As the Washington Metro gods would have it, they ruined a perfectly fine plan to greet my special someone at the airport. I got up early and brought along my camera because I planned to paparazzi my girlfriend to death at the greeting area. Unfortunately, the Metro was running at least 40 minutes behind schedule due to maintenance on nearly ALL the lines and she landed 10 minutes early. I wasn’t about to have her wait at the airport for an hour and I also wasn’t going to deal with Metro any more than I already had.
So, I hopped off at Arlington Cemetery’s metro stop and with about half an hour to kill before the next train back into D.C. I went for a quick stroll through it with my camera.
As far as light goes, it might as well have been midday. The light was harsh and contrasty, putting me at f/8, ISO 100. During the summer months, the “golden hour” is much earlier and much later. So, 10am is like 4 hours too late for that kind of light.
I stayed off the grave sites as I was only there for a short time, and to be quite honest fairly under-dressed for the most hallowed ground in the United States. It’s a personal thing, but I believe shorts and a t-shirt isn’t appropriate attire to be walking amongst the tombstones. These men and women died for me, the least I could do is wear a decent polo or something.
It’s hard to get an appreciation of just how many American soldiers have died in combat without physically visiting the place. Vast fields and gently rolling hills uniformly speckled with marble markers for each one. The tree kind of break up the expanse and hide the numbers, but I guess it’s to help counteract becoming overwhelmed with the sheer number of graves in every direction. Gives you an idea of how expensive that red, white, and blue really is.
Just a few minutes into my stroll between trains I found myself in time for the changing of the guard (called, “sentinels”) at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The tomb has been guarded 24/7 since 1937 by the U.S. Army. And by 24/7, they mean it. The tomb is never left unsupervised. The sentinels are impeccable in their appearance and synchronized during their duty and the highly ceremonial changing of the guard.
During their shift, all their main movements and counts are 21. They take 21 steps across their line and hold positions for a 21-count. This is to signify the 21-gun salute. Everything these dedicated guys do is in honor of those in the tomb, “known but to God.”
Arlington National Cemetery is an amazing place because it is full of amazing people who have done the most amazing thing their country asked them to do. It is sad and yet peaceful. It’s humbling too.
I cannot imagine what it’s like to have the particular sense of pride and sadness a fallen soldier’s loved ones must have.