National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery

The annual National Veterans Day Observance, honoring the men and women who have served and continue to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces during war and peacetime, will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. More info coming soon! 

Published on: Thursday, October 30, 2025

AUTHORS

JENIFER LEIGH VAN VLECK

First Hispanic Female Tomb Sentinel Makes Her Final Walk

By Kevin M. Hymel on 3/9/2023

On the afternoon of March 9, 2023, the U.S. Army’s first Hispanic female Tomb Sentinel guarded the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery for the last time. Sgt. Kamille Torres Zapata walked the 21 steps back and forth with acute precision until being relieved of duty during the changing of the guard ceremony. It was her 746th walk.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Large Crowd Attends WWII Veteran’s Funeral Service

By Kevin M. Hymel on 2/24/2023

More than 300 people, most of them strangers to each other, showed up at Arlington National Cemetery on February 23, 2023, to ensure that U.S. Navy Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class (GM3) Herman Schmidt would not be buried alone.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

U.S. Coast Guard Honors Those Lost Aboard the USS Serpens

By Kevin M. Hymel on 1/30/2023

On the night of Jan. 29, 1945, the United States Coast Guard suffered its worst tragedy when the USS Serpens, a cargo ship crewed primarily by Coast Guard members, exploded off the coast of Guadalcanal, in the British Solomon Islands, carrying ammunition and other cargo bound for U.S. bases in the Pacific. While the crew was loading depth charges into the holds, a massive explosion suddenly occurred. More than 250 men lost their lives: nearly 200 Coast Guard members, 57 members of an Army stevedore unit and a U.S. Public Health Service surgeon. Only two of those aboard survived. The cause of the explosion was never definitively determined.  

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Army Veterans Honor Battle of the Bulge at ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 1/25/2023

On Jan. 25, 2023, under cold gray skies and sleet, two World War II U.S. Army veterans returned to Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) to commemorate the Battle of the Bulge—the last major German offensive campaign on the western front. Darryl Bush and John Landry witnessed a wreath-laying at the Battle of the Bulge Memorial before laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Neither of the men seemed bothered by the weather, explaining that it was much colder 78 years ago in Europe.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

U.S. Navy Sailor, Killed at Pearl Harbor, Laid to Rest at Arlington

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/22/2022

At the funeral service for Seaman Edward Eugene "Bud" Casinger on November 19, 2022, Chaplain (Lt.) Dirk Robinson spoke about the tragic sinking of the battleship USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Casinger, only 21 years old at the time, was one of those lost in the attack.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Ord and Weitzel Gate Dedication

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/9/2022

Under sunny skies on November 8, 2022, seven leaders from Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), the U.S. Army, and contracted engineering firms cut the ribbon at the restored Ord and Weitzel Gate, the northern pedestrian entrance to ANC.  

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Penn State University Students Tour ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/2/2022

Horticulture Chief Steve Van Hoven explains the cemetery's history in front of Arlington House.
​ (Kevin M. Hymel, Oct. 20, 2022)

“Cemeteries are very interesting places to work for horticulture,” Arlington National Cemetery’s Horticulture Chief Steve Van Hoven told a group of horticulture and landscape contracting students from Penn State University at the Tanner Amphitheater on October 20, 2022. Van Hoven and the ANC Horticulture staff addressed the students to explain potential career options.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

U.S. Marine Corps Firing Parties Honor the Fallen

By Kevin M. Hymel on 10/25/2022

People attending an ANC funeral often flinch when the military firing party fires its first volley. That’s what happened at the funeral service for U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Brendan P. O’Donnell on October 14, 2022. By the second and third volleys, O’Donnell’s family and friends were more prepared.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

95th Infantry Division World War II Veterans Honor Their Leader

By Kevin M. Hymel on 10/21/2022

“We’re here to honor our beloved general,” said Ceo Bauer, a World War II veteran who fought with the U.S. Army’ 95th Infantry Division, at the headstone of Major General Harry Twaddle on October 20, 2022.

Three veterans of the 95th, along with families and friends of the soldiers who served with the division, came to Arlington National Cemetery to remember Twaddle, lay two wreaths at his grave and tour the cemetery. 

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Centennial Commemoration Lecture Series

In the months after the 2021 centennial of the creation of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) has continued to make the programs created for this anniversary accessible to the public online. On May 30, 2022—Memorial Day—ANC released a major virtual project as part of this ongoing effort: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Centennial Commemoration Lecture Series.

Allison S. Finkelstein
ANC Senior Historian
Ph.D.