Monday, March 1, 2010

Final Arlington National Cemetery Sampling

Even though I love Arlington National Cemetery, I actually hope this will be the last sampling I put up for a time.  I just have so many photos from there that it is very hard to pick favorites.

This set of samples come from a couple of visits I took to the cemetery over the summer smack in the middle of D.C.'s famous relentless heat and (even more) relentless humidity.
I remember getting up to the changing of the guard and wiping down my entire body with a towel that I always carry with me (seriously) during the summer for the sole purpose of soaking up the immense amount of sweat that comes from being outside in D.C.

As I sat watching the changing of the guard (and drying myself off), a woman fainted and tumbled down the steps of the amphitheater where the changing takes place.  It was the first time I had ever seen anyone faint from heat.  Needless to say, it was the first of many faintings I witnessed over the summer.

I also remember kneeling in the grass to get the shot of Edward Finnegan's grave (below).
I paid a heavy price for that.
During the no more than two minutes I spent kneeling to get that shot, I was attacked by noseeums.  Yet another "charm" of a D.C. summer.  Still, it was worth the shot.

I'm going to label these pictures as there are so many landmarks in the cemetery.  And, like previous posts, some shots are very similar.  It's hard to pick favorites!

Click on individual pictures to see full-size.


(The main lawn.)


(Another angle of the main lawn.)


(These are confederate graves.  Confederate headstones are pointed at the top while union headstones are rounded.)


(Four unknowns from the USS Maine.)


(Robert Lincoln's (the son of Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War) grave.)


(Robert F. Kennedy's grave.  I have many shots of the John F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy graves, but none of them speak to me as much as the shots of RFK's do.)


(Near the amphitheater.)


(Near the amphitheater.)


(The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.)


(Nurses Memorial.)


(Nurses Memorial.  I love this shot because all the graves visible are the graves of nurses.)


(Confederate Memorial.)


(McClellan Gate.)


(John Dill statue.)

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