Iwo Jima memorial

Tulips In Bloom at the Netherlands Carillon

By ARLnow.com

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

Arlington and the Freedman’s Village

By ARLnow.com

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.

Jimmy Smits NBC Pilot Filming in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Film crews were camped out near the Iwo Jima memorial in Rosslyn this morning for the taping of a new TV show starring Jimmy Smits.

The actor, who formerly portrayed a congressman (then a U.S. president) on The West Wing, is playing a Supreme Court justice who leaves the high court to start a law firm that fights constitutional injustices.

The show — possibly titled “Garza” or “Rough Justice” — is being produced by NBC Universal and Conaco, Conan O’Brien’s production company. Crews were filming the pilot episode today; no word yet on whether NBC will pick it up as a full-blown series.

County sources tell us filming took place on Marshall Drive, near the memorial, between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. today. County police assisted with traffic control.

Photo via Wikipedia.