Christmas at Arlington

[a.k.a. Patrick]

Arlington at Christmas. I had no idea this was done.


Rest easy, sleep well my brothers. Know the line has held, your job is done.
Rest easy, sleep well. Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell...

Readers may be interested to know that these wreaths -- some 5,000 -- are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He's done this since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in one the poorest parts of the state.

[stiffdogg06]

When i went to DC with my school in 8th grade, the school go to pick four people to do the wreath thing the president does on Memorial Day. Well me, my best friend, and 2 other girls I knew where chosen for it. We all walked down the steps where you took the picture from with a Marine. And then me and this other girl walked up to the wreath and held our hands on it.

It was a very cool feeling to be able to do something the president was going to do the day after us! So that last picture def. brought back a lot of memories from Arlington that day.

[wannafbody]

I read about the Guards at the Tomb of the unknown. It takes them 4 hours to dress. They dress in front of a mirror and they have NO wrinkles on their uniforms. They memorize each grave name and location for 6 months. They take an oath to never fight or drink alcohol. They can't have a waist over 30 inches and are between 5'8 and 6'2. Needless to say there are only a couple hundred who meet the requirements.

[stiffdogg06]

Originally Posted by wannafbody

I read about the Guards at the Tomb of the unknown. It takes them 4 hours to dress. They dress in front of a mirror and they have NO wrinkles on their uniforms. They memorize each grave name and location for 6 months. They take an oath to never fight or drink alcohol. They can't have a waist over 30 inches and are between 5'8 and 6'2. Needless to say there are only a couple hundred who meet the requirements.

Each 5000+ grave name in the whole cemetery or just the unknown ones?

[wytstang]

Rest easy, sleep well my brothers. Know the line has held, your job is done.
Rest easy, sleep well. Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell...

That choked me up a bit, R.I.P brave heroes

[Cooter]

Thats some awesome stuff. Great find Patrick.
Here's a link to some American Cemeteries overseas. There's alot in Europe. A pilot at work's father-in-law went down over there in WWII. He was showing me all these cemeteries and I really felt embarrassed because I had no idea they were over there. They're really nice and really well kept. I first saw these pics and thought, well our govt actually does something great for those who have lost their lives protecting our country along with what we do at Arlington. Check it out.

American Battle Monuments Commission

[Surfer]

Originally Posted by wannafbody

I read about the Guards at the Tomb of the unknown. It takes them 4 hours to dress. They dress in front of a mirror and they have NO wrinkles on their uniforms. They memorize each grave name and location for 6 months. They take an oath to never fight or drink alcohol. They can't have a waist over 30 inches and are between 5'8 and 6'2. Needless to say there are only a couple hundred who meet the requirements.

Really? That seems a little excessive

Awesome pics by the way

[wannafbody]

Originally Posted by Surfer

Really? That seems a little excessive

Awesome pics by the way

It's considered the highest honor position for a guard. When a hurricane with high winds hit Arlington the guards refused to leave their post even though they were given permission to do so.

[stiffdogg06]

Originally Posted by wannafbody

I read about the Guards at the Tomb of the unknown. It takes them 4 hours to dress. They dress in front of a mirror and they have NO wrinkles on their uniforms. They memorize each grave name and location for 6 months. They take an oath to never fight or drink alcohol. They can't have a waist over 30 inches and are between 5'8 and 6'2. Needless to say there are only a couple hundred who meet the requirements.

I just read an article and they said once they are off duty they can drink/swear all they want.
FAQ

[baseballlover1]

WOWWW... my grandfather is buried there. He passed away just as i was learning how to play baseball and football and he loved to play catch with me, but didnt have too much time to do so. So every time we go up there me and my father take 2 gloves and a ball and throw some. I wish i could just shake everyone of there hands and here some stories. That would be amazing. Think about the knowledge and skills that lays just beneath the surface. Seeing this makes me want to go into the Navy and become an officer like my dad.

[tod071]

Originally Posted by stiffdogg06

Each 5000+ grave name in the whole cemetery or just the unknown ones?

How do they memorize the names of the unknown ones?

[stiffdogg06]

YouTube - Changing of the Guard:Man Crosses rail gets yelled at!

I love it! I can't wait to take a trip back there this summer!