Our logo and in this case here, this is the second least awarded badge with the exception of the astronauts badge. The astronaut badge 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 and part of our bylaws is that we do Community Outreach to educate the public about the tomb. I find that your generation, 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. I will have well over 100 by the time veterans day is over. I am speaking premuch nonstop 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 World War Ii Museum and will speak at that specifically about the selection of the 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. Because the granite is constantly walked on. The same path, same number of steps constantly 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 largest single test largest 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 thwarted 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 badge on my right breast pocket. It is the tomb guard identification badge. Mine is number 78 and today, we are giving away 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 shame upon the tomb, the unknown soldier and the u. S. Army. We have a motto in our society like the boy scout motto is be prepared ours is soldiers never die until they are forgotten and tomb guards never forget. We also have this 1 through 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 housing was given 6000 acres of land from the Potomac River in what is now washington, d. C. 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. Moving forward, 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. In 1778, during the middle of the american revolution, a guy with a famous mother buys a 1100 of those 6000 acres. His name is john park custis. Im related to john park custis. 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. His mother is Martha Dandridge custis washington. She is not washington yet. His father dies in 1757. In 1759, his mother remarries George Washington and he is raised at mount vernon. He and his sister patsy. Jackie and patsy were raised at mount vernon. 1778 he buys this property. He is an aid to his adoptive father at the siege of yorktown. Cornwallis has surrendered. He gets sick and dies from camp fever. That could have been any number of things. Probably diphtheria or typhoid. He passes the property to his son, George Washington parke custis, named in honor of his grandfather. He builds this house over 16 years. He did not go to the bank and 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 wright. 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. Thats 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 an adult. Her name is Mary Anna Randolph custis. In june 30 in this room, she 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. They 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. He consider 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. In 1861, we 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 cabinet. He refuses 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 richmond, urges his wife to follow as soon as possible. It takes her a couple of weeks. You know how the ladies are. Was that a sexist comment . [laughter] ok. She took her time. She comes, and a few weeks later, several troops, cross come across 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. A confederate 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 plantation within sight of the Nations Capital until troops came ross in 1861. Came across in 1861. In 1863, a law is passed. Mrs. Lee 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 half on her behalf and he is refused. The property is seized. The government gets the property. Slightly below fair market value. This guy is the most Important Union general no one has heard of. He was born in augusta, georgia, educated in the north, at west point, considered anyone educated at west point to be a traitor if they fought for the confederacy. Especially lee and davis. He did not get his way. Davis was imprisoned for a while. Montgomery cunningham maggs was quartermaster through most of the civil war. When the war broke out, it was joseph e johnson. You know Joseph E Johnston was a very 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. He got sick and died a few weeks later from pneumonia because he refused to cover his head. He was credited for accounting for every cent the union army spent. Every cent was accounted for by this gentleman. He was the one who recommended that we start using this plantation as a burial ground. It was a way to get back at lee. 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. He dies in a hospital. This 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 contraband escapes. Escape slaves section 27 is a stones throw from the iwo jima memorial. You go across the wall and you are in section 27. It is fascinating to read the stones and the dates of death. Arlington looked like this in 1865. These are wooden planks painted white and stenciled with black paint. The upkeep was going to be horrendous. 1873, congress authorized the use of marble headstones. They are buried mostly in a segregated section. A few are integrated with white in listed men. Enlisted men. This is a mass grave. To seal the deal, to make sure they would not wish to come back, he dug a hole and put the bones of unknown soldiers gathered after the war. The remains could not be identified. Is jessica in the room . There you are. Would you come and touch my hand . I will meet you in the middle. Thank you. Jessica touched my hand. This hand held the hand of a man who was born that year and i called him grandpa. I do this with school kids and they cannot believe i am standing here talking, that i am only three generations from the date in my family. History. Ancient to school kids, vietnam is ancient history. World war ii, they do not know when it was fought. I take personal pride in taking that message and informing them about the sacrifice made on their behalf, that they should know about and they need to know about. This mass grave, he did not just lay bodies in there. He stacked the skulls together. He nested the pelvises together, so they would fit. He stacked the seamers and the s and the ribs together. 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. 50,000 battle deaths. 63,000 other deaths. Many of those deaths, spanish flu. It was called the spanish flu, not because it did not originate in spain, but they were reporting numbers of how many had died. It became known as the spanish flu because the spanish were reporting the numbers. The brits lost 900,000. The french lost 1. 4 million. 1. 4 million military deaths. The germans, 2. 2 million. No one knows how many the russians lost. At least 2 million. They were not good record keepers. In 1915, following the second battle, there were five battles. It never fell. It was reduced to rubble, but never fell. A canadian doctor, a doctor and 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. In flanders fields, the poppies 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 viral. If anything could go viral. I love that blood red poppy they wear for remembrance day. We call it armistice day. In 1922, the veterans created 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. The brits in westminster abby. Two years after the signing of the armistice. The french interred theirs beneath the arc de triomphe. The eternal flame. That was Jackie Kennedys inspiration for the eternal flame at jfks grave. In 1921, the military hierarchy thought we were going to identify everyone and they thought it was yet to have was was thought it inappropriate 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 four unknowns, brought them to a 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. In the middle of the night, a 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. They take 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. Then to the uss olympia, the olympia will be escorted out of harbor 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. You cant know 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. He is lying in perpetuity in the ground that he died defending. This is what the tomb looks like. This woman is a widow of one of those 3173 mias. There is a possibility, slim, 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. In 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. Three months later, the United States army 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. But the army has always guarded the tomb of the unknown soldier. The army is the senior service. Arlington 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 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. I do not have a purple heart, a medal of honor, i did not retire from service. Not everybody can be buried in arlington. All retirees are qualified. In 1931, this was placed on. Notice this crack. This is going through the block. They think it goes all the way through. After the earthquake, i said does it stay on . They knew what i was talking about. The crack goes through here. These are the three figures of peace. Six wreaths represent the six battles fought. This is a wreath of sadness and mourning. It is an inverted wreath. Midnight july 2, 1937, 24 hour guard was posted. The tomb has been guarded nonstop since. I was privileged to have 15. 5 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. They put that process in motion. 1951 was going to be the day. Something happened in 1950. North korea came 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. There were over 78,000 missing 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 them in identical caskets, destroyed the records. A wreath was put on one of the 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 cloth and weighted and buried at sea. This one will come to the Capitol Rotunda. May 26, the ship, this is the uss canberra. They walk these guys to the Capitol Rotunda and they are there for 48 hours. They switched in the middle of the night so each lay on it for twice for hours. A full 24 hours. I asked a bunch of eighth graders who this was. Kids said, that is joe biden. Oh, no. Not quite. That is general eisenhower. He is bestowing medals of honor on the two unknowns. 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. Look at the piles of flowers. Fast 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. He saw his plane roll over. He thought may be the rounds actually hit him out of commission because he did not make a distress call. It was behind enemy lines. Five months later, a crew gets there and find four ribs, part of a pelvis. They find blankets, a holster with his flare gun and a wallow wallet with a picture id. They put it in a helicopter with a crew and the wallet disappears on the way to saigon. They stole 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. In 1981, a pathologist was to call those remains into question. They were redesignated as unknown and the family learned, after 1984, the department of defense continued to refer to those remains as believed to be michaels. That was the smoking gun. They got an order to disinter 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. One lady came up to me and 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 the recent kias are buried. This picture has about 1500 graves in it. There are 400,000 buried in arlington. You make a row 26 long, 10 deep, that is how many graves are there. This is my basic combat training yearbook photo. I was 20 years old. I got sent to infantry school. There was a great need for Second Lieutenants in vietnam. They were not lasting long in the field. I got sent to infantry school, went to infantry school. The second week i was there, 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. Orders came down. Only one of those 40 to 50 went to fort myer, virginia. When i got there, there were 900 guys in the battalion, only 15 tomb guards. 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. We were 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 so long 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 do this job, on a personal level as well as a larger level, the larger picture of what this means and why we have this place in the first place. I became commander with the relief. Halloween, 1969. My last duty day was memorial day, 1970. This is the National Memorial amphitheater. I will take you to the top and 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 mat for weatherrelated, was if we felt threatened by lightning. I never did. This is wellworn, because this is where the sentinel walks in. You cannot walk back and forth. Things are going on here. They post a sentinel in the box. This box is just a little bit bigger than a phone booth. 21 steps. 21 indicating full military honors of the 21 gun salute. Constantly to the unknowns. This is 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. 21 steps, 21 seconds. Uniforms are perfection. Everything located within a millimeter. Everything is shined beyond belief. Creases are knife edge. Shoes are polished. I talked to some cadets. 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. The next thing you do, dlace them, you shine over the holes and you carefully release them. You shine the tongue. 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. To be as perfect as possible. To do less than your very possible best is to dishonor these individuals in these graves. In my day, these chains went around the end of this map and right around here. Now, nobody can come up the stairs anymore and you cannot get within 30 feet of the sentinel when he is walking the mat. We had people they could 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 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. If they do not move, the rifle butt. No ammo in the sentinels weapon. They used to carry a live round, but a soldier back from the korean war, in 1953, took his life in our bunk room with his one round. I carried a 45 with full clip. Now, they said the secret service was not allowed to carry live ammo. I am thinking, when you look around, maybe a couple of the people in the crowd are like air 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. May i 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. Thank you. That is how we would begin the guard change. Everything after that is 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. End one day and i hear buzzing. The largest bumblebee i had ever seen in my life landed on my nose. I could feel 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 bassackwards, as we used to say. That was composure on my part. I see a little baby squirrel coming at me. He jumps on the toe of my right shoe, and i think oh, i am going to have to reshine those. Then, he climbs the leg on the inside of my pants. He gets to about here and decides that is not a cool place to be and he exits. I am relieved when he goes. We walked in all weather. It did not matter. Hard rain, sleet was the worst. Sleet stung. Snow was nice. Snow was cool. Thats where the lightning would have hit. I call this old army, new army, army, toughmart army, wuss army. This is the whole crew. This is sergeant joe dees. All of these gentlemen are draftees. Most of them with college degrees, 1969, 1970. They got drafted. Because they got high test scores, they were recruited, like i was. When i got to fort myers myer, the captain called me in and said 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 scores. I said can i think about it . Can i sleep on it . I came back the next morning and reported to his office. He said do not say anything. You are three months too old. I said ok, i would just volunteer for the tomb. This is my crew. 62 and three quarters, 30 inch waist, 175 pounds. All cookie cutters. He does not have a badge. Why not . He is a new guy. He has not walked four months yet. He has not gotten to that place. I am going to end this section with the sentinels creed. My dedication to this sacred duty is total and wholehearted. And the responsibility 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. We had a conversation about two 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 connect with military. This is the arlington house. In that 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. It was great for carriages, rotten for automobiles. He had no clue. He was fired by congress. He petitioned congress for proper compensation. He died 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. This crypt. On top of this is the design, you see the city before you, the design of the city delays before you. At lays before this is the grave of james lyndon. Probably 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 in 1812, against the u. S. Fighting the brits. Public sentiment was on the other side. A mob attacked them and toward re the building down. They went into the jail. They beat up the jailer. Took been out and beat 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 father of robert ulee. Robert e lee. Remains. D some they could not identify them. They said what do we do . Lets take them to arlington and make them symbolic of those who made the sacrifice in the world in the war of 1812. Arlington has burials from the revolutionary war, the mexican war, and everything up to the civil war and on. This is the grave of horatio wright. He was a graduate of norwich university. He was an engineer. He was brought along with tom lincoln casey. To restart the Washington Monument. 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. He was an engineer on the Washington Monument. Another circular thing, the guest of honor at the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was George Washington, the guy who helped complete it is on his lawn. That looks like the Washington Monument. This is the grave of the first person of european dissent to be escent to bedis buried on the property, mary randolph. They were prominent in virginia. Her father was Thomas Massie thomas mann randolph. She wrote a book called the virginia housewife. It was a popular cookbook in the first half of the 19th century. Her cousin was mary lee custis. This is the grave of George Washington, born april 30. Died in 1857. From his death until the union wasps came across, lee executor of his will that never owner of the property. 1877, their son, George Washington custis lee, takes government to trial for wrongful seizure of the property and wins. Court2, the u. S. Supreme agrees on the lower federal court ruling that the seizure was unlawful and they awarded title back to the lee family. To him, to George Washington custis leave. Burials lees wife wanted them dug up and removed and restated to her property. She petitioned congress for the rest of her life after the war. Her son was successful in getting title back. He accepted fair market value. Robert todd lincoln, lincolns only son who would live past the 1926. 18 he lived until he was invited to fords theatre the night his father was shot. He was an arms length away from garfield when garfield was shot in 1881. He was in the crowd when. Ckinley was shot he refused invitations to anything when the president attended thereafter. Until the dedication of the lincoln memorial, on memorial day of 1922. Here is robert todd lincoln, looks a bit like his father. Warren harding did not die right away. 14 months later, he was dead. And mary lincoln harlan, iowa was named for her father. This is William Howard taft. These two have something in common. The sarcophagus and monument were designed and sculpted by the same man. If youre of a certain age, you carry his artwork in your pocket here it pocket. He designed the buffalo nickel. Hat is as for San Francisco and s for fraser. S 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. Patrick kennedy, who lived 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 bury 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. I spoke and a colonel said he never had service. He and listed for four years in 1951. He had it cut down the two. He was an honor guard in europe. He qualifies. Anyone 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. Ted kennedy is in and Bobby 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. Evelyn lincoln, kennedys secretary. Lincolns secretary was kennedy. It is almost a work of art. This is the grave of philip sheridan. He is under the tree beside pierre lenfant. Philip sheridan, one of the more capable union generals. His claim to fame was burning the shenandoah valley. Philip kearny, his left sleeve. There was no on in that sleeve. He lost his arm in a mexican war and reenlisted 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. The battle of chantilly, 18 62, he rode into confederate lines. He was shot in the back as he was leaving. General ap hill came out and said you have killed phil kearny. He did not deserve to die in the mud like this. Abner doubleday, he created the game of baseball, he never claimed it himself. He was the first Union Officer 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 made up the mess that doubleday went to cooperstown, new york, 1836 and created baseball. He never claimed it. The mess persisted. The myth was reconfirmed in the 1900. He said his west point roommate 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. Arlington was a 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. This is horatio 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. This is the grave of lincolns valet. He was a free black, hired in illinois. Henry johnson came with lincoln, went through the gauntlet when they were 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 lincoln to gettysburg, the 19th 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 smallpox lincoln fell ill with smallpox. Dan sickles was a piece of work. He was a congressman in his early 30s, married an italian girl who was 15 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. He gets off scott free. His attorney, edwin stanton, lincolns secretary of war, is his defense attorney and he mounts the First Successful temporary insanity clique in plea in u. S. Jurisprudence history. They put him in the Wardens Office instead of a cell. He keeps his gun. All of his friends have to come visit when it for reading the and congratulate him for ridding the 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. He gets hit with a confederate ball. He donates the leg and the ball to the u. S. Army medical museum. Now he gets reelected to congress and Petitions Congress for 30 plus years, gets a medal of honor for his heroic actions at gettysburg. Because of political connections, he gets a medal of honor. The least deserving of the medal recipients buried in arlington. Ezekiel was the first jew admitted to the Virginia Military institute. Talented andely became a world famous sculptor. He was a contemporary around the turnofthecentury, 1890s and early 1900. In 1911 he was commissioned to sculpt this. Its a big hug of bronze. To honor the confederate dead, 483 of them buried at Arlington National cemetery. By necessity, they did not choose to be buried there and many buried there originally were repatriated by their families. South. The new the head is holding a pretty hook and a plowshare from osiris isaiah 2 4. Grave. A confederate the symbol is pointed at the top. Its pointed because it can be easily identified as a confederate grave, the other theory it is so no damn yankee would sit on them. Makes sense to me. And here they are, and concentric circles, mostly enlisted men, a few unknown, and some wives who died while they were following their husbands. Ezekiel dies. Sir Moses Ezekiel by the crowns of italy and germany. Back after his death for years, he dies in 1917 and buried at the foot of the statue. His funeral was the first ever state funeral. His was the first state funeral in this National Memorial amphitheater. Interesting, confederate jew, first ceremony in this building. The tomb is right here, this is on an axis that goes straight through here. There is the central box sentinel box. He was the front list of his day, virtuoso pianist. His concerts got so raucous that he had to stop touring. Eighthgraderc said, that is einsteins hairdresser. Of polandme minister for nine months in 1919. He was president of the polish after the in exile blitzkrieg, he went to switzerland and the new york and he died in new york in 1951. When he died, Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed that he should lie beneath the mask of the main until poland was free. And he went here in this territory and this turned has the names of all 260 american soldiers who perished. Was at the tomb, we would go here and look through this door. Now, in 1899, december 28, they repatriated 170 plus or mains from cuba of sailors that had ,een interred and brought back mostly unknown, over half of them unknown, and treating to the fact that this explosion was horrific. We know who that is, right . Theodore roosevelt. That is five foot two inch fighting joe wheeler, confederate general. He fought alongside these gentlemen. If he was said to in the heat of battle to said, lets go get these damn yankees. A huge stir in the south. He died in 1906. He decided he wanted to be buried in arlington with his friends. Joseph wheeler, born september 10, 36. Brigadier general United States army. He was a short guy, but his monument wasnt. Overcompensation . William jennings bryan, threetime democratic candidate from nebraska for president of the United States, he lost to cleveland, mckinley, and taft, and then became secretary of war. Just a few days before his theh, his arguments in scopes trial. This is my Supreme Court section, 12 Supreme Court justices are buried at arlington. Chief justice of the United States. Earl warren, were in earl, and william rehnquist. On the way up to the kennedy grave, Oliver Wendell holmes. A few feet further you look over and you see William Brennan potter stewart. Four in a row. Nobody looks. See, four Supreme Court justices buried in a row. But its arlington. Arthur girl goldberg. Hugo black, and thurgood marshall. He argued brown versus board of education before the Supreme Court successfully. This is my africanamerican section. ,ecretary for the naacp murdered in his driveway by an admitted klansman and white supremacist. Two allwhite hung juries. Finally a mixedrace, mixed gender jury convicted him in the 1990s. The blacktie cob. Againstd. 610 majorleague pitching in exhibition games. Thats pretty good. Daniel chappie james, first fourstar general in the u. S. Air force. He was an original tuskegee airmen. People i know who have met him said he was the coolest guy theyve ever met. This is james parks. In 1843, born a slave property of George Washington part justice. When the federal troops came across, he did not have anything to do. He said, i will work for you guys. He learned to be a brick mason and he built the brick barracks i lived in when i was at fort myer. When those were all done in arlington started to become a cemetery in 1864, he began to date graves, was an employee of the dod and dug graves until, 1925 when he retired at the age of 82. He was given permission by the secretary of war to be buried at arlington because of his history diedavery slave labor, in arlington county. Matthew henson, righthand man to robert parry, africanamerican. Denied membership in the Explorers Club because of his race, finally admitted way after. Here is robert edwin perrys grave. I think we knew it was there. First guy to get to the north pole would be more appropriate. There is the north pole. Its a beautiful monument. Is the reallife inspiration for indiana jones. The is hiram bingham, discoverer of much of peach you, governor of connecticut, senator from connecticut. Richard byrd, his copilot, and cora bennett. Powell, lake powell. Explore the grand canyon, one army lost in the civil war. John j pershing. There was no fivestar ranking yet. The five stars were singular. He wore his silver for stars and plated them gold. And Frank Buckles at 110, the last surviving world war i. Not far from pershing. This is just outside the cemetery in the north, i love this photo. Buried at arlington are three of the six depicted. The cartoonist. And section k, and this is a memorial section and this is very interesting because there are about 14 of the sections in arlington. You can tell theres nobody buried there because the graves are five feet apart trade this is where glenn miller wouldve had his stone. Lost at sea, 1953. Harry rosen, he was a private. What was he doing on the ship . It was the largest death toll of any troop ship sinking in the war. Americans died. They were off the coast of algeria and hit by german bombers. T was a british ship theys hushed up because did not want to let anybody know how many men had been lost until well after the or was over. Was over. On the other side of the hedge is my favorite heart of arlington. Haig, joe lois. Right next to joe lewis, lee marvin. Sidebyside. Dirty dozen, liberty valance. Clark clifford, maxwell taylor. The most decorated soldier in the second world war. Murphy died in 71, got his middle in 1980 because his paperwork had been lost for 30 plus years. Only he had six oakleaf clusters on his purple heart. He was wounded seven times. Born in wausau warsaw, poland. Soldier. Ways to be a for all you rotarians out there, the guy who created the oral polio vaccine. Who is he . American volunteer force. Avf. This guy everybody should know this name. Die in anaviator to airplane accident. He was flying around fort myer, right behind arlington, with orville wright, september 17, 1908. The plane nosed in. Wright survived. Hit by the motor blog, fractured his skull and died three hours later. Buried 200 yards from where the plane crashed in arlington. Communist, wasnt he . Yes, he was. And also a damn good writer. He wrote red harvest, most critically acclaimed. He died in 1961, he had served in the First World War and got tuberculosis, medical discharge. In 1961. J edgar hoover tried to deny him burial at arlington because he had been a communist. Twice to be buried in Arlington National cemetery. Francis gary powers upcoming movie with tom hanks about the swap of him for some russian spies. Chaffee, january 27. Fiveou realize that calendar days from january 27 to february 1 would come from all spacelities fatalities . P conrad, and original. Remembers him, but you see his granddaughters on the usaa ad that says mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1972. He was a loonier lunar modular pilot. Commander of the challenger, michael smith. There is the unidentifiable remains of the challenger astronauts and memorial. Murphy right across the street from the amphitheater. Anthony mcauliffe, brigadier general. Use commending the 101st airborne he was commanding the 101st airborne. ve heard that was edited five of the 95 stars are buried at arlington. Andy tomb, at the tomb, we were called off. Regular sized guy, secretary of commerce for nixon. Is over, allmony these guys are coming down the steps. Officer. General seeoon as i know he cannot my eyes, i take a look down and there was a feeble hand returning my salute. It was omar bradley returning my salute. Marshall, arnold. Dulles. Ter assistant surgeon, spanishamerican war. This is where admiral grace hopper rear admiral grace hopper. The men were involved in the hardware, the women got into the software. S was the first female there are 46 different symbols you can have on a grave in arlington. I know who constants bennett was, the sister of joan bennett Constance Bennett was, the sister of joan bennett. Favorite role that she was in as was miriam kirby. Now, if you have daughters, you read his books. Girl, if you were born about after 1940 and before 35 to 40, it wrote his books because he wrote this line. 12 little girls and two straight lines. He wrote and illustrated the books. In the Carlyle Hotel in new bar still hass his artwork on one of the walls. Tennis. S cup of Henry Martin Robert was in the civil war and he came back to these meetings of veterans and the gar and he got so tired of decided to do, he something, so he created roberts rules of order. I come back to this place. His is where my heart is i will end with this story. Five years before i was a sentinel, and this story has been passed down from sentinel to sentinel over the years, sentinel just stopped at the north end of the mountain. He heard footsteps approaching. He heard footsteps approaching and weeping. And the female voice says, my son disappeared in france, the weaving stops and the female voice says, my son disappeared in france. This is the only place i have. Thankess you, sir, and you. This is the heart and soul of arlington, this place where we honor those who did not come back and whose families had no nothing to hang anything on regarding their loved one. We have this place and we will continue to guarded until there is no United States of america. If you go in arlington, go in the fall. Go now. Leave tomorrow. That is the national cathedral, theres the amphitheater, theres the tomb right there. All the crowds are gone, the tortoises full of kids arent there, it is tour buses full of kids arent there, it is calm. There is an element of sadness but a huge elements of comfort. Thank you. [applause] this is hillary clinton. I want to thank you for letting me speak to you about an issue central to our childrens future and critical in our fight to restore this nations economy, solving our Nations Health care crisis. There is no prescription or roe model or cookbook for being first lady. The future is created every day. The future is not something out there waiting to happen to us. Future is something that we make. And i believe that theres a good possibility that sometimes in the next 20 years, we will have a woman president. Hillary clinton experienced many firsts in her role as first lady. She and husband president bill clinton have been Political Partners since law school. She has endured several scandals, including his impeachment. As she considers a second bid for the white house, her story is still being written. Hillary clinton, the sunday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspans original series, first ladies, influence and image took. And theirladies influence on the presidency, from Martha Washington to michelle obama. Sunday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv on cspan3. It weak history tvs american artifacts visits museums and historic places. Up next week is the library of congress on capitol hill to learn about an exhibit marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1864. Good morning. I am the africanAmerican History specialist for the Manuscript Division of the library of congress and one of librarytors for the exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the civil rights entitled the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a long struggle for freedom. Subtitleit takes its from the speech that president before theson read nation upon the signing of the act on july 2, 1964. This is the copy that was put into the teleprompter. My fellow americans, im about to sign into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I want to take this occasion to talk to you about what that law means to every american. Week, a smallthis band of valiant men began a long struggle for freedom. He did six drafts of the speech, and then he added extemporaneously the word long, to indicate the many decades, really centuries in the slow progression towards realizing civil rights. Began as a culmination of the struggles of decades of struggles of africanamericans, but it encompassed all americans, it encompassed everyone regardless of race, color, sex or national origin. It was really about the ongoing struggle in this country to achieve that more perfect union. Coming up next on American History tv, Texas Tech University history professor sarah keyes talks about her current book project on the oregon trail. She talks about the threats people based on the trail. We interviewed the professor at the western history Associations Annual conference in portland, oregon, in october. This is about 20 minutes. What led to your work on the oregon trail . Sarah im a child of the 1980s, so i grew up playing the oregon trail game. It is an exciting, adventurous journey where you are trying to figure out how to survive. Its always been a part of my touchstone,