On cspan3. Next, the president of the society of the honor guard, tomb of the unknown soldier, talks about the history of Arlington National cemetery and the tomb of the unknowns. He describes how confederate general Robert E Lees mansion became a Burial Ground during the civil war and discusses the role and creation of the tomb guard and tells stories about some of the notable people interred at Arlington National cemetery. Is a little over 90 minutes. [applause] all, thank you for the invitation and thank you, Jessica Jones were doing the legwork and getting this organized and put together. This is very much we have guys in their 90s, guys in active duty, and females in our society who have guarded the tomb because the tomb was guarded first in 1995 by corporal heather johnson, the first female to walk them at in 1995. The tomb guard badge depicted on case here,d in this this is the second least awarded badge with the exception of the astronauts badge. The astronaut is in the low 200. Today, we are giving badge number 634 to a young man who has completed his training and is ready to be considered a badge holder and of the fraternity and sorority, brotherhood or fellowship of tomb guard. We are a 501 c 3 Organization Part of our bylaws is that we do Community Outreach to educate the public about the tomb. Generation,your sort of a sweeping generalization, that your generation knows about the tomb. I talked to School Groups and it is appalling how little they know of our history. It is not their fault. We have failed them because we have allowed all of this testing and teaching to the test and not put history on the test. I will get off my soapbox. Just think of that. I do speak to a lot of School Groups pro bono. This is my 81st speech this year. Will have well over 100 by the time veterans day is over. I am speaking premuch nonstop from the first through the 14th of november two a lot of groups, multiple, three in a day or for in a day. Im a bit of a work horse around veterans day and memorial day. I have been invited to the National WorldWar Ii Museum and will speak at that specifically thet the selection of buildings and how that was complicated. As a 20yearold soldier, i was given a huge gift and norms gift and amazing gift. I was selected to be one of these guys. And that is me. This photograph was taken on june 15, 1969 on the fourth month anniversary of my first ever walk on the map. We refer to the mat as this piece of rubberized material here that is 63 feet long. It serves several purposes. One is to insulate from the cold, cold granite you are walking on. The other is to give a little traction. But the main reason this is their is to prevent the shoes from wearing a groove in the granite. Granite is constantly walked on. The same path, same number of since midnight, july 2, 1937, when it was discovered people were coming into the cemetery at night and chipping pieces off to take it home as souvenirs. We will talk about that in just a bit. This piece of marble is from colorado. Its actually several pieces of marble. The capstone is 12 tons, quarried out near marble, colorado in 1931. Brought to this place and finished in place. This carving was done after it was set in place here rests in honored glory a soldier known but to god. That phrase was almost verbatim from a soldiers grave in france and belgium that said here rests an american soldier known but to god. Honored glory is added for the tomb of the unknowns. This piece is 36 tons and is the largestsingle test single piece of carved marble in the world and it is cracking. You can see the crack here this is in 1969. I will tell you about the replacement object that was on schedule and then ported by legislation in 2009. The base is 15 tons and there are four pieces in the subbase, four tons apiece for a total of 79 tons. The fourth month anniversary was the first day i got to where this on my right breast pocket. It is the tomb guard identification badge. Mine is number 78 and today, we number 634 for that person to keep. This badge has one stipulation no other badge in the military has and that is it can be revoked for as long as i live. We have revoked at least 21 of them for conduct unbecoming a tomb guard. For those who have committed felonies and other such transgressions that have brought , the unknowne tomb soldier and the u. S. Army. We have a motto in our society like the boy scout motto is be prepared as quote ours is soldiers never die until they are forgotten and tomb guards never forget your co never forget. Throughe this 1 the years of diligence and praise, i will lock my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability. It is he who commands the respect i protect, his bravery that made us so proud, surrounded by wellmeaning crowds by day, alone in the night, this soldier will rest under my eternal vigilance. We take that to heart. A little bit of history i get the feeling we have some history buffs in this room. [laughter] hands, please question mark history fanatics . We are going to start in 1669. Ships captain named robert was giveniving 6000 acres of land from the Potomac River in what is now washington dc. Can you imagine any real estate people in here . Can you tell me what an acre of land there is worth . A bunch of. Multiply that times 6000. Current value of the property, with no improvements. He sold it for six barrels of tobacco. , the property ends up in the alexander family. John and Philip Alexander establish alexandria, and it is a slave trading hub. A big slave trading hub in northern virginia. This is crucial later on. Middle ofuring the the american revolution, a guy with a famous mother buys a 1100 of those 6000 acres. His name is john hark custis. Im related to john hark cusses. My first forbear was robert park who settled in mystic, connecticut. He arrived in 1630. My mother was the dar and we have relatives on both sides of the american revolution. Dandridge is Martha Custis washington. She is not washington yet. 1757. Ther dies in in 1759, his mother remarries George Washington and he is vernon. T mount he and his sister patsy. Jackie and patsy were raised at mount vernon. Property. Buys this he is an aid to his adoptive father at the siege of yorktown. Cornwallis has surrendered. Campts sick and dies from fever. That could have been any number of things. Probably did. Or typhoid. Probably diphtheria or typhoid. He passes the property to his son, George Washington parke honor of hisin grandfather. He builds this house over 16 years. Andid not go to the bank say i need 400 grand and will pay it off in a mortgage. You did not do that. You bought materials and you did things as you went along. It took 16 years to complete. I just want to point out this grave. This is the grave of horatio right. He will be in the second half of this program when i talk about who is buried in arlington. He got as close to the front door of that mention as anybody. There was a contest among civil war generals to get as close to the front of this house as possible and i will explain why that was crucial for them to try to do that. This is a big place. Its a park ranger standing right there. Those columns are about 30 feet tall and the house is 142 feet from and to end. He has four children. Only one of them lives to be adult. Her name is Mary Anna Randolph custis. Room, she in this marries her third cousin and childhood playmate, you might not recognize this photo, but you will this one, robert e. Lee. Lee never owns the property. It is always in the custis family name. In 1863, she will be charged a tax and she will not take it in person, which she is ordered to do, but he lives here and considers it home. Hey have their family here he goes off to fight in the mexican war and is the superintendent of west point from 18531854. Hes on the Mississippi River surveying for forts near where i grew up in iowa. This his home but never owns the property. His father, white horse harry lee, governor of virginia and revolutionary war hero, but a financial deadbeat. He abandons his family when lee is young, about five years old. He goes off to the islands in the atlantic what am i thinking about the caribbean and comes back and on his way back, he dies and is buried in georgia. Lee only spoke of him once on record and it was a fleeting mention. But his name will come up in a little bit. Know what happens fort sumter is fired upon. Lee is summoned to the District Of Columbia and is offered command of union troops by Francis Blair senior, whose son Montgomery Blair is in lincolns cameras lincolns cabinet. And resigned his commission in the United States army and writes a very eloquent letter in this house last night to Winfield Scott saying i shall not raise my sword save in defense of my native virginia. Several days later, he goes to richmondrichmond, urges his wifo follow as soon as possible. It takes her a couple of weeks. And you know how the ladies are. Comment . A sexist ok. She took her time. Few weeks and a later, several troops, cross after the voters vote to secede, after legislature has voted to secede. 32,000 troops are gathered and they are marched off to manassas junction, where he fights the first battle of bull run. He loses because jackson shows up. He gets his nickname at that battle on that day. General says there stands jackson like a stone wall. The general is shot and falls the following morning. Jackson likes the moniker and keeps it. Troops occupy this land. It is never contested by confederate troops. They never try to retake this place. This is a slaveholding. This was a slaveholding sight of thethin Nations Capital until troops came ross in 1861. Is passed. Law is ordered to show up and pay 92. 07 tax on property. She has a good chance of being taken prisoner if she shows up. She sends a male cousin on her p behalf and he is refused. The property is seized. Thegovernment gets property. Slightly below fair market value. This guy is the most Important Union general no one has heard of. Was born in augusta georgia, educated in the north, at west anyoneconsidered educated at west point to be a traitor. Especially lee and davis. He did not get his way. Davis was imprisoned for a interview a child for a while. Montgomery cunningham maggs was quartermaster through most of the civil war. The war broke out, it was joseph e johnson. Johnston wasph e an effective general for the confederate states. He and William Tecumseh sherman became friends after the war. Johnston was a pallbearer at tecumseh shermans funeral and refused to keep his hat on. This is an old story. Weeks sick and died a few later from pneumonia because he refused to cover his head. He was credited for accounting for every cent the union army spent. Cent was accounted for by this gentleman. Recommended that we start using this plantation. S a Burial Ground it was a way to get back at least. A way to shame him, a little bit of revenge was to make this place a union graveyard. About a year later, the war would end. Has and dies in a hospital. Is in section 27. Section 27 is one of my favorites. It is where a lot of unknowns, the u. S. Color troops, and the. Ontraband escapes section 27 is a stones throw from the iwo jima memorial. And youcross the wall are in section 27. It is fascinating to read the stones and the dates of death. This inn looked like 1865. These are wooden planks painted white and stenciled with black paint. The upkeep was going to be harangued us. 1873, congress authorized the use of marble stones. They are buried mostly in a segregated section. A few are integrated with white in listed men. This is a mass grave. The deal, to make sure they would not wish to come back, he dug a hole and put the bones of unknown soldiers. Athered after the war the remains could not be identified. Is jessica in the room . There you are. Would you, and touch my hand . I will meet you in the middle. Thank you. Jessica touched my hand. I am alive. This handheld the hand of a man who was born that year and i called him grandpa. This with school kids and they cannot believe i am i aming here talking, that only three generations from the state and my family. For me talking to you, this man i whose hand i touched. To school kids, vietnam is ancient history. World war ii, they do not know when it was fought. Personal pride in taking the message and informing them about the sacrifice made on their behalf, that they should know about and they need to know about. He did not just lay bodies in there. He stacked the skulls together. ,e nested the pelvises together so they would fit. He stacked the seamers and the ribs together. A little he stacked in the together. Ribs a little bit weird. Were they all Union Soldiers . Probably not. They were skeletal remains. Who knows . They were dug up after the fact. World war i comes along, we are in the centennial observance of that. The u. S. Lost 116,000. 63,000 other deaths. Many of those deaths, spanish flu. It was called the spanish flu, not because it did not originate wereain, but they reporting numbers of how many had died. It became known as the spanish flu because the spanish were reporting the numbers. The french lost 1. 4 million. 1. 4 million military deaths. Germans, 2. 2 million. No one knows how many the russians lost. Second, following the battle of , there were five battles. It never fell. It was reduced to rubble, but never fell. Doctor anddoctor, a a soldier, he was helping when he could, trying to save lives. After 17 days, he sat on an ambulance wagon and wrote the following poem. Poppiesers fields, the blow. Now we lie in flanders fields. The torch be yours to hold high. If you break faith with us who died, we shall not sleep where poppies glow in flanders field. A friend rescued it and send it to london. It went fire role. Went viral. It if anything could go viral. I love that blood red poppy they wear for remembrance day. We call it armistice day. Created the veterans the buddy poppy. It was sold when i was a kid. In des moines, we would walk down the street and people you would see every corner, someone selling these. Widows and orphans of the war were to benefit. You do not see that so much anymore. The british and the french interred unknowns. Westminster abby. Two years after the signing of the armistice, the french irs beneath the arc de triomphe. That was Jackie Kennedys inspiration for the eternal flame at jfks grave. Wereierarchy thought we going to identify everyone and they thought it was yet to have one representative for those unidentified. We had no way to connect them. They said lets do this. They went to four american cemeteries in france and exhumed aur unknowns, brought them to Central Place and put them in identical caskets. This is a town hall in a city in france. This is where the selection took place. They brought those in. They took great care. They destroyed the records pertaining to the grave sites. They reexamine the bodies to make sure there was nothing on them a with them that could identify them to unit, rank, anything. They put them overnight in this place. Night, addle of the crew came in and move them around, so no one could think there was no way anyone could know which was which. A sergeant, edward f younger, was given a spray of white roses. The roses were laid on one of those four caskets and that became our unknown soldier. Him to the train. Those roses will stay on that casket all the way across the ocean and into the crypt in Arlington National cemetery. To the uss olympia, the olympia harbor escorted out of by the reuben james. It was the u. S. Destroyer that was torpedoed halloween 1941 by a german uboat five weeks before pearl harbor. The germans apologized. Here he goes. Director ow which which direction the casket is moving because the stripes go first. He is coming down the steps. They walk up the street and across the river. There was no Memorial Bridge yet. It was not built until the 1930s. This is warren g. Harding, one of our bestever president s. Just kidding. Presiding over the unknown soldier. He is dropping a fistful of soil on the casket. The bottom of this crypt has two inches of soil from the battleground. In theying in perpetuity ground that he died defending. This is what the tomb looks like. Woman is a widow of one of those mias. , slim,s a possibility that is her loved one in the crypt. That is why the selection was done with great care, to make sure no one could know who was in the grave. 1925, a veteran comes around the corner and finds a family having a picnic lunch on top of the tomb of the unknown soldier. He goes to the white house. He walks through the gate. He does not have to jump the fence. He walks up to the gate. He rings the doorbell. He gets in. He says i want to see the president. People are having picnic lunches on the tomb of the unknown soldier. He gets to see calvin coolidge. They put a civilian guard on the tomb. Army the United States takes over. I tell people i was a tomb guard. They say oh you were in the marine corps. I say i have the utmost respect for the marine corps. They are the bravest of the brave. The army has always guarded the tomb of the unknown soldier. Is administered by the department of the army. Most other cemeteries, with the exception of the old soldier and sailors home in d. C. , all our administered by the department of veterans affairs. Going to leap ahead here. They had just not down the knocked down the navy annex. I do not qualify for inground burial at arlington, even though i was a sentinel at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Heart, ahave a purple medal of honor, i did not retire from service. Not everybody can be buried in arlington. All retirees are qualified. In 19 31, this was placed on. Noticed this crack. This is going through the block. They think it goes all the way through. Said e earthquake, i does it stay on . They knew what i was talking about. The crack goes through here. These are the three figures of peace. Eathseads represent wr represent the six wars the six battles fought. This is a wreath of sadness and mourning. It is an inverted reef. Inverted wreath. July 2, 1937, 24 hour guard was posted. The tomb has been guarded nonstop since. 15. 5 privileged to have months of that continuum of guarding and protecting these soldiers, who lost their lives and identities. Protecting them and keeping them from harm of people who would disrespect the tomb or vandalize the tomb. Those are the main things we prevented. In 1958, after the second world war, it was decided they were going to do world war ii unknown. 1951 was going to be the day. Something happened in 1950. Across the 38th parallel. All bets were off. Everything was on hold. It was decided lets enter both. There were over 8000 missing from the korean war. There were several thousand unknowns buried in the pacific. Missingre over 78,000 americans in the second world war. I tell kids that. They go what . No one ever told me that before. This is the korean unknown. It has already been selected. They were in the cemetery of the pacific. They randomly chose four, put identical caskets, destroyed or records. Theeath was put on one of four. World war ii was more complex. We had morocco, tunisia, sicily, italy, belgium, a huge area where we had burials. They exhumed 13 from the transatlantic theater and brought them to the u. S. Cemetery at memorial in france. One was selected. They did the same. They brought four from the Mckinley Cemetery in the philippines and two from the cemetery of the pacific in hawaii. They chose one. Those two, i cannot tell you which is which. It is a secret. This will be wrapped in sail eighted and buried at sea. This will come to the Capitol Rotunda. May 26, the ship, this is the uss canberra. Walk these guys to the Capitol Rotunda and they are there for 48 hours. Is. These they switched in the middle of the night so each lay on it for twice for hours. I asked a bunch of eighth graders who this was. Kids is said that is joe biden. Oh, no. Not quite. That is general eisenhower. Honorbestowing medals of on the two unknowns. This is the samara money this is the ceremony. This is ike. The pentagon is right there. That is the face that got hit by flight 77 during 9 11. These guys will be buried here. Piles of flowers. Forward 1984. This is a sad and interesting story. This is president reagan presiding over the burial of what were said to be unknown remains. A soldier was flying over vietnam. His wing man said he saw tracers come up. Over. His plane roll he thought may be the rounds actually hit him out of commission because he did not make a distress call. Was behind enemy lines. Five months later, a crew gets there and find four ribs, part of a pelvis and humorous. A holsterblankets, with his flare gun and a wallow with his id. They put it in a helicopter with a crew and the wallet disappears on the way to saigon. It for the money. Did not care about the id. There went the positive id with the id card. They put the remains on a shelf and labeled them. They sat there for nine years. The family was never notified. I understand you do not tell a family you have their loved one until you know for sure. Pathologist was to call those remains into question. They were redesignated as learned,nd the family after 1984, the department of toense continued to refer those remains as believed to be michaels. That was the smoking gun. An order to dish inter may 14, 1988. They tested him. Dna, now, you just need a couple of cells. They did it. Yes, indeed, it was michael. I spoke at the library downtown. To me and came up said my sister dated him while he was a cadet. You could bet money, that when he came to sunday dinner, in the mail, monday or tuesday, there would be a thank you note from michael. This is called the saddest acre in america because it is where ias are buried. This picture has about 1500 graves in it. Buried in400,000 arlington. You make a row 26 long, 10 deep, that is how many graves are there. This is my basic combat training your book photo. I was 20 years old. I got sent to infantry school. There was a great need for Second Lieutenants in via non. They were not lasting long in the field. Sent to infantry school, went to infantry school. There,ond week i was there was a meeting for anyone between 510 inches and six foot two inches. I went to the meeting with 40 to 50 other guys in my unit. I filled out the card. We took a side trip to washington, the d. C. Area. We had been to arlington. If i had a chance to be a tomb guard guy, i would jump at it. Jump orders came down. Only one of those 40 to 50 went to fort myer, virginia. Were 900t there, there guys in the battalion, only 15 tomb guard. I did all of the president ial details. I went to the drill team. I found there was an opening at the tomb for a guy my size. Matched. If i had been half an inch shorter, i probably would not have been a candidate. We had three reliefs. All perfectly matched. I did not know that i could do this job or not. I did not know i could freeze my face for an hour. I had no idea i could blink, go go so longt without blinking. I did not know i could walk through heavy rain and not mind. I did. I pulled it off. I was humbled. I was gratified by being able to levels job, on a personal as well as a larger level, the larger picture of what this means and why we have this place in the first place. With thecommander relief. Halloween, 1969. My last duty day was memorial day, 1970. National memorial amphitheater. Were going to look straight down. That is what we see. This is where the tomb guard walks. It is 63 feet long. There is a box, canvas, with a metal frame. It has spikes. They are not decorative. The only time we could leave this matt for whether this mat for weatherrelated, was if we felt threatened by lightning. I never did. Is wellworn, because this. S where the sentinel walks in you cannot want back and forth. Things are going on here. They post a sentinel in the box. Just a little bit bigger than a phone booth. 21 steps. 21 indicating full military honors of the 21 gun salute. To the unknowns. Empty and will remain empty. There will be no more unknowns. If we have part of somebody, we know who they are. Tomb guards walk in such a way that their head does not bob up or down or go side to side. 45 years ago. Steps, 21 seconds. Uniforms are perfection. Everything located within a millimeter. Everything is shined beyond belief. Creases are knife edge. Shoes are polished. Some to debts. I say what is the first thing you do when you shine your shoes . I dont know, do the edges . I said take them off. Next thing you do, ud laced them, you shine over the holes and you carefully release them. Ue. Shine the tong who is going to see it . Who is going to know it shines . You are, and you alone. That is a lot of the concept of what we do here. It be as perfect as possible. Very less than your possible best is to dishonor these individuals in these graves. These chains went around the end of this map and right around here. Nobody can come up the stairs anymore and you cannot get within 30 feet of the sentinel when he is walking the mat. Almost touch you. You would hear them. People would come up and talk to you. As long as they were not loud, i did not care. Once they got loud, that was another story. It is different now. I do not know the wording may lose they use now. If someone comes across the chains, the same thing. And they do not move, it is requested visitors remain on the out side of the chain. Do not move, the rifle but. No ammo in the sentinels weapon. Round,e to carry a live but a soldier back from the hisan war, in 1953, took life in our bunk room with his one round. I carried a 45 with full clip. Now, they said the secret allowed to t command to carry live ammo. I am thinking, when you look around, maybe a couple of the are like air crowd marshals, only they are there to make sure if someone tries to pull something, it gets stopped. When i became relief commander, i would come out the middle. Matt have your attention, please. It is requested visitors remain silent and standing during the changing of the guard. All military personnel in uniform should render the hand fully among the command of preset arm. That is how we would begin the guard change. Isrything after that rehearsed. That is all we did was practice, practice, practice. Things could challenge you. People tell you stupid jokes or funny jokes. You knew what they were up to. If they got loud, you would challenge them. What could challenge you was the unexpected. Buzzing. I had ever bumblebee seen in my life landed on my nose. I could heal his legs in my nostrils. I did what i was trained to do. I did not look at him. I did not blink. He flew off and i was glad when he did. I am allergic to bee stings. The crowd was close, right before guard change. There was a gasp from the crowd. Three weeks later, this lady had come up the stairs and was standing where she could stand, outside the chains, in front of me, she looked at her camera, she clicked, she put it down, and i was the only one there who could not laugh, and i knew she had taken a very close up photographs of her eyeball. She had that sucker bass ackwards, as we used to say. That was composure on my part. Little baby squirrel coming at me. He jumps on the toe of my right and i think oh, i am going to have to read shine those. Then, he climbs the leg on the inside of my pants. Gets to about here and decides that is not a cool place to be and he exits. I am relieved when he goes. Walked in all weather. It did not matter. Hard rain, sleet was the worst. Stung. Snow was nice. Snow was cool. Thats where the lightning would have hit. I call this old army, new army, smart army, tough army, was army army. S army. S this is the whole crew. S. Is is sergeant joe dee all of these gentlemen are draftees. Most of them with college , 1969, 1970. They got drafted. Because they got high test scores, they were recruited, like i was. Myers myer,o fort the captain called me in and. Aid have a seat how would you like to go to west point . I said why do you say that . He said you have high test wars. High test scores. I said can i think about it . Came backp on it . I the next morning and reported to his office. He said do not say anything. You are three months to old oo old. Onths t i said ok, i would just volunteer for the tomb. This is my crew. 30 inch waist, 175 pounds. All cookie cutters. He does not have a badge. Why not . He is a new guy. Place. Not gotten to that i am going to end this section with the sentinels creed. Sacredcation to this duty is total and wholehearted. And responsibility were bestowed upon me i will never falter. With dignity and perseverance, mice and her will remain perfection. This soldier will rest under my eternal vigilance. That is the end of part one. [applause] we are going to jump into part two. About twoonversation separate programs i did. One is called who is buried in arlington. If you like history, you will love this. It is an amazing collection of people, some you would not collect connect with military. This is the arlington house. Any other picture, we do not see this. This man came to america in his early 20s. He became a combat engineer for George Washington. Washington learned of his design abilities. Chose him to design the federal city. The design was parislike. Was great for terror, rotten for automobiles. For carriages, rotten for automobiles. Foretitioned congress properly for proper compensation. In prince georges county, maryland. In 1909, with the help of the dar, he was dug up, what was left of him, and they put him in this script. ,n top of this is the design you see the city before you, the design of the city delays before you. This is the grave of james james. G and the First American to die for the first amendment. He and a friend of his were helping defend a publisher in baltimore named alexander hanson. He had been publishing articles against, in 1812, against the u. S. Fighting the brits. Public sentiment was on the other side. A mob attacked them and toward the building down. They went into the jail. They beat up the jailer. Be them to what they thought was to death. His friend had hot wax poured into his eyes. He succumbed. Alexander hansen did not. His friend, harry lee, the er of they said what do we do . Lets take them to arlington and make them symbolic of those who made the sacrifice in the world of in the war of 1812. Arlington has burials from the revolutionary war, the mexican war, and every up to the civil war and on. Is the grave of horatio right. He was a graduate of norwich university. He was an engineer. He was brought along with tom and slinking casey therese casey. Incoln if you have been underneath and you look up, it changes color at the 150 foot level. It gets darker. It was sitting so long, they moved to a nearby quarry, that was close. Engineer on the Washington Monument. Another circular thing, the the laying of at the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was George Washington, the guy who helped completed is on his lawn. That looks like the Washington Monument. Is the grave of the first person of european dissent to be buried on the property, mary randolph. They were prominent in virginia. Her father was Thomas Massie and h Thomas Massie randolph. N a book called the virginia housewife. It was a popular cookbook in the first half of the 19th century. Mary lee custis. She was buried there in 1828. This is the grave of George Washington custis. From his death until he went to richmond, he was concerned and of the property and executive of his will, but never the owner. 1877, their son, George Washington custis lee, takes the government to trial for wrongful seizure of the property. In 1882, the u. S. Supreme court agrees with a ruling that the seizure was unlawful. They awarded title back to the lee family, to George Washington custis lee. Little problem. About 16,000 burials. His wife wanted them dug up and removed. She did not get her way. Her son was successful in getting the title back. That was not going to work. He accepted their market value, one title payment a onetime payment, and dropped claim to the property. Robert todd lincoln, lincolns only son that would live past invited to18, he was the theater after his father was shot. Was an arms length away from garfield when garfield was shot in 1881. He was in the crowd when mckinley was shot. Refused invitations when the president extended it thereafter , until the dedication of the lincoln memorial. There is robert todd lincoln. Looks like his father in the ears and eyes. Warren g. Harding, william taft. Warren harding did not die right away. Buried with their son, Abraham Lincoln the second. Person. S such a it was the son of robert todd lincoln, named in honor of his grandfather. , harlan iowaincoln was named for her father. Is william towered half. These two have something in common. This sarcophagus and monument were designed and sculpted by the same man. If you are of a certain age, you carrie his artwork you carry his artwork in your pocket. He designed the buffalo nickel. As for San Francisco and s for fraser. For San Francisco and f for fraser. I got to be one of these guys a few weeks before i moved on to the tomb. There is the eternal flame, president ial seal. This is the current grave. They have added a stove pipe stainless steel so this flame does disappear and returns when the wind blows hard enough. It blows the gas away. Being nighters the igniters are blowing all the time. This flame comes back when the wind lets up enough for it to do so. Livedk kennedy, who almost two days, died 16 weeks before jfk was shot, here are the brothers. There is jfk, and jacqueline. She did not want onassis on her stone. The u. S. Army would not marry her without her official name at time of death. That is just official regulation. Bobby. This is now a marble cross that is anchored. It was stolen numerous times while i was there. Arlington is not hard to get into at night. We would hear people coming and walking through. This is a simple grave. To the left of bobby is edward, ted kennedy. Spoke and a colonel said he never had service. He and listed for four years in 1951. He had it cut down the two. E was an honor guard in europe he qualifies. ,nyone who served in congress the house of representatives, the senate, or the Supreme Court, who had active duty service, even one day, qualifies for burial at arlington. In and bobbys kennedy had two years active and reserve with the navy. And, a stone for the older brother. There is a stone for glenn miller. If you were in a category k. I. A. Or bnr, you could get a stone. He and his navigator died. No remains ever found. , kennedysoln secretary. Lincolns secretary was kennedy. It is almost a work of art. The grave of philip sheridan. He is under the tree beside pierre lenfant. , one of the more capable union generals. His claim to fame was burning the shenandoah valley. Left sleeve. , his there was no on in that sleeve. He lost his arm in a mexican war and real listed when the civil war broke out. He became a calvary officer. He was independently wealthy. He inherited 1 million in 1836. He did not have to be a soldier. He wanted to be an officer. Chantilly, 18 62, he rode into confederate lines. He was shot in the back as he was leaving. General ap hill came out and phil you have killed kearny. He did not deserve to die in the mud like this. , he created the game of baseball, he never claimed it himself. Officerhe first union to request permission to return fire against the confederate states. He was in fort sumter when it was fired upon. He asked Robert Anderson if he may return fire. They started returning fire. Abner doubleday never claimed he said his west point roommate doubledaye mess that went to cooperstown, new york, 1836 and created baseball. He never claimed it. The mess persisted. The mess was reconfirmed in the 1900. Point roommatet did that so the Baseball Hall of fame would be relocated in cooperstown. His wife and his son, killed by a confederate patrol, he believed he was not killed in action and executed because he was the son of Montgomery Cunningham meigs. This is the grave of general george crook. He is presiding over the surrender of geronimo. Major william rosecrans, some of the remains names from the civil war decided to choose arlington. Potters field in 1864. It started to become a place of honor when generals decided they wanted to be buried at arlington. When the casualties from the main were brought to arlington, that was another reason for this to become an honorable place to be buried. Rosecrans was a big name among union generals. Wrights grave. This is by the front door of the arlington house. This is david d porter. He was the admiral who ran gunboats past six bird and it moves past six bird v icksburg. It has been there a long time. His wife, who has no name. Of lincolnsrave valet. He was a free black, hired in illinois. Johnson came with lincoln, went through the gauntlet when avoiding the plot to assassinate him in baltimore on the way to his inauguration. William Henry Johnson was his valet, a free black from illinois, and he went with , the 19th gettysburg of november, for the address. Mary todd lincoln did not go. She begged lincoln not to go because their son was sick. The last time he left with a sick son was when willie died. He went anyway, he went with johnson. The night after he delivered the speech, lincoln l ill with illlpox lincoln fell with smallpox. Dan sickles was a piece of work. In hisa congressman early 30s, married an italian girl who was 18 or 16, against the wishes of both families. He found out she was having an affair and he, with the confession in hand, shoots a guy in front of the white house in lafayette park. He is not just anybody. He is the District Attorney for the District Of Columbia. Philip bernanke. His father is Francis Scott key. Scott free. His attorney, edwin stanton, lincolns secretary of war, is his defense attorney and he mounts the First Successful temporary insanity clique in u. S. Jurisprudence history. The wardensin office instead of a cell. He keeps his gun. All of his friends have to come visit when it for reading the ridding thefour district of the scoundrel. On cemetery ridge, he is in charge of the court. He takes them forward. He should have been courtmartialed on the spot. They get slammed by confederate artillery, basically rendered useless. He gets hit with the confederate ball, shatters his leg, he gets it amputated, and donates the leg and the ball. [laughter] now, he gets reelected to congress, and Petitions Congress for 30 plus years to get a medal of honor for his heroic actions at gettysburg. Because of political connections, he gets the metal of honor, the least deserving of the medal of honor recipients arlington. Jews ezekiel is the first buried. Sculptor. Ontemporary in 1911, he was commissioned to ulpt this to honor the confederate dead. Yes, there are confederate dead, 438 of them buried in the Arlington National cemetery. Were repatriated by their families because they did not want them in a yankee graveyard. This is the new south. Hook is holding a 2 4. Isaiah this is a confederate grave. Symbol. A confederate two theories, it is pointed because it can be easily identified as a confederate grave, and other theory is that so no damn yankee would sit on it. [laughter] it makes sense to me. Here they are. Men, and somed wives, who died when they were following their husbands. Ezekiel the goal died died, he was crowned by italy and germany. He dies in 1917, and is returned, and buried at the sculpture the he created. Bates funeral was the first state funeral. Theithere have only been like 20 of them. Interesting, confederate jew, first ceremony in that building. Axis that goes straight through here. The tomb of the unknown. Does anybody know who this is . A virtuoso pianist. His concerts got so ruckus that he had to stop touring. Said that iseck einsteins hairdresser. [laughter] he was Prime Minister of poland for nine months. He was president of the polish government in exile after the blitzkrieg. He went to switzerland, new in newnd died york in 1941. When he died, Franklin Delano he should golared here. He lay in here. When i was at the tomb, we would see his casket directly beneath the mast. 8, they december repatriated 170 plus remains from cuba of sailors that had died in the maine. This brought back mostly. Nknown, over half unknown so terrific, four were in one casket. Now, we know who that is, right . That is leonard wood. That is five foot two inch fighting joe, a confederate general, who put on the blue in the spanishamerican war and fought alongside these gentelman against the spanish. He was said to, in the heat of battle, say, lets go get those damn yankees spaniards. [laughter] in theted a huge stir south. He decided he wanted to be buried in arlington. In theat set up a howl south. He was a short guy, but his monument wasnt. [laughter] tackl . Pensation William Jennings bryan, threetime candidate for president from nebraska. He became secretary of war with wilson. Death few days before his , he completed his arguments in the scopes trial. That is brian and that is clarence darrow. This is my Supreme Court section. 12 Supreme Court justices are buried in arlington. Number one, taft. Earlne, werent all ren. Four in a row. Nobody looks. William douglass, father of the nuclear navy. Hugo black. Their goal Marshall Thurgood marshall. The boardbrown versus of education for the si Supreme Court, successfully. This is my africanamerican section. Medgar evers, murdered by a klansman, and admitted white supremacist. Pose. Woulwood daniel james. The first fourstar general, and original tuskegee airmen. Who met him said he was the coolest guy ever met. This is james parks. James parks was born a slave, owned by, property of George Washington. When the federal troops came across, he did not have anything to do, so he said, i will work for you, and he learned to be a brick mason. , andthose were all done arlington starting to become a cemetery, he started to date graves for pay. He retiredes until at age 82. He was given permission by the secretary of war to be buried at arlington because of his history of slave, labor, died in arlington county. This is the grave of matthew hansen, righthand man to robert deniedafricanamerican, membership in the Explorers Club because of his race. He was finally admitted way after. Here is his grace. Er of the discover north pole. I think we know was there. Probably first guy to get to the north pole would be more appropriate. Anyway, really beautiful monument. This is the reallife inspiration for indiana jones, discoverer of machu picchu, senator from connecticut. , his copilot. Powell. Ley he mapped and explored the grand canyon. One arm, he lost in the civil war. Creeley adolphus creeley, explore. Here was no fivestar frank, there is now six. ,e wore his silver fourstar plated in goals, to indicate higher than fourstar. This is just outside the cemetery, on the north. I love this photo. Buried at arlington are three of the six that they did in the statue. Rene gagnon,gth, and ira hayes. Uldin, the cartoonist. This is interesting because there are about 14 sections of these. You can tell, theres no one buried there because the graves are about five feet apart, but this is where glenn miller would have his stone. Lost at sea, 1953, during the korean war. Harry rosen, he was a private. He was on a troopship, the largest death toll of any thepship thinking during war. They were off the coast of algeria and hit by german bombers. It was a british ship. Hushed because they did not want to let anyone know how many men were lost until well after the war was over. His is the tomb on the other side of this hedge is my favorite section, 7a. Alexander haig. Joe lewis. Right next to joe lewis, lee marvin. Sidebyside. Dirty dozen. Liberty balance. Doolittle. Clifford. Mosul taylor. Matt urban, the most decorated soldier from world war two. Six gold leaf clusters on his purple heart. He was would it seven times. Sitter, one of the pueblo for. Matt weinberger. He was born in warsaw, poland, chief ofed as the staff. Leonard wood, which saw his picture. Walter reed. For all you rotarians, the guy vaccine. Ed the polio chennault, who was he . Flying tiger. This guy. Everybody should know this name. The first aviator to die in an airplane accident. He was flying behind orval right and the propeller cracked, and the plane nosed in. Wright survived, and suffrage was hit by the loader lock. He is buried about 200 yards from where the plane crash in arlington. Hammett. A communist, whether he . Damn goods, and a writer. Man. Hin he died in 1961. He served in the First World War and the second world war, he was an editor of a newspaper. He died in 1961. J edgar hoover tried to deny him burial in arlington because he had been a communist, but you know what they said, he qualified twice. Upcomingowers, an movie with tom hanks about the swap of him with russians spies. Look at the date here. January twice seven. Did you realize that five calendar days account for all. S. Space fatalities pete conrad. He was the lunar module pilot. E is aired in section 7a jim erwin. Commander of the challenger. Michael smith. There is the unidentifiable remains of the challenger astronauts. Murphy, right across the street from the amphitheater. Anthony mccall and, brigadier mcauliffe, brigadier general. When ordered to surrender, he no. , ive heard that was edited. Five of the nine stars were buried at arlington. Funeral insenhowers 1969. We were called out. Mitts. Romney, i see a staff car coming my way with two red flags. Salute aoing to special officer, and as soon as i know he cannot see my eyes or the driver, there was a feeble my salute. Eturned it was omar bradley, returning my salute. George marshall. Half arnold. Illiam leahy john foster dulles. Sheemale surgeon invented cobalt, the computer language. Men were involved in the hardware, women got involved in the software. This is the first female commissioned officer in the u. S. Service. This i show because there are 46 different symbols you can have on a grade in arlington. That is one of them, a muslim. . Ho is john coulter i have no idea, but i know who his wife. She is buried in arlington. My favorite role of hers was when she was mariam with cary grant. If you have daughters, you have read his books. After were a girl, born 1940, you read his books because he wrote these lines. They left the house at half past nine, the smallest one was not a light. He wrote and illustrated the books. Hotel, the bar still has his artwork on the wall. Roberts was in the civil war. He came back to these meetings of veterans, and got so tired of these meetings descending into chaos, he decided to do something so he roberts rules of order. [laughter] i come back to this place. This is where my heart is. I will end with the story. About five years the story has been passed down from sentinel to sentinel over years this was in the day when people could get really close. There were footsteps approaching and weeping. The weeping stops and the female voice says, my son disappeared in france in 1944, this is the only place i have, god bless you, son, and thank you. De, andhe steps receive the speaker. This is the place where we honor those who did not come back, and i hatefamilies have no the word closure, but nothing to hang anything on regarding their loved one. This is why we have this place. We will continue to guard it until there is no more United States of america. If you go to arlington, go in the fall, go now. Leave tomorrow. [laughter] ,hat is the National Cathedral the amphitheater, that is the tomb right there. All the crowds are gone, the tour buses full of kids are not there. It is peaceful. It is comforting. There is an element of sadness, but there is a huge element of comfort because if you have a , they areburied there with the best. Thank you. [applause] you are watching American History tv. 48 hours of programming on American History every week and on cspan 3. Follow us on twitter for information on her schedule, and to keep up with the latest history news. Cspan presents landmark cases, the book, a guide to our landmark cases series which explores 12 historic Supreme Court decisions, including marbury versus madison, korematsu versus United States, brown versus the board of education, miranda versus arizona, and roe versus wade