Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknowns

For our first anniversary, my husband and I visited Washington D.C. Of course, one of our stops was Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I had always assumed that the three men laid to rest here were the only soldiers to have not been identified. It occurred to me on our visit in 2007 that the men are symbolic of all soldiers whose remains have never been identified. Men from World War I, World War II and the Korean War rest and are guarded here. Until 1998, a Vietnam War soldier was buried under one for the slabs; those remains were identified as First Lieutenant Michael Blassie and were removed and buried elsewhere.

If you've never been to this monument, I encourage you to visit. It is a solemn, beautiful, sad place. The Changing of the Guard is one of the most impressive and respectful ceremonies one can witness.

There are many interesting symbolic actions associated with being a guard here. While I found several seemingly false rumors (the guards cannot drink alcohol for the rest of their lives and they must live in a barracks under the tomb), I found the facts here. For the record, it appears that guards may drink if of legal age and are not on duty and only stay beneath the tomb while on 24-hour shifts.

Here are other facts:

• Guard duties are not affected by inclement weather

• The tomb has been guarded continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since July 2, 1937 (From Wikipedia)

• Guards spend about six hours preparing their uniforms for their next shift

• Guards take 21 steps on each pass of the tomb; this is symbolic of the traditional salute
  

• All guards must study and memorize over 15 pages of information about the cemetery and memorize the locations of 300 notable graves.

There are, of course, many other rules, regulations and expectations placed on these prestigious guards. I found the above examples interesting as they symbolize respect, honor and reverence for the dead.

If you visit, please be sure to observe rules and remain quiet and respectful. This means turning off any electronics and generally conducting oneself in a way befitting of visiting hallowed ground. If you do not act in a respectful manner, there are other visitors who will keep you in line or ask you to leave (we witnessed this). Just keep in mind what this tomb means to our country and you should be just fine.

Personal Thoughts on Cemeteries

A cemetery in Nashville, TN

When people who know me find out about this blog, they sometimes comment that it doesn't seem like something I would be interested in or they ask me if I am obsessed with death. The latter statement could not be further from the truth. To address the former statement, writing about cemeteries seems only natural as I grew up thinking of them as a sort of outdoor museum and have always found them interesting.

If anything, I have a tinge of fear about death and funerals that most other people seem to be able to overcome. I always wondered secretly why some people can walk into a funeral with the ease with which they walk through a grocery store. I've always been exceedingly uncomfortable with funerals to the point I sometimes get physically ill.

I think what disturbs me most about funerals is the unnaturalness of it all--the living are often expected to keep up appearances even after news of a loved one's death. I remember hearing classmates in an Appalachian sociology course at Shawnee State University talk about wakes, eating in the same room as a dead body at a visitation and loud parties at which everyone drinks and cries too much. Though I am only a few generations removed from a log cabin with no electricity in a holler in Kentucky, I was intrigued by the contrast between a "proper" funeral nearer Cincinnati and these funerals reported by my classmates. Even my mom can recall placing coins on the eyes of deceased family members, staying up all night in the room with the coffin and relatives taking photographs of the deceased to keep up on the mantle. We even recently discovered a postmortem photograph of my husband's ancestor.

I tend to find many funerary customs to be unnatural (such as embalming) and I think that some Pagan part of me is disturbed by the practice in Christian churches of using the same altar for marriages, baptisms and funerals.

I could go much, much deeper into my thoughts on this, but I would rather talk about how this girl who is appalled by funerals loves the places where the caskets are deposited and memorialized.

As I mentioned before, I see cemeteries as outdoor museums packed full of history. Often more reliable than paper documents, the details of a life are literally in stone to record and remember someone who came and went before me. While I would be uncomfortable touching a dead body at a funeral as I sometimes see people do, to touch a tombstone, run my fingers over the names and dates...this lets me feel a connection to the past without feeling intrusive.

There was a time in my life when I was fearful of cemeteries and could not imagine entering one alone or at night. Now I pull the car over whenever I see an interesting burial ground.

For me, the fascination isn't so much with death, but rather with the lives recorded like pages in a neat little book, all in a row, for me to read at leisure. It's the chance to recognized my mortality without being faced with the gruesome details. It's about the symbols and deciphering them like a hidden code few remember.

I've stood in front of (or on, as is often the case in Europe where the dead are entombed in floors) many famous graves: Newton, Dickens, JFK...and there is a sense of honor, awe and respect in those moments. I can stop, even if for just a moment in a crowded tourist area, and zoom in on myself, in that little piece of time, holding a private conference with someone long dead.

Cemeteries are catalogs, records, silent songs. They are a testament of human dignity and caring.

And that is how I am obsessed not with death, but with the life stories these places tell.