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Published on: Friday, August 22, 2025 read more ...

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JENIFER LEIGH VAN VLECK

Volunteers Brave Bitter Cold to Remove Wreaths from ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 1/24/2024

Ankle-deep snow and temperatures hovering below 25 degrees could not keep people from Arlington National Cemetery to honor servicemembers and their families on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. They gathered at the gates for the cemetery’s 8 a.m. opening to pick up the wreaths laid at headstones and niches on Dec. 16, 2023, as part of the annual Wreaths Across America event.

Former Tomb Guard Pins Son with Badge

By Kevin M. Hymel on 1/16/2024

When Bryan Campagna pinned the Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Identification badge onto the chest of his son, Staff Sgt. Isaiah Jasso-Campagna, it symbolized more than a father honoring his son. Campagna had earned his own Tomb badge as a Tomb Guard decades earlier, making the pair only the second father-son badge earners in the history of the Army’s 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).

Pearl Harbor Medal of Honor Recipient Laid to Rest at Arlington National Cemetery

By Kevin M. Hymel on 1/4/2024

When word came to abandon ship, Seaman 1st Class James Richard Ward remained at his post. The USS Oklahoma, docked at Pearl Harbor on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, had just been blasted by a series of Japanese torpedoes and began to capsize. Instead of charging out of the turret he manned, Ward held a flashlight to guide his fellow seamen out of danger. His selfless sacrifice saved countless lives and earned him the Medal of Honor.

Thousands Lay Wreaths at ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 1/4/2024

They lined up by thousands to honor the nation’s fallen during the holiday season. When Arlington National Cemetery opened on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, civilians and military personnel alike retrieved wreaths from trucks and headed across the grounds to place them at headstones and columbarium niches. 

Public Lays Wreaths at Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery

By Kevin M. Hymel on 1/4/2024

On Dec. 16, 2023, more than 400 people visited the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery in Northwest Washington, D.C., to participate in Wreaths Across America Day.

Remembering Clifton Pollard, JFK’s Grave Digger

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/22/2023

John Metzler Sr. apologized when he asked Clifton Pollard to work on a Sunday to dig the grave for President John F. Kennedy. But Pollard didn’t mind at all. “It’s an honor for me to be here,” he said. The president had been assassinated on Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, and Pollard had been called at home Sunday morning to come to work that afternoon. He had dressed in his work overalls that morning in anticipation of the call.  

U.S. Army Special Forces Honor President John F. Kennedy

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/16/2023

U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. David Waldo stood at attention before President John F. Kennedy’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery. He removed his green beret, dropped to one knee and placed the beret at the base of the president’s flat, rectangular headstone. Then he stood up and slowly saluted the fallen commander-in-chief.  

Australian Prime Minister Meets U.S. Army Soldier from Australia

By Kevin M. Hymel on 10/25/2023

On Oct. 23, 2023, Australian Prime Minster Anthony Albanese laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. He was delighted when U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Trevor J. Bredenkamp introduced him to an Army sergeant with a thick Australian accent: Sgt. Charlotte Carulli, who was born in Australia.

WWII Medic Awarded Medals Posthumously at ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 10/16/2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Cpl. Waverly Woodson, a Black U.S. Army medic, attended to one wounded American soldier after the next on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944, he cared only about their injuries, not the color of their skin. While exposed to enemy fire and ignoring the shrapnel in his lower back and thigh, he set and amputated limbs, extracted bullets and dispensed plasma. He even pulled three soldiers out of the English Channel’s rising tide.

WWII Marine Killed at Tarawa Interred at ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 10/10/2023

When a representative from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) told Cheryl Cronin that her uncle, Marine Pvt. First Class Lawrence E. Garrison had been positively identified 80 years after his death in battle, she was overwhelmed. “I prayed really hard that this would happen in my lifetime,” she said. On Oct. 5, 2023, Cronin and a handful of family and friends laid Garrison to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.