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On Hallowed Ground opens with the long-delayed funeral of four servicemen, brought home for final honors at Arlington National Cemetery almost forty years after they disappeared in Vietnam. To understand how this tradition of extraordinary care for our war dead began, Robert Poole traces the founding of Arlington Cemetery on what had been the family plantation of Robert E. Lee. After resigning his commission in the U.S. Army, Lee left Arlington to command the Army of Northern Virginia. Arlington, strategic to the defense of Washington, D.C., became a U.S. Army headquarters and a cemetery for indigent Civil War soldiers before Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton made it the new national cemetery. Initially, there was no honor attached to being buried at Arlington; this began to change after the war, as the Union gathered thousands of hastily-buried casualties from nearby battlefields and reinterred them at Arlington, where they received the honors of a grateful nation. But the rites, rituals, and reverence associated with Arlington evolved over the next hundred years, paid through the blood of those who fought in the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Cold War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Iraq and Afghanistan. Robert Poole paints an intimate, behind-the-scenes picture of the history and day-to-day operations of Arlington National Cemetery.
Interesting like most historical summaries are (who knew how General Lee lost his estate?), and also because it brings to light the importance of honoring the lives of people, especially those who contribute to the survival of a country and its ideals. That importance compels the national government to exert enormous effort to recover bodies of war dead and inter them with respect. The details involved in that effort are surprising which makes the reader admire the effort - for example searching foreign battlefields for years for bodies, identifying them and respectfully transporting them to cemeteries. Who knew? ( )
This fascinating book is a rich weaving of many, many stories of this most sacred plot of land in America. "This Hallowed Ground" was a brilliant idea, faithfully executed. There's scarcely a page that does not illicit a gasp or a tear. Wish the author had taken the time to tell us more about the history of that piece of land before the Civil War. Its location dictates that it must have been the scene of some worthwhile dramas in colonial and ante-bellum times. ( )
This engaging history of Arlington National Cemetery, America’s most hallowed military burial ground and home to over 300,000 soldiers, officers and statesmen, is also the story of America’s maturation through death and war.
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
Show me the manner in which a nation or a community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.
_________________
WILLIAM GLADSTONE
Dedicatoria
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
BENEDICTION (located at back of volume)
For all the dead at Arlington, Requiescant in pace.
For all the living, a line of wisdom from an army chaplain who has buried hundreds of comrades at Arlington: "Life is short. Live it well."
Primeras palabras
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
Prologue It was a beautiful day for a funeral. The last of the season's cherry blossoms drifted on a cool breeze, which carried the scent of cut grass and wet stone over Arlington National Cemetery. Somewhere in the distance, the early morning mowing subsided, soon to be overtaken by the all-day crack of rifles, the rattle of horse-drawn caissons, and the mournful sound of Taps floating among the tombstones.
Citas
Últimas palabras
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
"I won't be here," Metzler said. "But Arlington will be here."
On Hallowed Ground opens with the long-delayed funeral of four servicemen, brought home for final honors at Arlington National Cemetery almost forty years after they disappeared in Vietnam. To understand how this tradition of extraordinary care for our war dead began, Robert Poole traces the founding of Arlington Cemetery on what had been the family plantation of Robert E. Lee. After resigning his commission in the U.S. Army, Lee left Arlington to command the Army of Northern Virginia. Arlington, strategic to the defense of Washington, D.C., became a U.S. Army headquarters and a cemetery for indigent Civil War soldiers before Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton made it the new national cemetery. Initially, there was no honor attached to being buried at Arlington; this began to change after the war, as the Union gathered thousands of hastily-buried casualties from nearby battlefields and reinterred them at Arlington, where they received the honors of a grateful nation. But the rites, rituals, and reverence associated with Arlington evolved over the next hundred years, paid through the blood of those who fought in the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Cold War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Iraq and Afghanistan. Robert Poole paints an intimate, behind-the-scenes picture of the history and day-to-day operations of Arlington National Cemetery.
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