M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Lest We Forget, Lest We Forget
A Photographic Essay Remembering Sept 11
by Scot Facer Proctor

Part 3, Surprise and Tenderness

Arlington National Cemetery, as most cemeteries, does not abound in flowers, just in beautiful trees, grass and rolling hills. The flowers that are here are magnificent and provided an appropriate foreground for these rows of graves.

I noticed this swallowtail as I was looking around these flowerbeds. It reminded me of 'freedom of flight' and how important that was to our nation's security and how many lives had been lost in one day because a group of terrorists encroached upon that freedom. At that moment I noticed a small group of media in the cemetery about 150 feet from me.

Washington D.C. is full of the press and so I didn't think much about this group next to me, but I did snap off this brief shot. My escort went and talked to them while I was photographing other things. When she returned she said, "the woman in the blue jacket is the widow of Flight 77 pilot Charles Burlingame, the plane that slammed into the Pentagon." Immediately a lump formed in my throat. The Today Show had flown her down to do this interview. I wanted to meet her. I would have loved to photograph her but I couldn't do it. They had completed their interview and I, too, was ready to move to another section of the cemetery. I pulled my Suburban over and got out of the car and went over to Mrs. Burlingame and warmly shook her hand, "I'm so sorry for what happened. We have thought about you. We have prayed for you." She responded with graciousness and gratitude. I was deeply moved.

There are two flagpoles located in the cemetery, one in front of the Memorial Amphitheater and the other in front of the Arlington House. These flags are lowered to half-staff one-half hour before the first burial service of the day and remain at half-staff until one-half hour after the final service. Why is it that when we see the flag at half-staff it makes us stand a little taller?

The Memorial Amphitheater is a place of ceremony and circumstance-a place of reverence and honor. Presidents speak to the people here. Its western shadow slowly moves across the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier each day. It is a place of remembering.

The street names in Arlington National Cemetery move me. They are named after some of the great leaders of past wars. I looked at this sign and I thought it gives a clue into one of the reasons WW II was won. "Patton Drive" and "Bradley Drive" indeed.

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