re: Visiting Arlington National Cemetery this week.

Go walk through the GWOT sections. There is an app for locations of people and sections. Wars they remember with current dates are impactful.

What's the story behind the rocks on the grave?

I have visited several times in the last 3 years. It is an amazing place.
My first advice is to take your time. There is so much to take in and even though there are a number of famous people buried there, there are a lot of people whose names may not be familiar but whose service stood out. A good suggestion is take a small notepad to notate some names and then Google them later to see their story. An example is the chief judge at Nuremburg. His life's story is amazing due to it's simplicity before and after the war.
If you are there long enough you will witness a burial. I was fortunate to see a general's burial with full military honors...good Lord was that something to see. Those of lesser rank won't get the full ceremony.
Of course, the changing of the guard, the Kennedy gravesites, etc., are worth seeing.
Get the guide when you enter and have a great time. It will restore your patriotism.

Yes, it is General Lee's house but it's not PC to say that, regardless of what history may say.

Tomb of the unknowns
Joe Louis
JFK

Spent my first three years in the military (81-84) as a member of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard). Performed many simple honor funerals there. An incredibly sobering and somber place.

I live practically next door, close enough to hear them play "Taps" at nearby Ft. Myer. When it snows I like to walk over and see the undisturbed snow over the tombstones. Here was last year:

from the article

quote:

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But after almost a year of hiding out online, Stone finally Googled herself and found the results relieving.
She said she'd once done so during Veterans Day, and found ex-military members 'wondering where I was, and not in a good way.'
Instead of the endless pages directing hatred at her, this time Stone only found a scattering of what there had been.
Instead, there were unoffensive photos of Stone, along with other Lindsey Stones, such as a Lindsey Stone who had recently won New York State's 500-yard freestyle championship.
'This is monumental,' Stone said.

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unintentional lulz

You've hit the high points, but keep those relative to your kids age. My uncle and father (both WWII Vets) first took me when I was 12. That was 5 yrs before JFK assassination so the sites did not include the eternal flame.

His explanation for the tomb of the unknown soldier and the grave markers that seemed to stretch for as far as the eye could see made a lifelong impression upon me.

I suggest paying the extra coin for the bus tour. They narrate the tour and hit all the high points.

if you walk it you will swear it's uphill both ways.