tucks the bugle under his arm, salutes and marches away.

Medgar Evers: Civil Rights Icon and World War II Veteran

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/12/2023

It’s easy to identify Medgar Evers’ grave marker in Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 36, either from Schley Drive or the nearby walkway. Stones, military tributes, flowers, and other tokens of veneration often adorn his headstone and the ground around it. An icon and martyr of the civil rights movement, Evers is buried at ANC because of his U.S. Army service during World War II, and because his wife, Myrlie, eventually decided she wanted to give the public the opportunity to visit his grave.

British Prime Minister Speaks of Unity During ANC Visit

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/7/2023

“We continue to work together,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Arlington National Cemetery superintendent Charles “Ray” Alexander as he toured historic displays inside the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater on June 7, 2023. Sunak had been speaking about the historically strong bond between the United States and the United Kingdom

Public Reflects on Flowers of Remembrance

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/1/2023

They stood in a line that stretched from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to the western entrance to the Memorial Amphitheater, each person holding a flower. On Sunday, May 28, 2023, people from across the United States, and further, came to Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) to honor those who had fallen in duty to their country. Each laid a flower at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a new tradition at ANC called Flowers of Remembrance Day.

ANC Staff Prepare the Cemetery for Memorial Day

By Kevin M. Hymel on 5/23/2023

On May 22, 2022, Arlington National Cemetery’s Superintendent Charles “Ray” Alexander strapped on a safety harness and climbed into a cherry picker. The machine raised him about 30 feet to the apse of the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater. Once he reached the top, he pulled on a rope attached to an American flag below. As he drew up the rope, the flag unfurled out of its box as U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Donny Davis, the senior enlisted advisor to ANC’s executive director, steadied the flag and ensured it did not touch the ground.

President of the Philippines Visits ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 5/9/2023

President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took particular interest in Arlington National Cemetery when he came to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on May 4, 2023. Accompanied by Maj. Gen. Allan M. Pepin, commander of the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region and U.S. Army Military District of Washington, Marcos walked past the joint honor guard and laid a wreath before heading into the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater display room.