Hi Everyone! Alix here, welcome back to my channel for Week Four
Its been four weeks already, that's crazy. Almost a whole month. Anyway, today we're going to be
talking about Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC
So, I have, this is the actual map of the cemetery here. And this is just another flyer I got when I went there last July
I have some pictures here
Now if you don't know Arlington National Cemetery is the National Cemetery for all of the US military Personnel. Most states have Veterans'
Cemeteries but not all of them. Arlington is the best of the best, so we're going to be talking about it a lot today
Arlington has limited room so, see this is it right here, so unfortunately not everyone can be buried there even though they all should be
So one of the scandals that has been happening lately is, there are some WAC's, Women Army Corps Veterans
who have wanted to be buried there even just have their ashes laid there and they have been told no.
So if you want to learn more about that you certainly can. We're hopefully going to be just studying the lighter side
of Arlington today
Now this is the book we're going to be citing as the resource today. It is from the "Images Of America" collection
You've probably seen them every time you have gone to a national park or something like that, they are literally everywhere.
Anyway this is the "Arlington National Cemetery" copy, written by George W Dodge, with a forward b Kim B Holien. There's our book
Okay, now. Arlington used to be a private property it was owned by the Custis Family. I have the family tree here. This is the actual
Family Tree they show when you go into Arlington House so its pretty cool, this is legit there you go
So here is the funny part: Robert E Lee, you probably know him as the Confederate General, Appomattox all that kind of stuff
So here he is, right here on the family tree, and who is this? None other than George Washington, our nation's "first" president
Now if you know true American History you'll know Washington was the first president under the Constitution
Anyway, there was actually seven or eight presidents before Washington
Not important, Robert E Lee was, he and Washington both married into the Custis Family which was very smart because the Custis's were very rich
They owned Arlington the property, and back in the 1860's, when the War Between the States first broke out, Robert E Lee left to join the Confederacy
he left Arlington behind, back then there was a little loophole the Federal Government used. You had to pay your property taxes in person and if you didn't show up
The federal government would seize the land, and Arlington National Cemetery was born
Because guess what, Robert E Lee was a little busy and couldn't come back to pay his taxes
So, like I said he had to show up in person, that's a sneaky little loophole
The first soldiers buried in Arlington were buried on the 13th of May 1864. The first of the first was named William Henry Christman
He was a Union (Federal) Soldier who died of Measles. Legend says that the Confederate burial stones
which, they are all pointed slightly, are pointed so that Union sympathizers can't sit on them, to disrespect the soldiers buried beneath them
Which, trust me, with how things are going now, our Confederate soldiers are being disrespected. If you didn't know
All Confederate Veterans were made US Veterans in 1958, by an act of our Federal Government
so disrespecting them is the same as disrespecting any other US Veteran--I would not recommend it
Okay, so, like I told you: Robert E Lee and General George Washington married into the Custis Family
Basically Lee was Washington's Step Great-grandson (Only one great Sorry!)
Isn't that weird?
Now you know, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is one of the most famous things In Arlington National Cemetery
I have a picture of it here, it is this white mausoleum. Inside we have a veteran from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. There is
also an empty slot from the Vietnam War, I will explain that more. Basically on the 24th of October 1921, the first unknown soldier was selected, a World War I Vet
He was brought home from France and on Veteran's Day 1921, the soldier was entombed in Arlington before a crowd of 100,000 people
President Harding gave a speech on that day starting the precedent for all Presidents to give speeches at Arlington on Memorial Day
and Veteran's Day. Now unfortunately, President Obama broke this precedent, the first to do so, in his first year in office he went golfing instead
of giving the speech
Anyway, on Memorial Day in 1958, President Eisenhower presided as Unknown World War II Vet and Unknown Korean War Vet were placed in the tomb
On Memorial Day 1984, Unknown Vet from the Vietnam War was buried. In 1998, the Vietnam Vet was ID'd thanks to DNA as Michael J Blassie of the US Air Force. His Family requested his body so
Disinterred and reburied in Missouri
The Vietnam Crypt remains empty today, and is dedicated to quote "America's Missing Servicemen" unquote according to the Library of Congress
The whole purpose for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, is for us to remember all of the Veterans who never made it home
and who were never even identified. There are thousands of them even in this cemetery alone, you can walk around and just see it says unknown vet from whichever war
And we really just need to honor those men and we will never forget them, and that is why this is here
So, like I said the Vietnam crypt is empty, The Honor Guard presides over the tomb 24/7, that is what you see here
The hourly changing of the guard ceremony is one of the most popular attractions to view when you go to the cemetery
and just standing there is very moving, the Honor Guard is always there to protect these men who dies for our country and our freedom
Now Arlington is also home to many "Famous" people buried there. Including: JFK, Jackie O, Edward M Kennedy, Joseph P Kennedy Jr, Robert F Kennedy, Robert Todd Lincoln, William Howard Taft, Juliet O Hopkins also known as the Florence Nightingale of the South,
Admiral Grace Hopper a pioneer computer programmer and US Navy Mathematician, Vinnie Ream the youngest and first woman to be commissioned by the US government for sculpture pieces, and many more are all buried here
There are several memories within the cemetery itself, a few you would probably like to see are: "The Maine" ship exploded in Havana Harbor starting the Spanish/American War,
The "Monitor" Memorial. I have pictured here, I took this picture myself, to honor the men who died in the sinking of the "USS Monitor" the first ironclad commissioned by the US Government in the War Between the States
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Amphitheatre, surrounding it which I have talked about, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers from the War Between the States is located very close to Arlington House itself, that is pictured here
It is a mass grave for thousands of soldiers who died in the North and the South who were never able to be identified
The "Challenger" memorial, the "Columbia" memorial both here, also with the Iran Hostage Crisis Memorial for all the men and women who died in those tragedies
We have, the Korean War Memorial Bench, no one ever remembers the Korean War we have a memorial for them,
We have the Confederate Memorial, when I was there last July they had it all blocked off so no one could get to it, that might have been because they were worried about vandalism or something like that, I'm not entirely sure
The US Marine Corps memorial is located just outside the gates of the cemetery. Its probably the most famous one it is pictured here. It depicts the Men raising the Flag on Iwa Jima
during World War II, we have the Coast Guard Memorial, the eternal flame on JFK's burial memorial, The Women For Military Service for America memorial and many more
There are actually over 14,000 soldiers laid at rest in Arlington Cemetery. And here's just a small picture of them here
If you are buried there you automatically get one of these simple white headstones, you can pay to have a bigger more impressive one if you want, most people just have these. That's
enough, and the soldier who is buried can also have their spouse buried with them. And its just, if you walk around there you are just speechless, its impossible to not be moved
to not feel what has happened and just, its crazy. And knowing that it all happened because Robert E Lee didn't want to pay his taxes makes it even more, just incredible
So that is all I have for this week, if you want to learn more I have put link down below for you to look at, remember to keep in contact with me I'm @icks_squire__. Use my hashtag #thingsyoudidn'tlearninhistoryclass
And next week we will be doing, the topic will be, The Egyptian/Hittite Peace Treaty, the first known peace treaty written in the world because the world needs a little more peace right now
Alright, that's all for this week, I'm Alix see you next week, bye guys!