Arlington National Cemetery, Military cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, United States
This military cemetery spans approximately 639 acres across hillside terrain in Virginia, containing over 400,000 gravesites of service members from conflicts including the Civil War, World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, and recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Established on the former estate of Robert E. Lee in 1864 during the Civil War, the cemetery was officially opened on May 13, 1864, when Union Quartermaster General Montgomery Meigs designated the grounds for military burials on confiscated Confederate property.
The site hosts significant national ceremonies on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, often attended by the President or Vice President, while the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier features a continuous honor guard performed by the Old Guard infantry regiment since 1948.
The cemetery operates daily from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with free admission for all visitors who can access the site via the Arlington Cemetery Metro station on the Blue Line or by vehicle at 1 Memorial Avenue with required identification for security screening.
President John F. Kennedy's gravesite features an eternal flame that has burned continuously since his funeral in 1963, while the ANC Explorer digital app allows visitors to locate specific graves and access historical information about individual service members throughout the grounds.
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