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

Part 4, Walking Past Hundreds of Thousands of Heroes

More than 275,000 people have been interred within the grounds of the cemetery or inurned in the columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery. I can stop and stare at this scene for hours. Joseph Smith said, "The place where a man is buried is sacred to me." This place is sacred to our whole nation-even to the world.

I found out that the United States maintains 134 national cemeteries. Arlington National Cemetery and the Soldiers Home in Washington, D.C. are the only two under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army, a representative of which was helping me this day.

I looked at this afternoon scene and it seemed like I could hear the words to this song come to my mind:

Has anybody here,
Seen my old friend Martin,
Can you tell me, where he's gone,
He freed a lotta people,
But it seems the good die young,
I just looked around,
And he's gone…

Has anybody here,
Seen my old friend Bobby,
Can you tell me, where he's gone,
I thought I saw him walkin' up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.
(Words and Music by Dick Holler)

Kerry L. Sullivan, Public Affairs Specialist, walks through the graves at Arlington. I asked her how it was to work with a cemetery for three years. She replied, "I love this place."

Some of the people who know the cemetery will call this "rolling hills." Arlington National Cemetery ranks second only behind the Long Island National Cemetery in New York in terms of the number of graves located within the cemetery.

Arlington National Cemetery has evolved over a period of more than 135 years from a pauper's cemetery-established to accommodate the many casualties resulting from the Civil War-to a shrine that has become home to America's heroes. It occupies an area of 624 acres, which was approximately one-half of the estate owned by George Washington's adopted stepson, George Washington Parke Custis.

Please click here to go on to part 5 of ‘Lest We Forget, Lest We Forget.’.

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Author Scot Facer Proctor with daughter Mariah, Mariah's best friend Jenna Morgan, and son Truman sitting on a wagon near the barn on the Smith farm (July 2001).