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 ...

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Blog: ANC Blog

Heartfelt Remembrance: Visitors Share Emotional Moments Laying Flowers at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Rochelle Roach’s emotions overwhelmed her. “It's very emotional,” she said as she put her hands over her teary eyes. “You just don't realize it until you do it.” She tried to say more, but the words were not coming.  

“We Owe It to Them:” Veterans and Soldiers Place Flags at Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery

Despite gray skies and rain, on the morning of May 22, 2025, U.S. Army soldiers and veterans from the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C., gathered at the adjacent Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery (SAHNC) to place flags at the headstones of the fallen. In a tradition known as “Flags In,” on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the Army’s 3d Infantry Regiment (the Old Guard) place small American flags in front of every headstone and niche row at both SAHNC and Arlington National Cemetery. During the event at SAHNC,  the Armed Forces Retirement Home residents also participate.  

From Frontline Marine in Korea to Frontline Ambassador in Israel

William Andreas Brown led a fascinating life in the United States Foreign Service, serving in posts around the globe that included appointments such as ambassador to Thailand in the 1980s and ambassador to Israel in the early 1990s. Yet he always identified with his service in the United States Marine Corps.  

  

A Legacy Forged in Service: Brig. Gen. Miller’s Story

U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Gerald L. “Gerry” Miller served his country in the jungles and skies of Vietnam and later became the Marine Corps’ senior lawyer.   

A Life of Flight: World War II Navy Veteran Served Above the Clouds

When Mae “Flip” Blair was growing up in Topton, Pennsylvania, in the 1930s, her father took her to the nearby airport to watch airplanes take off and land. “She would focus on the stewardesses and the fancy people getting on and off the planes,” explained her granddaughter, Melanie Blair Thies. “She made it her goal to be a stewardess,” as flight attendants were called at the time.  

“He Dedicated His Life to the Service”: Honoring a Vietnam Veteran Who Served in the Army and Marine Corps

“He dedicated his life to the service,” Wade Spiegel said, as he sat in the front row of his father, Master Sgt. Kenneth Spiegel’s, funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery on April 15, 2025. Staring at his father’s urn, he added, “Even after he retired, he was 100 percent still involved, every single day and now he’s home.”  

  

Soulmates and Service: Military Spouse's Legacy Lives On, in Berlin and Beyond

Virginia Worthington never wore a uniform, but like many military spouses, she served her country in significant ways. During the Cold War, she worked as an executive secretary at U.S. embassies in Europe; opened a store and restaurant to serve Americans abroad; and, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, helped create “The Berlin Wall Art Collection.”  

“An Amazing Life”: Vietnam Veteran Fought at Hamburger Hill Laid to Rest

When U.S. Army veteran Joseph Bossi passed away, his daughter Jessica Bossi knew she had to have him buried in a national military cemetery. “Nothing else made sense,” she said. “It never occurred to him that his service would have merited burial in Arlington, so I'm incredibly proud to have done that for him.”    

From Sailor to Rear Admiral: A Final Tribute to a Navy Aviation Legacy

Rear Adm. Frederick J. Metz’s dedicated service and ambition advanced him through the ranks, from sailor to rear admiral in the U.S. Navy. During the Vietnam War, he flew attack and bombing missions in a Grumman A-6 Intruder aircraft off of carriers in the South China Sea. He later led his own A-6 squadron.  

Honoring a President’s Pilot

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Paul Tim Corbin spent four years flying presidents in the helicopter known as Marine One. Corbin, call sign “Irish,” qualified on the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter and served in several Marine squadrons before joining Marine Helicopter Squadron One in 1989. The squadron is responsible for transporting the president and vice president of the United States and other high-level officials.