Page 217 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

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never found or identified. Its military cemetery. The house,
four vaults are for soldiers from now a memorial to the general,
World Wars I and II, Korea, and is open to visitors.
Vietnam. Each vault held one
uniden tified soldier until 1998,
when the Vietnam soldier was k The Pentagon
identified by DNA analysis and 1000 Defense Pentagon,
reburied in his hometown. Hwy 1-395, Arlington, VA.
Near it is the Memorial Tel (703) 697-1776. q Pentagon.
Amphitheater, which has 8 9am–3pm Mon–Fri; book online
hosted many state funerals, at pentagontours.osd.mil
and where annual services are ∑ pentagon.afis.osd.mil
held on Memorial Day.
North of the Tomb of the The world’s largest office
Unknowns, an eternal flame building, the Pentagon is almost
burns at the Grave of John F. a city in itself. This enormous
Kennedy, lit by his wife edifice houses 23,000 people
Jacqueline on the day of his who work for the US Depart ment
funeral in December 1963. of Defense, which includes
Gothic-style architecture of the Washington She and their infant son Patrick the Army, Navy, and Airforce,
National Cathedral and an unnamed stillborn and 14 other defense agencies.
daughter are buried next to Despite its enormous size – it
Cathedral towers are decorated the late president. His brother has 17.5 miles (28 km) of
with leaf-shaped ornaments. Robert F. Kennedy is nearby. corridors, and the entire US
Above the south entrance is Close to Arlington House is Capitol could fit into one of its
an exquisite stained-glass Rose the imposing Tomb of Pierre five wedge-shaped sections –
Window, while in the nave L’Enfant, the French architect the building’s efficient design
another stained-glass responsible for planning ensures that it takes no more
window commemorates the city of Washington. than seven min utes to walk
the Apollo 11 space The cemetery also between any two points in the
flight and contains houses poignant Pentagon. Designed by army
a sliver of moon memorials to engineers, it is built from sand
rock. The High the victims of and gravel dredged from the
Altar has carvings the Lockerbie Potomac and molded into
of 110 figures The Creation, National air crash and the concrete. The building was
surrounding the Cathedral Challenger Space started in Septem ber 1941,
central statue of Shuttle, which and completed in January
Christ. The floor in front of the exploded seconds after take- 1943 at a cost of $83 million.
altar has stone from Mount off in January 1986. The headquarters of the US
Sinai. By the Children’s Chapel, The grand Georgian-Revival military establishment and the
built to the scale of a six-year- mansion at the top of the hill, ultimate symbol of America’s
old, is a statue of Jesus as a boy. above the Kennedy graves, is military might, the Pentagon
Arlington House, which was was one of the targets of
j Arlington the home of the Confederate terrorists who flew a hijacked
National Cemetery general Robert E. Lee (1807–70). American Airlines plane into
one side of the building on
When Lee left his home in 1861
Arlington, VA. Tel (877) 907-8585. to lead Virginia’s armed forces September 11, 2001, killing
q Arlington National Cemetery. during the Civil War, the Union 189 people. It has now been
Open Apr–Sep: 8am–7pm daily; confiscated the estate for a completely restored.
Oct–Mar: 8am–5pm daily.
Closed Dec 25. 8 7
A sea of simple headstones
covers Arlington National
Cemetery, marking the graves
of around 400,000 American
servicemen killed in the nation’s
major conflicts – from the
Revolution to the present. The
focus of the cemetery, which
sprawls over 624 acres (252 ha)
of a hillside, is the Tomb of the
Unknowns, honoring the
thousands whose bodies were Uniform rows of headstones in Arlington National Cemetery

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