AUTHORS

JENIFER LEIGH VAN VLECK

Five Years as a POW: U.S. Navy Capt. Edward Dale Estes and the Family That Waited for Him

On Jan. 3, 1968, a surface-to-air missile shot down U.S. Navy Capt. Edward Dale Estes’ A-4 Skyhawk aircraft over North Vietnam. Estes ejected from his damaged aircraft and landed safely, only to spend 1,898 days—more than five years—as a prisoner of war. For the first two years of his imprisonment, his wife and two young sons did not even know his fate. 

Strength in Fellowship: Arlington National Cemetery Reflects on 9/11

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, team members working at Arlington National Cemetery were preparing for a day conducting funerals for America’s military service members and their families. For many, their workday had just begun when, at 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 soared past the cemetery’s serene landscape and crashed into the Pentagon. Plumes of dark smoke coming from the building contrasted with the meticulously uniformed white grave markers in the background. As the dust finally settled during the following days, Americans heard a call for national unity. As the years passed, many who gave their lives in the subsequent war would be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.  

A Marine’s Witness to the Space Race

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Thomas Grubaugh watched as Sigma 7, the Project Mercury space capsule piloted by astronaut Wally Schirra, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 3, 1962. At the time, Schirra was only the third American to orbit the Earth. Grubaugh snapped photographs of the historic moment from the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge. “The ship had to slow down,” he later wrote, “or we would have hit the capsule.”   

A Soldier’s Continued Service: The Legacy of Lt. Col. Gail Hartjen

By Kevin M. Hymel on 9/3/2025

In 1990, when retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Gail Hartjen learned about the Hampton Roads Good Samaritan Foundation, which helped place homeless people in homes, she decided to help. She called Marie Boyd, a chaplain with the Newport News Fire Department, who ran the foundation, and asked her how she could assist. It was the start of a 35-year friendship. On July 9, 2025, Boyd said a final farewell to her friend at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Kevin M. Hymel

“Love Always”: A 70-Year Marriage and a Family’s Enduring Bond

When retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. George Kesnig passed away on March 13, 2024, his wife of 70 years, Clair, followed him 21 hours later. Their marriage was tried by war yet blessed with family. 

Faith and Duty: The Story of Chaplain Joseph Mulqueen

U.S. Navy Chaplain (Cmdr.) Joseph Mulqueen served his country for 22 years, including time in Vietnam and at Arlington National Cemetery. On Aug. 14, 2025, his family and friends gathered at the cemetery to say farewell to the chaplain, whom they remembered as a humble man. 

With the Tuskegee Airmen: The Story of Edna Webster Watson

During World War II, Edna Webster served in the communications office for the U.S. Army Air Forces’ 99th Fighter Squadron— the original unit of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. Her connection to the unit began a year earlier, when she met her future husband, Spann Watson, just days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.  

“Welcome Home, Brother”: Vietnam Pilot Lt. Col. Donald "Donny” Downing Laid to Rest

On the night of Sept. 5, 1967, two U.S. Air Force F-4C Phantom II jets flew a reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Suddenly, one of the two-man crews saw a fireball light up the night’s sky. At that moment, the crew lost contact with the jet flown by Capt. Donald “Donny” William Downing. At sunrise the next morning, search and rescue efforts attempted to find Downing and his radar operator, but the searchers found nothing. 

A Lasting Impact: Physical Therapist Treated Wounded Korean War Soldiers

Marian Barrett may not have served her country in uniform, but she did serve her country by treating wounded soldiers coming back from the Korean War. On June 25, 2025, Marian was laid to rest with her husband of more than 40 years, Lt. Col. James “Jim” Barrett, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War who died in 2008.  

Remembering a WWII Marine Who Played a Role in Historic Guadalcanal Flag Raising

On Aug. 7, 1942, U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Robert H. Dillard (pictured, above right) splashed ashore at Guadalcanal with Weapons Company, Fifth Marines, part of the initial Allied assault force . He made his way inland and, on the second day of the campaign, reached the Japanese airfield where an enemy flag flapped in the breeze. “It was hauled down and the stars and stripes were run up,” Dillard wrote years later. “The flag we put up was only about a foot long, but it sure looked good.”