REAL ID Requirements

Beginning May 7, 2025, all individuals over the age of 18 who are authorized to drive onto Arlington National Cemetery should be prepared to present a REAL ID at the security checkpoint.

Published on: Tuesday, April 29, 2025 read more ...

AUTHORS

JENIFER LEIGH VAN VLECK

Penn State University Students Tour ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/2/2022

Horticulture Chief Steve Van Hoven explains the cemetery's history in front of Arlington House.
​ (Kevin M. Hymel, Oct. 20, 2022)

“Cemeteries are very interesting places to work for horticulture,” Arlington National Cemetery’s Horticulture Chief Steve Van Hoven told a group of horticulture and landscape contracting students from Penn State University at the Tanner Amphitheater on October 20, 2022. Van Hoven and the ANC Horticulture staff addressed the students to explain potential career options.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

U.S. Marine Corps Firing Parties Honor the Fallen

By Kevin M. Hymel on 10/25/2022

People attending an ANC funeral often flinch when the military firing party fires its first volley. That’s what happened at the funeral service for U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Brendan P. O’Donnell on October 14, 2022. By the second and third volleys, O’Donnell’s family and friends were more prepared.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

95th Infantry Division World War II Veterans Honor Their Leader

By Kevin M. Hymel on 10/21/2022

“We’re here to honor our beloved general,” said Ceo Bauer, a World War II veteran who fought with the U.S. Army’ 95th Infantry Division, at the headstone of Major General Harry Twaddle on October 20, 2022.

Three veterans of the 95th, along with families and friends of the soldiers who served with the division, came to Arlington National Cemetery to remember Twaddle, lay two wreaths at his grave and tour the cemetery. 

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Centennial Commemoration Lecture Series

In the months after the 2021 centennial of the creation of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) has continued to make the programs created for this anniversary accessible to the public online. On May 30, 2022—Memorial Day—ANC released a major virtual project as part of this ongoing effort: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Centennial Commemoration Lecture Series.

Navy Spouse Funeral at the Columbarium

By Kevin M. Hymel on 8/5/2022

On July 28, 2022, the inurned remains of Helen Zmuda joined those of her husband, Robert Zmuda, in the Arlington National Cemetery columbarium. The couple had been married for more than fifty years when Robert passed away in 2012. Helen’s extended family attended the funeral and bade farewell to their matriarch.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Ida Lewis, "The Bravest Woman in America"

Ida Lewis, the namesake of Arlington National Cemetery’s Lewis Drive, was once known as “the bravest woman in America.” Lewis served as an official lighthouse keeper for the U.S. Lighthouse Service (later absorbed into the Coast Guard) from 1879 until her death, at age 69, in 1911. 

Contract Historian
Jenifer Leigh Van Vleck
PhD

Medal of Honor Recipients Lay Wreath at Tomb of Unknown Soldier

By Kevin M. Hymel on 3/29/2022

On National Medal of Honor Day, March 25, 2022, two Vietnam veterans, with Medals of Honor draped around their necks, laid a wreath from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The two men together symbolized the opening and closing of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Barney Barnum, a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, earned his medal on December 18, 1965, as American grounds troops began arriving in South Vietnam. Brian Thacker, who served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, earned his on March 31, 1971, as U.S. troops gradually withdrew from the country.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

USS Oklahoma Sailor Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

By Kevin M. Hymel on 3/25/2022

Seaman 1st Class Walt Stein’s life was cut short on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The 20-year-old sailor from Cheyenne, Wyoming, was serving onboard the battleship USS Oklahoma when Japanese torpedo bombers struck the ship multiple times. The Oklahoma quickly capsized, killing 429 crewmen, including Stein. But his body remained unidentified, leaving his family to wonder about his fate for decades.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Honoring the Life and Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

It is fitting that one of the most important women in American history had a birthday in March, Women’s History Month. Ruth Bader Ginsburg — Supreme Court justice, cultural icon, and indefatigable champion of gender equality — was born on March 15, 1933. She is buried in Section 5 of Arlington National Cemetery, next to her husband, Martin Ginsburg, an attorney and U.S. Army veteran.   

Historian
Jenifer Leigh Van Vleck
PhD

Army Band Members Honor Musician Lt. James Reese Europe

By Kevin M. Hymel on 3/1/2022

On February 22, 2022, a small group of soldiers — some in black coats with gold lanyards and red service caps, others in World War I period “doughboy” uniforms — gathered at the grave of Lieutenant James Reese Europe. They were there for a ceremony to honor the anniversary of his birthday, in 1881. Europe, a renowned musical innovator, served as a Black officer in the segregated U.S. Army during World War I. He led the band for the 369th Infantry Regiment, the famed “Harlem Hellfighters.”

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel