ARLINGTON

NATIONAL
CEMETERY
LOCALIZATION

The cemetery is
located in
Arlington, Virginia,
United States
Arlington National Cemetery
is the largest military
cemetery in the country and
serves as the final resting
place for over 400,000
military veterans and their
immediate families from the
Iraq and Afghanistan fronts,
as well as from World Wars I
and II, the Korean conflict,
Vietnam, America's Cold War
Civil War.
 After the Lees abandoned the property at the

YOUR HISTORY start of the Civil War, the U.S. Army seized
Arlington Estate on the morning of May 24,
1861 to defend Washington, D.C. The estate
was seized but rather for its strategic value.
Three forts were built on the property during
the Civil War: Fort Cass/Rosslyn, Fort
Whipple/Fort Myer and Fort McPherson
(currently Section 11 of the cemetery).
THE BEGINNING

On May 13, 1864, the first military

burial was conducted for Private
William Christman. Brigadier General
Montgomery Melgs Quartermaster
General of the U.S. Army, who was
responsible for the burial of soldiers,
ordered Arlington Estate used for a
cemetery.
 The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
ATTRACTIONS
In addition to the Kennedy
family, President William
Howard Taft, Senator Robert F.
Kennedy, Supreme Court
Justice Thurgood Marshall,
world boxing champion Joe
Louis, the seven Space Shuttle
Challenger astronauts and the
Tuskegee airmen are also
interred in the Cemetery.
Arlington National.
MEMORIAL DAY Memorial Day is a
national holiday in the
United States that takes
place annually on the
last Monday in May. The
holiday honors American
servicemen who have
died in combat.
Usually the president
participates in the tribute
by placing a wreath on
The Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier
Because of these
tributes, the Cemetery
becomes so important.