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

Army Veterans Honor Battle of the Bulge at ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 1/25/2023

On Jan. 25, 2023, under cold gray skies and sleet, two World War II U.S. Army veterans returned to Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) to commemorate the Battle of the Bulge—the last major German offensive campaign on the western front. Darryl Bush and John Landry witnessed a wreath-laying at the Battle of the Bulge Memorial before laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Neither of the men seemed bothered by the weather, explaining that it was much colder 78 years ago in Europe.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Vietnam War USAF Fighter Pilot Buried at ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 1/10/2023

Air Force Colonel Charles “Vas” Vasiliadis, who was buried in Section 7 on January 9, 2023, left behind a strong legacy of military service that not only affected the nation, but personally affected at least two people attending his funeral: his son Douglas and granddaughter Sophia.
 

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Presidential Salute Battery Honors Dignitaries and Events

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/27/2022

On December 19, 2022, the Soldiers of the Presidential Salute Battery stood before their cannons, awaiting the arrival of Ecuador’s president, Guillermo Lasso. The Soldiers had set up three polished and gleaming 105mm howitzers at Section 37 of Arlington National Cemetery, and their two-man teams were ready to fire. Behind them stood four senior Soldiers and a captain.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

USS Oklahoma Sailors Find Final Resting Place at ANC

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/7/2022

Seaman Edward E. Casinger’s burial service on November 19, 2022, marked the twenty-eighth burial of a USS Oklahoma crewman at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC). It also marked an eighty-year journey from the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, to today. Burials of Oklahoma crewmen have a profound effect on those who make them possible, from the scientists at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to the sailors who lay them to rest.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Joint Honor Guard Epitomizes Professionalism and Bearing

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/5/2022

“Honor Guard!” Capt. Andrew Borrebach bellowed to the approximately 250 members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard who lined both sides of Arlington National Cemetery’s mall leading to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “Attention!” The men and women snapped to attention, standing ramrod straight. About ten minutes later, the captain called out, “Honor Guard! At ease!” Everyone separated their legs and held their rifles away from their bodies with their right hands, while placing their left hands behind their backs.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

U.S. Navy Sailor, Killed at Pearl Harbor, Laid to Rest at Arlington

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/22/2022

At the funeral service for Seaman Edward Eugene "Bud" Casinger on November 19, 2022, Chaplain (Lt.) Dirk Robinson spoke about the tragic sinking of the battleship USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Casinger, only 21 years old at the time, was one of those lost in the attack.

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

Ord and Weitzel Gate Dedication

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/9/2022

Under sunny skies on November 8, 2022, seven leaders from Arlington National Cemetery (ANC), the U.S. Army, and contracted engineering firms cut the ribbon at the restored Ord and Weitzel Gate, the northern pedestrian entrance to ANC.  

Kevin M. Hymel
Contract Historian
Kevin M. Hymel

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