Author: Kevin M. Hymel, Historian
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Seventy-two years.
That’s how long Ernest “Ernie” and Norma Faye Barchers, Jr. were married. They married in 1948, a year after they first met in church. The marriage only ended when they passed away in 2020 and 2021, respectively. They were inurned together at Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 22, 2023.
Under mostly sunny skies and light breezes—perfect jump weather—veterans of the 82nd “All American” Airborne Division gathered at Arlington National Cemetery’s (ANC) Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Aug. 9, 2023, to lay a wreath and remember their fallen comrades in arms.

Almost 200 veterans from Wisconsin, along with their escorts, came to Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on July 28, 2023. Among the group were two Vietnam-Era U.S. Army veterans who earned the Medal of Honor: Spc. 5 (Ret.) Jim McCloughan and Sgt. 1st Class (Ret.) Sammy Davis.

Army Pfc. Jessica Kwiatkowski leaned forward as she walked against the wind and rain. As a Tomb Guard with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), she walked her twenty-one steps in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in the middle of a violent rainstorm on the evening of Saturday, July 29, 2023. Amid the storm, she walked her post without the ability to see.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni surprised Arlington National Cemetery’s Curator Rod Gainer when she told him about the history of Italy’s Unknown Soldier. As Gainer was concluding a personal tour of ANC’s Display Room, which features a historical exhibit on the American Unknown Soldier, Meloni explained how the Italians chose their unknown soldier from World War I.

Teachers from around the region—and the country—came to Arlington National Cemetery on July 21, 2023 to learn about ANC’s Education Program and using the materials in the classroom. The teacher workshop provided educators with five professional development hours and was led by ANC’s History Office and members of the cemetery’s contract education team.

Marine Maj. Gen. Harry K. Pickett, a veteran of World War I and World War II, deserved a more honorable funeral than the one he initially received near Darjeeling, India, in 1965. Fifty-eight years later, on July 19, 2023, Pickett received a military funeral honors with funeral escort service at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC).
Pvt. First Class Alfred C. Bordeau joined the U.S. Army at age 17, spent his 18th birthday in a North Korean prisoner of war camp, and died before he turned 19. He left behind no wife or children, and his body was never returned to the United States. Yet his extended family made sure he would be remembered in a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) on July 7, 2023.

It’s easy to identify Medgar Evers’ grave marker in Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 36, either from Schley Drive or the nearby walkway. Stones, military tributes, flowers, and other tokens of veneration often adorn his headstone and the ground around it. An icon and martyr of the civil rights movement, Evers is buried at ANC because of his U.S. Army service during World War II, and because his wife, Myrlie, eventually decided she wanted to give the public the opportunity to visit his grave.