Visiting Arlington National Cemetery this week.

Don't have anything to add to that, but I wish I had gone on up to Arlington House while there. I still have yet to work that into a trip.

Audie Murphy is just a short walk from the Tombs of the Unknowns. He was one of my childhood heros. I read his book and watched his movie "To Hell and Back" many, many times.

I'm not sure where the gravesite is, but there is John J. Pershing's grave. The remains of some of the Challenger and Columbia astronauts are buried there, as well as Apollo 1 astronauts Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee.

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What else has been your experience

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It's a cemetery. Kind of peaceful, kind of ghoulish.

Just take it all in. It is the most humbling experience you will ever have.

I found the Normandy cemetery where the D-day casualties are buried to be more impactful. I suppose bc Arlington has a lot of people who died peacefully at an old age. While Normandy, these were all young guys violently cut down in the prime of their lives, most of them not famous. And most probably died before even knowing if the invasion was even a success.

Arlington House. The view from there is awesome

Tomb of the unknown, and changing of the guard

If you buy the tour ticket (I encourage it), get off the bus at the Marine (Iwo Jima) Memorial and do the short walk (you'll have to go thru security again). Also, great view of DC from there

Air Force memorial

If youre going to spend a lot of time there: Coast Guard Memorial, the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial, Spanish-American War Memorial, the USS Maine Memorial

**ANC Explorer is a web-based and mobile application that enables the public to locate gravesites, events or other points of interest throughout the cemetery; view front-and-back headstone photos and points of interest; and receive directions to those locations. ANC Explorer also offers self-guided tours, easy access to general information

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

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.

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.