REAL ID Required as of May 7

Beginning May 7, 2025, all individuals over the age of 18 who enter Arlington National Cemetery in a vehicle should be prepared to present a REAL ID at the security check point. 

Published on: Tuesday, April 29, 2025 read more ...

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The American Revolution at ANC: How Veterans of America’s First Conflict Came to Arlington

For many years after Arlington National Cemetery’s establishment on May 13, 1864, Civil War service members were the only veterans buried at the cemetery. Today, however, service members who fought in all U.S. conflicts lay at rest on these hallowed grounds, including veterans of wars that predated the establishment of Arlington as a military cemetery. On Independence Day, we take a look at how these veterans of earlier wars—including the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the U.S.-Mexican War—came to rest at Arlington.

Not Forgotten: The 70th Anniversary of the Korean War at ANC

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War (1950-1953)—the United States’ first major military conflict after World War II and, amid the escalating Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the nation’s first major test in its effort to stop the global spread of communism. In American culture, the Korean War has often been called “the forgotten war,” overshadowed both by the victories of World War II and the traumas of Vietnam. Here at Arlington National Cemetery, however, the many gravesites of Americans who served in Korea, as well as several memorials to those who lost their lives in the conflict, ensure that the Korean War will always be remembered.

Commemorating the Nurses of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

As our nation and the world face the COVID-19 pandemic, ANC’s team of historians has been looking back at another health crisis and reflecting upon how it impacted Arlington National Cemetery: the influenza pandemic of 1918 to 1919. We highlight the role of female military nurses during the influenza pandemic and how they are commemorated on Arlington’s memorial landscape. 

ANC Remembers One of Thousands Who Sacrificed All on D-Day

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/5/2020

In honor of the 76th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, we remember one of the thousands of ordinary Americans and Allies who sacrificed their lives in the long effort to liberate Europe during World War II.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Charles Young: From Enslavement to a Memorial Amphitheater Funeral

By Tim Frank, ANC Historian on 6/1/2020

When the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater was finished in 1920, it began to host funerals for famous service members as well as national observances such as Memorial Day. One of the first funerals held in the Amphitheater was for Colonel Charles Young (1864-1922), the first African American colonel in the U.S. Army.

ANC Historian
Tim Frank

Arlington National Cemetery and the Origins of Memorial Day

At the end of April 1868, uniform rows of white-washed wooden headboards, each representing a gravesite of a fallen Civil War service member, filled the hills of Arlington National Cemetery. The property’s prominent ridgeline, marked by the Arlington House, offered stunning views of Washington, D.C. Little else distinguished this national cemetery as remarkable. While it contained the graves of some 16,000 individuals and spanned 200 acres, Arlington was only one of approximately 74 national cemeteries established beginning in 1862, during the Civil War.

Fighting on Two Fronts: The 442nd Regimental Combat Team

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, today we highlight the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT), which fought in World War II. More than twenty members of the 442nd are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Memorial Day 2020: Commemoration through Education

As the epicenter of the nation’s official Memorial Day observance, May has traditionally been one of the busiest months for Arlington National Cemetery. In ceremonies large and small at our numerous memorials, and in personal moments of reflection at the graves of loved ones, Memorial Day at Arlington has remained a deeply meaningful experience for the past 152 years.

Memorial Amphitheater’s 100 Years of History: A Firsthand Look

Living Legacies: When an ANC historian helped open Memorial Amphitheater’s 100-year-old time capsule, he discovered his own family’s history.

“Beetle” Smith and the Surrender of Nazi Germany

By Kevin M. Hymel on 5/8/2020

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, today we spotlight U.S. Army Lieutenant General Walter Bedell “Beetle” Smith (1895-1961) who is buried in Section 7 of Arlington National Cemetery.