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Published on: Friday, August 22, 2025 read more ...

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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.

The Capture of Berchtesgaden

By Kevin M. Hymel on 5/2/2020

After Adolf Hitler took his own life on April 30, 1945, and Soviet forces captured Berlin on May 2, only one prize remained for the Allies: Berchtesgaden, the town near Adolf Hitler’s mountaintop retreat.

Experience Arlington National Cemetery from Home

While Arlington National Cemetery is closed to visitors, you can still experience its beauty and history from home! 

Doolittle Raider Richard Cole

By Kevin M. Hymel on 4/18/2020

Seventy-eight years ago today, on April 18, 1942, Lieutenant Richard Cole sat next to Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle as Doolittle flew his twin-engine North American B-25 Mitchell bomber off the deck of the USS Hornet in the Pacific Ocean. 

Nurses in the Spanish-American War

To honor their service—and in conjunction with our new Education Program in development, which includes a unit on nurses in the Spanish-American War —today we highlight nurses buried at Arlington National Cemetery.