Just got back from Arlington National Cemetary.

[11 Bravo]

I head down there every year about this time, and have done so for decades now, just to check in with some bros who didn't get home. Then since my Dad, a combat decorated Naval Aviator, passed, I've visited him every trip as well. But today turned out to be kind of special. I was at Dad's gravesite, fairly isolated, when I heard a bugler start to blow. I couldn't see a military drop taking place, and Arlington is fairly hilly, so I don't know if this was some kid with a bugle, or an honor guard. Over the years I've witnessed both, but as I said, today I couldn't locate the source. It was haunting.
So all I can say is that if Taps doesn't choke you up just a little bit, you've either never heard it played in person, or we don't have much in common.

[Mnemosyne]

1. Taps can definitely tear through your soul at times.

[Jenoch]

2. I've only been to Arlington once.

It was in the late 70s when I was a kid. I don't remember hearing taps play, but I did get to see the changing of the guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

We also were given a ride in a large golfcart to the grave of my uncle who died in the 60s. He is one of the only men to be buried there who never served in the military. He had always wish to be buried with his identical twin brother who died in WWII. he did not serve in the military because he was an engineer at Lockheed and was on the team that designed the P-38 Lightning. It took an Act of Congress to get my uncle buried at Arlington. My dad got it done by contacting his U.S. House Representative and then Senator Walter Mondale.

[11 Bravo]

3. The P-38 saved more American bomber crews' lives than I can count.

I'm proud to know that your uncle rests at ANC.

[Jenoch]

4. Tomorrow I'm taking my 82 year old father

to three cemeteries to visit the graves of six of his seven siblings. He's the last one left. His eldest brother was in the Army Air Corp during WWII. He was the bomber/navigator on a Douglas A-20. They were hunting subs in the Caribbean. He was shot down three times, once by a German submarine. They dropped a bomb, missed, and came around, dropped another and hit the sub and sunk it but were shot down by a deck gun. Three crewman survived and were in a life raft for two weeks. He survived the war but later died in a construction accident.

[okaawhatever]

6. Cool story. Glad he's there with his brother. nt

[Jenoch]

7. When my dad dies, I foresee an argument

amongst my brothers about a family heirloom. The uncle who was shotdown took a 20mm shell casing as a base and .50 calibre brass and made a model of a P-38 by soldering it together. I'm the youngest, and my oldest brother seems to feel entitled in these areas, just as my father's oldest surviving brother did. I think I'll just bow out.

(I have the best thing over my brother. I have spent years helping and being with our father. He has spent years acquiring 'stuff'.

[okaawhatever]

8. +100 nt

[rustydog]

5. I can't be in a military section of a cemetary for too long

the rows upon rows of crosses is so saddening and, if taps is being played. I can't keep from tearing up. The ultimate sacrifice, for us.

[bigtree]

9. 'Day is done, God is near'

Last edited Mon May 26, 2014, 03:06 AM - Edit history (2)

. . . Most memorable was the company of men who showed for my father-in-law's funeral at a site beside Rocky Gap state park. The minister, who was a good friend of her father, spoke of the lyrics right before a lone trumpeter played 'Taps'. it was a remarkable experience.

My father's ashes are buried with my mother's on a site at Arlington National. He got that privilege because of a short stint he did in the Army during WW2. The military provided the works when he was interred there; a horse-drawn carriage and a large company of soldiers and a band (tape), I think. It was sort of a blur and the size of the procession caught me off guard. I think they've stripped all of that down a bit because of deployments during the Bush years and I'm not sure if they're back to what I experienced. It was certainly breathtaking.


Day is done, gone the sun

From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky
All is well, safely rest
God is nigh.

Fading light dims the sight
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright
From afar, drawing near
Falls the night.

Thanks and praise for our days
Neath the sun, neath the stars, neath the sky
As we go, this we know
God is nigh.

[Jenoch]

10. I sometimes think it is redundant for two veterans,

(eith the requisite baseball caps) to thank each other for their service.

I do thank you for your family's ssrvice.

I remeber when I was young hearing about my friend's grandfathers serving in WWII. My grandfather was too old to serbe i. WWI let alone WWII. He was 51 with six kids and a son in tbe military on December 07, 1941. My father was 9 years old on Pearl Harbor Day.

[davidpdx]

11. I went to Arlington in mid 1997

I was actually suppose to be in DC for a College Democrats convention, but ended up blowing some of it off to see the sights. Went to the White House, Capital Hill, and the Smithsonian. Arlington is a beautiful place and reminds me of the sacrifices people have made for our country.

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. My Mother is buried there as

are some of my high school friends that I attended their burial there. My father 94, when he dies will be buried next to my mother..

Our family used to shop at Fort Myers South until they covered it up and had to make room for more graves during the Vietnam war.

Went to Bobby's grave 3 days after his burial..
I really don't want to go back

[11 Bravo]

13. When Dad was at the War College we shopped at the Fort Meyer commissary ...

and received our medical care at the Meyer dispensary.