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Published on: Thursday, July 30, 2026

AUTHORS

Navy Officer Who Charted USS Thresher Wreckage Interred

By Kevin M. Hymel on 7/31/2026

U.S. Navy Lt. Raymond Stoetzer was completing his master’s degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on April 10, 1963, when he learned that the USS Thresher, a nuclear submarine, had sunk about 220 miles east of Cape Cod, with all 129 men on board. It was the worst submarine disaster in U.S. Navy history. Two weeks later, Stoetzer was sent to the fleet tug USS Allegheny as part of the Navy’s crew searching for the submarine’s wreckage.  

Kevin M. Hymel

First to Fly the Blackbird: Honoring Air Force Test Pilot Capt. Robert Gilliland Sr.

By Kevin M. Hymel on 7/31/2026

On Dec. 22, 1964, Robert Gilliland Sr. became the first person to pilot the supersonic SR-71 Blackbird, one of the fastest crewed aircraft ever built. He would go on to test almost every SR-71 that came out of the factory, logging more test flight hours at Mach 3 than any other pilot in the world. Almost 62 years after that first flight, the high-flying pilot was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Kevin M. Hymel

Air Force Vietnam POW, Featured in Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photo, Laid to Rest

Lorrie Stirm remembered when her father left home for Vietnam in 1967, but the entire country would remember when he returned home in 1973. Lorrie’s father, U.S. Air Force Maj. Robert “Bob” Stirm, was shot down over Hanoi, North Vietnam, on Oct. 27, 1967. He spent more than five years—1,966 days—as a prisoner of war.

A Commander’s Farewell and Lasting Promise to the Tomb Guards

By Kevin M. Hymel on 7/17/2026

On May 29, 2026, U.S. Army Commander of the Guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Capt. Sean Paul Stolarski said goodbye to his fellow Tomb Guards at Arlington National Cemetery as he prepared to leave the Army. Yet he did not see his departure as final. “I still have a vested interest in a lot of these guys,” Stolarski said, “and I plan on returning to check on them.” 

Since 1948, the Tomb Guards of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) have stood watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery 24 hours-a- day, seven days-a-week. Their vigilance and precise rituals honor the three Unknowns buried at the Tomb, as well as all unknown or unidentified American service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice. 

 

Kevin M. Hymel

Arlington Lady Keeps Promise to Merchant Mariner Lost at Sea

By Kevin M. Hymel on 7/8/2026

On May 12, 2026, Arlington Lady Shelley Kimball stepped into an uncommon role when the family of U.S. Merchant Marine Galleyman-Utility Jose Pabon could not attend his memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC). Arlington Ladies attend funeral and memorial services to ensure that no soldier, sailor, airman, Coast Guardsman or Merchant Mariner is ever laid to rest or remembered alone. On this occasion, Kimball represented Pabon’s family. 

Kevin M. Hymel

WWII Bomber Pilot, Honored for Saving Civilian Lives, Identified and Laid to Rest

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/30/2026

In 1945, nine-year-old June Laird saw U.S. Army soldiers ascending the 22 steps to her family’s home in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. They had come to deliver the news that her older brother, U.S. Army Air Forces Lt. Robert J. Barrat, had been reported killed in action over Germany. Lt. Barrat, the third eldest of six children, was only 20 years old when he died. What June did not know, at the time, was that her brother — laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) on May 27, 2026 — had died as a hero, whose brave actions during World War II inspired a German town to dedicate a monument to him and his bomber crew.  

Kevin M. Hymel

“Full Circle”: Secret Service Agent Clint Hill Laid to Rest at Arlington National Cemetery

On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy’s motorcade was traveling through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, when the crack of a gunshot suddenly pierced the noise of the crowds lining the street. Within mere seconds, Secret Service agent Clint Hill jumped from the car following behind, leapt onto the trunk of the president’s convertible limousine, pulled himself inside, and threw his body, as a human shield, on top of the president and first lady. A second bullet had fatally struck the president in the head. Yet by all accounts, Hill’s swift and fearless actions likely saved Jacqueline Kennedy’s life. During the next four days, he would remain steadfastly by the grieving first lady’s side — from the limousine to the hospital in Dallas to Arlington National Cemetery, where President Kennedy was buried on Nov. 25.  

Marine, Gravely Wounded in World War II, Lived to Be 100

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/18/2026

On June 22, 1944, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Vernon “Billy” Rigdon was advancing through the jungle on the Pacific island of Saipan when he and his fellow Marines encountered a group of Japanese soldiers. During the ensuing exchange of fire, an enemy bullet hit Rigdon’s left shoulder. “This felt like being hit extremely hard across the chest with a baseball bat,” he later wrote in a personal account. His rifle flew out of his hands and he hit the ground. He recalled thinking, “I’ve gotten myself into a hell of a mess.” 

 

Kevin M. Hymel

Vietnam Veteran Who “Loved History” Laid to Rest at Historic Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery

On June 10, 2026, U.S. Navy Radioman Petty Officer 1st Class Louis Rine was laid to rest at the historic United States Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery (SAHNC) in Washington, D.C. A Vietnam War combat veteran, Rine spent his last years residing at the nearby Armed Forces Retirement Home (commonly known as the Soldiers and Airmen’s Home). Because only residents of the home are eligible for burial at the cemetery, funerals such as Rine’s rarely take place at SAHNC — which, along with Arlington National Cemetery, is one of two national cemeteries maintained by the Department of the Army.  

On the Front Lines of History: Soldier Served at Checkpoint Charlie During Height of the Cold War

By Kevin M. Hymel on 6/15/2026

As the military police (MP) officer in charge of Checkpoint Charlie in West Berlin during the early 1960s, U.S. Army Capt. Roy Isaacson served at one of the most sensitive and strategic locations of the Cold War.  

Kevin M. Hymel