Arlington Burial: Fanfare, Precision

The Washington Times ^ | May 26, 2008 | Karen Goldberg Goff

[kellynla]

Army Pfc. William Timothy Dix died in Iraq in April and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on a brilliant May afternoon. He was laid to rest in Section 60, where the sod is fresh and the nearby tombstones bear names such as Justin, Brandon and Ashly: soldiers young enough to be named in the 1980s but old enough to die for their country.

Pfc. Dix was buried with standard military honors: a lone bugler at a 45-degree angle from the casket, the Old Guard with a rifle salute, a somber chaplain and the flag presentation to his family.

It is a ceremony that will be repeated, in some form or another, 26 times that day — and the next, and the day after that.

[kellynla]

"Never Forget"

"Freedom is not Free!"

"All paid some. Some paid all."

Semper Fi, Kelly

[Dr. Ursus]

WE visited Arlington last week for the first time. The experience was very moving for both of us.

[gate2wire]

Never forget. (Conor,hope you don't mind me using your pic.)

[Dick Bachert]

http://compuball.com/av/mansionsofthelord.htm

To fallen soldiers let us sing
where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
to the mansions of the Lord

No more bleeding no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
just divine embrace, eternal light
in the mansions of the Lord

Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep
All through the ages safely keep the mansions of the Lord

[Northern Yankee]

Thanks Kelly!

My class did a Memorial presentation at school on Friday via the PA. I was so proud of those students.

Unfortunately if we don't do it no one does.

We're proud and honored to do so.

[MissMagnolia]

There is a documentary on Arlington that I’ve seen twice on PBS. It shows the history of the place and the inner workings of the cemetary. The general public has no clue about a lot of what goes on there - the ladies that are there to help the families, the coordination that goes on for flyovers, the preparations of the honor guards ..... amazing detail. The bottom line - the documentary shows very clearly the care and honor with which each serviceman is laid to rest, from those recently killed in Iraq to the remains of those finally returned from wars years in our past.