Biden Leads Memorial Day Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery — Vice President Joe Biden laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and gave the keynote speech at the Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater on Monday. “Collectively, the generation of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have served and sacrificed for us are the heart and soul, and I would say, spine, of this nation,” Biden said. The Vice President also visited the cemetery’s section 60, which is the final resting place for troops who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Guardsmen Complete 550 Mile Run to Arlington — Two National Guardsmen have completed a three week, 550 mile “resiliency run” from Maine to Arlington National Cemetery. Col. Jack Mosher and Maj. Herbert Brock collectively ran a marathon each day to encourage “the warrior spirit in everyone.” They also documented their experience on the web.

Local Author Finalist in Amazon.com Competition — Patricia McArdle, a retired diplomat and Arlington resident, is one of six finalists for Amazon.com’s Breakthrough Novel Award. More from the Sun Gazette.

Deadline for Absentee Voting — Today is the last day to mail an absentee ballot for the eighth congressional district primary. Republicans Matthew Berry and Patrick Murray are facing off for the right to challenge Democrat Jim Moran in the fall.

Official White House Photo by David Lienemann.


Flags In at Arlington National Cemetery — Service members from each branch of the armed forces placed decorative flags in front of Arlington National Cemetery’s quarter million graves yesterday. “Flags In” has been a Memorial Day weekend tradition at the cemetery since 1948. See more photos here.

Remembering Arlington’s Forgotten Baseball Phenom — He was considered one of the greats of his day, although he was never voted into Cooperstown. George Hartley McQuinn, born in 1910, was a six-time All-Star who spent 12 years playing professional ball. In his rookie season, McQuinn went on a 34-game hitting streak. Take that, Ryan Zimmerman. Plus, McQuinn was an Arlington resident who opened a sporting goods store in Clarendon after he retired from the game. He would have turned 100 on Saturday. Read more about him here.

School Board Member Has Breast Cancer — Arlington School Board Vice Chairman Libby Garvey announced last night that she had a lumpectomy on May 17. She was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this month, following a mammogram. Garvey will continue receiving follow-up treatments over the next several months and is expected to make a full recovery.

Photo courtesy Arlington National Cemetery.


Yes, May has been an insane month. From stolen wigs to stolen cell phones, and from DoD job losses to creating new jobs for exotic dancers (or, at the very least, local arguments for it), Arlingtonians are ready for a long weekend. Take a look at some local events happening around our area to take a load off to fully appreciate Memorial Day weekend.

For Memorial Day observers: Arlington National Cemetery will hold its annual Memorial Day of Observance to remember fallen service members on Monday at the Memorial Amphitheater. The Full Honor Wreath-Laying Ceremony is at 11:00 a.m., but officials recommend visitors arrive at 9:30 for seats and for a musical prelude by the U.S. Navy Band.

For the kids: Gulf Branch Nature Center on Military Road is holding their weekly campfire for families on Friday from 7:00 to 8:15 p.m. Expect s’mores, games, and campfire songs for the little ones ($5 per person, $20 for families).

For music lovers: The Fleshtones, the quintessential 70’s/80’s American garage band, are playing Iota in Clarendon on Saturday night at 9:00. Tickets are $15 and available at the door.

For multicultural Arlingtonians: The 23rd Annual Argentine Festival is being held Saturday from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the Thomas Jefferson Theatre (125 S. Old Glebe Road). Watch tango dancing, listen to traditional music and eat traditional Argentinian treats.

For those who don’t mind wearing leather when it’s ridiculously hot outside: Rolling Thunder will be loudly and proudly riding all around Arlington and D.C. this weekend. From Friday to Sunday, groups of motorcyclists will be rolling in and out of the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, which is serving as the official hotel of the annual event. On Sunday morning a “Ride for Freedom” demonstration will be held at the North Pentagon parking lot. Washington Boulevard from I-395 to the Memorial Bridge will be closed Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Memorial Bridge will be closed from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. If you have a Harley, feel free to join the crowd (or just watch from the sidelines).

For people who like eating meat and giving to charity at the same time: 3 Bar and Grill (2950 Clarendon Blvd) will be hosting a “Charitable Pig Roast” on Memorial Day eve. There will be Bacon Bloody Marys, pulled pork sandwiches and some killer drink specials. It’s happening from 4:00 to 9:00 Sunday evening. A suggested $5 donation will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.


The annual Memorial Day weekend tradition of “Flags In” will take place from 4:00 to 7:00 tonight at Arlington National Cemetery. A group of service members from each branch of the armed forces will place small flags in front of each of the cemetery’s more than 250,000 graves.

More from the Arlington National Cemetery Facebook page:

The time-honored tradition of “Flags In” at Arlington National Cemetery is scheduled to begin after funerals are complete for the day on Thursday, May 27.

Soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) will be joined by service members from the U.S. Marine Corps Ceremonial and Guard Company, U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard, U.S. Air Force Honor Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard in placing small American flags, known as grave decorating flags, on the gravesites of all who rest at Arlington National Cemetery for the Memorial Day weekend.

“Flags In” has been conducted annually since the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) was designated as the Army’s official ceremonial unit in 1948. Flags are placed one foot in front and centered before each headstone in the cemetery. Flags will also be placed at the Tomb of the Unknowns by the Tomb Sentinels and at each of the cemetery’s columbarium courts.

While no volunteers are needed to assist the Old Guard with this sacred duty, visitors are welcome to come and pay their respects during this event and are encouraged to arrive at the cemetery after 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 27. It will take approximately three hours to place the more than 250,000 flags. Parking is available in the Visitors Center parking lot.

All flags will be removed on Tuesday, June 1 before the cemetery opens to the public.

Flickr pool photo by marchebm2.


Two National Guardsmen are running 550 miles from Maine to Arlington National Cemetery.

Col. Jack Mosher and Maj. Herbert Brock are taking turns running daily half marathons, for a total of 26.2 miles every day. They’re also documenting their experience on the web.

The men say doing it to promote “resiliency” and to encourage “the warrior spirit in everyone.”

Their journey, which is now in its third day, will wrap up with stops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the World War II Memorial and, finally, a visit to Arlington National Cemetery on May 28.

Photo from the OneLifeWarrior Flickr page.


Secretary Gates Calls For Reduction of DoD Spending — On Saturday Defense Secretary Robert Gates gave a blistering speech that called for a significant restructuring of Pentagon spending, reports Andrea Stone at AOL News. Citing a “gusher of defense spending” following 9/11, Gates stated his desire to reduce spending on weapons systems and military health care. He also called for a reduction in the number of generals and admirals in the services. Defense spending is a major component of the local economy.

BRAC Moves May Cause Traffic Woes — The transfer of 13,000 DoD jobs from Crystal City to Ft. Belvoir, Alexandria’s Mark Center development and elsewhere may cause major traffic problems, the Washington Post reports. The areas where the jobs are moving to are not Metro accessible and are not prepared to receive the ensuing crush of traffic, several people told the Post. By law, about four million square feet of office space in Crystal City must be vacated by September 2011.

Karzai To Visit Arlington National Cemetery — Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, whose relationship with the U.S. has been rocky as of late, will be visiting Arlington National Cemetery during a trip to Washington this week. Karzai is expected to arrive in town today. He is scheduled to visit the cemetery, where hundreds of service members who lost their lives in Afghanistan are buried, on Thursday.


Nearly a thousand people marched through Arlington today, following a six mile route from Alexandria to the White House for a May Day immigration reform protest.

The pro-immigration protesters held signs, quilts and American flags as they marched past Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon. Arlington police set up rolling roadblocks for the march, which was organized by the Alexandria-based group Tenants and Workers United.


A lone F-15C Eagle fighter jet flew over Arlington at noon today to honor eight airmen killed during World War II.

The crew’s B-24 Liberator bomber was shot down over the Republic of Palau on Sept. 1, 1944.  For 60 years, the wreckage — and the crew’s remains — were lost to the sea.

Then, in 2004, the BentProp Project, a California-based group dedicated to finding military wreck sites in the western Pacific, located the lost bomber.

The remains of the eight service members recovered from the crash site were buried together today in Arlington National Cemetery’s section 60.

One of the crew members was navigator Second Lt. Frank J. Arhar, who was just two days shy of his 22nd birthday when the plane went down.

“To at least know that they found him and he’ll be buried and we can have peace… it means a lot to us,” Arhar’s younger sister, Theresa, told the Johnstown, Pa. Tribune Democrat.


Maybe you’ve jogged by it and never quite knew why it’s there: thousands of colorful tulips in bloom between the Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

The tulips are planted on the grounds of the Netherlands Carillon, a gift given to the United States on behalf of the Dutch people in appreciation for our sacrifices during World War II. It was dedicated on May 5, 1960, to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the Netherlands’ liberation from the Nazis.

The Carillon consists of fifty bells, which play various military hymns and anthems at regular intervals during the day. The bells occasionally play other songs for special occasions, like Auld Lang Syne on New Years Eve.

The Carillon is held aloft on a 127-foot tower designed by a leading Dutch architect. A clavier that can play all fifty bells is housed in a “playing cabin.”

Pool photo by Micha84


There’s a section of Arlington National Cemetery, near the Iwo Jima Memorial, that contains graves unlike any other. The graves belong not to soldiers, but to freed slaves who lived on the grounds after the Civil War, in a thriving “Freedman’s Village.”

The village was home to more than 1,100 former slaves, including the black abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who spent a year there, on what was once the estate of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s family.

More on the historical significance of the village, from the Associated Press.


View More Stories