Just a few shots I took at Arlington National Cemetery

[Guest Jan V]

Visiting this national cemetery is a very somber experience. There is much history here and words can't describe the feelings I experienced as we walked about the cemetery. If there is any interest, I will also post pictures of the Tomb of the Unkown Soldier and the changing of the guard. I realize this is an American thing and have no idea if there is any interest on the forum of this event. As a deep-feeling, and extremely patriotic American, it brought chills to my body. Please do not desecrate this thread with the rhetoric that always seems to appear on many other "threads American".

 

 

 

[Snatcher]

Very "moving" photography !!

[Colin Brett]

I have always had a hankering to visit Arlington Cemetery!

 

I suppose living close to the American Cemetery at Madingley [Cambridge] and paying quite a few visits there may have sowed the seed.

 

If anyone is in the Cambridge area, Madingley is well worth the visit.

 

Very thought provoking!

 

Immaculately kept!

 

A little piece of America in Cambridgeshire.

 

Colin

[MrWiggly]

Please do not desecrate this thread with the rhetoric that always seems to appear on many other "threads American".

 

Don't worry Jan ... It won't happen !!

 

Any graveyard or cemetery to me is a very atmospheric and moving place.

[Peter Waller]

Like others I have stopped off at Madingley. Irrespective of nationality it is very evocative place. Morbid curiosity, maybe. But also a place to say thank you. The German side of it really wasn't an American war, and even though they were late we were glad of them! And as many of you know many American families hail from the Eastern Counties of England. Yes, even I have American relatives. Allegedly one was a signatory to the Declaration of Independence although I have never checked this out. Thank you for posting them Jan, sincerely appreciated.

Edited November 30, 2008 by Peter Waller

[Cameraman]

I always find these places very moving, especially as I was a soldier for 29 years and lost many friends, my Son was also a soldier. I always stand and think, "what an utter waste why do we do this, will we never learn." Perhaps a visit to just a few of these should be a part of the current education process for teenagers and compulsory for all politicions on an annual basis.

[Peter Waller]

I had a peep at the official website, awesome, humbling:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/images/ab...s/image_32.html

[Peter Waller]

Jan, you might find this link interesting:

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cambridgeshi...SACemetery.html

[Guest Jan V]

Jan, you might find this link interesting:

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cambridgeshi...SACemetery.html

Thanks for that, Peter. I fond some very interesting similarities to what we experienced in Washington, DC and Arlington, VA:

 

1) "On the wall running from the entrance to the chapel are inscribed the names of 5,126 Americans who gave their lives in the service of their country". Very much like our Vietnam Memorial Wall. What a somber feeling when walking along the wall and seeing the names of all those men and women who fell fighting for their country.

 

2) "From the flag platform near the main entrance the great mall with its reflecting pool". The area between the Capitol Building (housing the congress and the senate) and the Lincoln Memorial is also known as "the mall" and there is a reflecting pool extending from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.

[Paul_D]

It's a place I would also like to visit as well as the WW1 graves in Europe.

 

On a similar vein I once visited Bergen Belsen which was a very disturbing experience. Glad I did though.