ANC Blog - Kevin M. Hymel

Arlington Lady Keeps Promise to Merchant Mariner Lost at Sea

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:45:00 GMT

On May 12, 2026, Arlington Lady Shelley Kimball stepped into an uncommon role when the family of U.S. Merchant Marine Galleyman-Utility Jose Pabon could not attend his memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC). Arlington Ladies attend funeral and memorial services to ensure that no soldier, sailor, airman, Coast Guardsman or Merchant Mariner is ever laid to rest or remembered alone. On this occasion, Kimball represented Pabon’s family.

WWII Bomber Pilot, Honored for Saving Civilian Lives, Identified and Laid to Rest

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 17:23:00 GMT

In 1945, nine-year-old June Laird saw U.S. Army soldiers ascending the 22 steps to her family’s home in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. They had come to deliver the news that her older brother, U.S. Army Air Forces Lt. Robert J. Barrat, had been reported killed in action over Germany. Lt. Barrat, the third eldest of six children, was only 20 years old when he died. What June did not know, at the time, was that her brother — laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) on May 27, 2026 — had died as a hero, whose brave actions during World War II inspired a German town to dedicate a monument to him and his bomber crew.

Marine, Gravely Wounded in World War II, Lived to Be 100

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:39:00 GMT

On June 22, 1944, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Vernon “Billy” Rigdon was advancing through the jungle on the Pacific island of Saipan when he and his fellow Marines encountered a group of Japanese soldiers. During the ensuing exchange of fire, an enemy bullet hit Rigdon’s left shoulder. “This felt like being hit extremely hard across the chest with a baseball bat,” he later wrote in a personal account. His rifle flew out of his hands and he hit the ground. He recalled thinking, “I’ve gotten myself into a hell of a mess.”

On the Front Lines of History: Soldier Served at Checkpoint Charlie During Height of the Cold War

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 19:03:00 GMT

As the military police (MP) officer in charge of Checkpoint Charlie in West Berlin during the early 1960s, U.S. Army Capt. Roy Isaacson served at one of the most sensitive and strategic locations of the Cold War.

After Decades as an Unknown, World War II POW Comes Home to Arlington

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 14:47:00 GMT

In 2005, Sean Webb was watching “The Great Raid,” a movie about the liberation of the Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines during World War II. Many Cabanatuan inmates had survived the infamous Bataan Death March, a 65-mile trek under harsh conditions to POW camps further north. Webb’s 92-year-old grandmother, Lucy Irene O’Brien, was watching the film with him when she suddenly said, “My brother Malcolm was in it” — referring to the Cabanatuan POW camp. Her brief statement stunned Sean, who did not know he had a great-uncle, much less one who had been a POW.

Air Force Colonel Flew 700 Combat Missions Over Vietnam

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:01:06 GMT

During the Vietnam War, U.S. Air Force Capt. Harry Pawlak flew dangerous low-level reconnaissance missions over Vietnamese jungles in his Cessna O-1E, often within close range of enemy guns. He named his aircraft “Darlene,” after his wife. “He loved flying low and slow,” Darlene recalled. Pawlak served in the Air Force for more than 20 years, retiring as a colonel. On May 7, 2026, the decorated pilot was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

World War II Bomber Crewman Who Lost His Life in the “Forgotten Theater” Laid to Rest

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:02:00 GMT

During an air raid on the city of Meiktila, Burma (today’s Myanmar), on Aug. 3, 1943, a B-25 bomber fell out of the sky and crashed. Only two members of the six-man crew managed to bail out, but they were captured by Japanese soldiers. The rest of the crew, including Lt. Henry “Harry” J. Carlin, the bomber’s 27-year-old navigator from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, went down with the aircraft. Local villagers discovered the crew’s remains and buried them in a common grave, all unidentified.

World War II Sailor Killed at Pearl Harbor “Died Too Young”

Fri, 15 May 2026 17:12:00 GMT

“He was Uncle Paul,” Rebecca Schmale said about U.S. Navy Seaman 1st Class Paul E. Newton, the uncle she never knew but whom her mother would speak about, “and when we talked about him, it was that he died too young and did not have an opportunity to experience so many things in life.”

Unknown World War II “Bataan Death March” Survivor Identified and Laid to Rest

Mon, 04 May 2026 18:29:00 GMT

“Do not worry, I am all right,” U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. James “Jimmy” Murray wrote to his fiancée, Donna Young, after the Japanese bombed Clark Field, a U.S. base in the Philippines, on Dec. 8, 1941—one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor prompted the United States to enter World War II. Young never heard from him again.

Service, Sacrifice and Sisterhood: Veterans Honor Their Own

Mon, 04 May 2026 14:38:00 GMT

More than 50 women veterans from multiple military service branches visited Arlington National Cemetery on April 14, 2026, to honor fallen friends and the Unknown Soldiers.

Cosmic Roots: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery’s Moon Tree

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:39:00 GMT

Arlington National Cemetery is home to many unique trees to explore on Arbor Day (April 24), but only one has roots in outer space. The “Moon Tree,” an American Sycamore, is a second-generation tree descendant of seeds that orbited the moon.

A Love Forged in War

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 18:48:00 GMT

They met on a train during World War II. Navy Lt. Griffith “Griff” Way and Lt. junior grade Patricia “Pat” O’Sullivan were both heading from Seattle, Washington, to a Japanese language school in Boulder, Colorado. His mother had given him a newspaper clipping about Pat, with a picture, and told him to look for her since they both hailed from Seattle. Their meeting on that train led them to fall in love and eventually spend the rest of their lives together. On March 31, 2026, the couple was laid to rest in a dual funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery

Navy Nurse Saved Lives at Sea During the Vietnam War

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 20:33:00 GMT

Navy Lt. Anne Jay saved countless lives during the deadliest years of the Vietnam War. As an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse from 1968 to 1969, she served on the USS Repose, a hospital ship that cruised along the South Vietnamese coast, receiving helicopters filled with soldiers, Marines and civilians wounded by war.

“A Place of Honor to Rededicate Ourselves”: Medal of Honor Day at Arlington National Cemetery

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 20:32:00 GMT

Twenty Medal of Honor recipients visited Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) on March 25, 2026, for the annual Medal of Honor Day ceremony, each with the blue-ribboned Medal of Honor draped around his neck. The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest military award for valor for an individual serving in the armed services in action against an enemy.

Missing for 82 Years, American POW Who Defended the Philippines in World War II Laid to Rest

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 19:01:00 GMT

U.S. Army Pvt. Leonard “Buddy” Jackson, from Great Falls, Montana, survived fighting in the Philippines during the first year of American involvement in World War II, but died in a POW camp on Oct. 31, 1942, just one day shy of his 20th birthday. His fate would remain a mystery for more than 80 years until he was identified and later laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on March 9, 2026.

U.S. Army Soldier Fought to Liberate Rome During World War II

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 13:07:07 GMT

On a cold night in Anzio, Italy, in 1944, U.S. Army Cpl. Thaddeus Pecorak was too tired to dig a foxhole, so he crawled under an American tank and fell asleep. When he woke up the next morning, the tank’s belly was touching his nose. The tank had sunk in the mud overnight, forcing Pecorak to wiggle himself out from underneath. “If it was real super-wet ground I wouldn’t be sitting here today,” he recalled in a 2017 Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) interview about his experiences in World War II. “I doubt anybody would have heard me under that tank.”

Son Honors Air Force Father Who Was MIA in Vietnam for 52 Years

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:41:00 GMT

Richard A. Kibbey Jr. was only 12 years old when an Air Force chaplain, a lieutenant colonel and an enlisted airman knocked on his family’s front door. “I knew immediately it was not good news,” he remembered. His father and namesake, Col. Richard Kibbey, had been serving in Vietnam as an HH-3E “Jolly Green Giant” helicopter pilot, rescuing downed flight crews.

Tomb Guards, Past and Present, Bid Farewell to a Fallen Brother

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 14:42:00 GMT

U.S. Army Spc. 4th Class Michael “Mike” Vinson loved guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. From November 1980 to July 1981, as a member of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) he walked in sharp, steady steps on the mat in front of the Tomb, his uniform perfectly creased and clean, and his medals shining. According to his fellow Tomb Guards, he always strove for perfection.

A Legacy of Courage: U.S. Army Helicopter Pilot Survived Two Tours in Vietnam

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 13:16:00 GMT

U.S. Army Col. John “Jack” Islin flew helicopters into harm’s way during two tours in Vietnam. He constantly faced intense enemy fire but managed to keep himself and his crew alive.

A Borinqueneer's Final Salute

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 18:46:00 GMT

U.S. Army Col. Manuel Felix Siverio served his country during three wars. On a cold and windy Jan. 20, 2026, Siverio’s family and friends gathered at his funeral service in Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery to say their final goodbyes. Chaplain (Capt.) Raymond Akeriwe reminded Siverio’s loved ones that his dedication to his country “has earned his place here.”