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From Boot Camp to Guam: World War II Sailor Chronicled Navy Life

By Kevin M. Hymel on 8/31/2026

Joseph Manno rarely spoke about his combat service as a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman in the Pacific Theater during World War II, but he did document his Naval training experiences before he shipped out.  

Manno, who was laid to rest with his wife, Mary, at Arlington National Cemetery on July 20, 2026, kept a unique diary while at Sampson U.S. Naval Training Station in Romulus, New York, in the summer of 1943. He bought a humorous cartoon book titled, “Sailors in Boots,” which contained single-panel sketches of Navy boot camp life with space below for personal writings. Manno took full advantage of the book, writing about the six-week culture shock of transforming from civilian to sailor.  

 

Kevin M. Hymel

Family Says Final Goodbye to World War II Uncle They Never Knew

By Kevin M. Hymel on 8/26/2026

During World War II, 20-year-old U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Henry “Harry” Younge enjoyed playing his trumpet for his B-29 bomber crew during bombing missions from Guam to Japan. His trumpet skills even landed him a performance on the radio show “Time to Smile,” which was scheduled to broadcast live from Guam on April 24, 1945. Unfortunately, Younge was never able to share a single note with his fellow Americans.

Kevin M. Hymel

“What a Marine Should Be”: Lt. Gen. William Keys Led Marines in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War

By Kevin M. Hymel on 8/24/2026

Three V-22 Osprey aircraft roared over Arlington National Cemetery as a final salute to U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. William Keys. More than 100 people attended Keys’ funeral service on July 20, 2026. The full military funeral honors with escort service included a 15-gun salute from the Presidential Salute Battery, a Marine displaying a three-star flag, a caisson detachment, a riderless horse and a bagpiper playing “Amazing Grace.” 

Kevin M. Hymel

Hundreds Gather to Bid a Final Farewell to Cold Warrior

By Kevin M. Hymel on 8/19/2026

U.S. Army Gen. David M. Maddox was a true Cold Warrior. He entered the Army as the nation heightened its efforts in Vietnam and retired shortly after the Soviet Union dissolved. As a testament to his service, both Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Air Force Gen. Dan Caine and U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher C. LaNeve attended his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, with full military funeral honors with escort, on Aug. 18, 2026. 

Kevin M. Hymel

N.C. Courage Women’s Soccer Team Pays Tribute to the Fallen at Arlington National Cemetery

By Kevin M. Hymel on 8/10/2026

Players and staff of the North Carolina Courage women’s professional soccer team visited Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 7, 2026, to honor the country’s fallen by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Kevin M. Hymel

Missing U.S. Army Soldier From the “Frozen Chosin” Returned Home

By Kevin M. Hymel on 8/3/2026

The warm summer temperature, green grass and blue sky at Arlington National Cemetery on July 14, 2026, were a stark contrast from North Korea’s snow-covered hills east of the Chosin Reservoir — where, in December 1950, U.S. Army Sgt. DeLoren D. Dage lost his life during one of the most brutal battles in history, remembered as the Battle of the Frozen Chosin. Dage had been holding the line against numerically superior Chinese communist forces that had surrounded his unit and were trying to destroy it. The Chinese were not taking prisoners. Dage was declared missing in action on Dec. 2. He was only 20 years old.  

Kevin M. Hymel

Navy Officer Who Charted USS Thresher Wreckage Interred

By Kevin M. Hymel on 7/31/2026

U.S. Navy Lt. Raymond Stoetzer was completing his master’s degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on April 10, 1963, when he learned that the USS Thresher, a nuclear submarine, had sunk about 220 miles east of Cape Cod, with all 129 men on board. It was the worst submarine disaster in U.S. Navy history. Two weeks later, Stoetzer was sent to the fleet tug USS Allegheny as part of the Navy’s crew searching for the submarine’s wreckage.  

Kevin M. Hymel

First to Fly the Blackbird: Honoring Air Force Test Pilot Capt. Robert Gilliland Sr.

By Kevin M. Hymel on 7/31/2026

On Dec. 22, 1964, Robert Gilliland Sr. became the first person to pilot the supersonic SR-71 Blackbird, one of the fastest crewed aircraft ever built. He would go on to test almost every SR-71 that came out of the factory, logging more test flight hours at Mach 3 than any other pilot in the world. Almost 62 years after that first flight, the high-flying pilot was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Kevin M. Hymel

Air Force Vietnam POW, Featured in Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photo, Laid to Rest

Lorrie Stirm remembered when her father left home for Vietnam in 1967, but the entire country would remember when he returned home in 1973. Lorrie’s father, U.S. Air Force Maj. Robert “Bob” Stirm, was shot down over Hanoi, North Vietnam, on Oct. 27, 1967. He spent more than five years—1,966 days—as a prisoner of war.

A Commander’s Farewell and Lasting Promise to the Tomb Guards

By Kevin M. Hymel on 7/17/2026

On May 29, 2026, U.S. Army Commander of the Guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Capt. Sean Paul Stolarski said goodbye to his fellow Tomb Guards at Arlington National Cemetery as he prepared to leave the Army. Yet he did not see his departure as final. “I still have a vested interest in a lot of these guys,” Stolarski said, “and I plan on returning to check on them.” 

Since 1948, the Tomb Guards of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) have stood watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery 24 hours-a- day, seven days-a-week. Their vigilance and precise rituals honor the three Unknowns buried at the Tomb, as well as all unknown or unidentified American service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice. 

 

Kevin M. Hymel