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Over 4 million people, come through Arlington National Cemetery each year. It has over 200 acres and was originally made to be a military natural burial site in 1864 . It is the second biggest national cemetery in the United States with over 300,000 people buried there. This well known natural cemetery is situated in Arlington, Virginia and brings visitors here for various reasons. Some just want to be able to see a part of American history, some come to remember and honor the nation’s war heroes and others are there for a funeral service and burial of a friend or relative .

For those people that are there to go to a funeral, they are in the company of a lot of others each week at Arlington. The cemetery has average of about 28 funerals each day during the week with no funerals happening on the weekends. Veterans from all of the {nation’s|country’s] wars are buried at this cemetery from the American Revolution through Iraq and Afghanistan. There are specific ceremonies that happen {during|at] a funeral here. They have a wreath laying ceremony {to have|where] a wreath placed on the gravesite as well as a 21 gun salute honoring the soldier. They also follow the funeral with the playing of taps and presenting the flag that was on the coffin to the relatives.

One of the most frequently visited sections of the Arlington national cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknowns. This is a tomb that was built and holds the remains of an unknown soldier from each war. the purpose of it is to symbolize all of the service members that lost their lives during war. There was a ceremony when each Unknown Soldier was interred into the tomb by the presiding President of the United States at that moment. The only war that does not have representation is the Vietnam War where the remains were taken out and identified and then the family of that soldier preferred to have him buried near their home. The Tomb of the Unknowns is guarded by the U.S. Army every hour of every day of the year .

There are famous people that are well known in American History that are also honored by being laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. These people were not military figures but important to our history. There are quite a few explorers buried including some astronauts here. Also, buried here are famous political figures like the Kennedy brothers. Famous literary and medical Americans are burial here as well. There are also two Presidents of the United States buried in the cemetery and they are William Howard Taft and John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Many visitors enjoy walking all around and seeing so many famous names buried in one cemetery .

If you wish to go to the Washington, D.C. area and take a visit to Arlington, Virginia to see this well known cemetery, it may be exciting to go there on a day that has special ceremonies surrounding it . Veteran’s Day typically has the current President speak in honor of those that lost their lives for our country .