Post 66-Funeral at Arlington National Cemetery

We were worried because of the forecast.  It was for one of the biggest snowstorms to hit the East Coast in a long time. Hoping to get ahead of the storm, we got a hotel room the night before in Arlington, Virginia, just a few minutes’ drive from the cemetery. Carol’s last, remaining, elderly relative was going to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The aunt’s first husband died in World War II allowing her the privilege to be buried there if she so chose.

When I lived in Northern Virginia some years ago, I had been to Arlington several times, always in warm weather but never for a burial. It sits on a gently sloping hill and overlooks Washington, D.C.  It is the final resting place of the Unknown Soldier of World War I and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was built on that site after Congress approved this as a forever memorial in 1921. This 624 acre site with about 400,000 graves is a place of history, serenity, beauty, honor, and patriotism. Numerous famous people are buried here: such as former Army soldier Abner Doubleday, the inventor of baseball; Anita Newcomb McGee, U.S. Army - First woman Army surgeon in 1898, and founder of the Army Nurse Corps in 1900; William Jennings Bryan a United States Army colonel, known for the Scopes Monkey Trial against Clarence Darrow; Lee Marvin, actor and U. S. Marine; or of course President John F. Kennedy, U. S. Navy PT boat captain in WWII. One of my favorite views of Washington, D. C. is seen from this gentle hillside. At night the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol Building with the moon rising in the background always stirs me.

The snow storm moved up the East Coast throughout the night. Cities along the coast, such as Virginia Beach, VA which got over 10 inches of snow and had near blizzard conditions and Cape May, New Jersey which got over 15 inches, were pounded by the storm. But fortunately, the DC area only received a couple of windblown inches. That was enough for schools to close, as well as many government offices, but not Arlington National Cemetery. Because we had to be at the cemetery by 9:15, still rush hour in that area, many people stayed home so the roads were almost free of traffic. We passed the famous Marine Corp Memorial—the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi—and then turned into the entrance of the cemetery.  Unfortunately, due to terrorist threats to high profile, American targets such as this, we had to be approved and inspected by guards before being escorted to the waiting area.  The wind driven, light snow continued as we walked up to the administration building.

Carol’s aunt’s husband was serving in the Navy when he died, so we were to have a Navy chaplain. He met us in the comfortable waiting room. There was a closed circuit television showing the Tomb of the Unknown being cleared of the snow, and then the guards walking their post. A representative of the cemetery soon joined us, as did funeral home representatives who had driven down in near blizzard conditions earlier in the morning with the body. The Arlington representative was very kind, respectful, sensitive, and helpful. He is a former military man who, during some of his time in the service, had been a guard at the Tomb of the Unknown.  We needed his sensitivity and helpfulness.

I would like to say that all went smoothly, but it did not. Unfortunately, the funeral home dropped the ball and didn’t get all the necessary paperwork taken of. At first, the Arlington representative said the body, Carol’s aunt, was going to have to be returned to Pennsylvania until everything got straightened out. We began to pray. Then thanks to his helpfulness, and various electronic devices, calls and texts were made, and the needed forms were emailed. So we could proceed.  Needless to say, Carol was additionally distraught until God, the representative, and electronics squared things away.

Once everything was in order, we proceeded to the burial plot, following the representative in his car, and the hearse. We passed section after section of white headstones; row upon orderly row, the ground covered in snow. Placed at every headstone was a natural green wreath, each with a beautiful red bow. The ministry, Wreaths Across America,   http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org whose purpose is to remember, honor, and teach (especially children the importance of remembering and honoring those who have served) at military cemeteries across the country, lay wreaths at the headstones.  Hundreds of volunteers of all ages turn out in mid December to do this. 

 

                                   

                                                US Army photo by Rachel Larue

( For more on military cemeteries, including Arlington, go to https://taskandpurpose.com/arlington-national-cemetery-running-room/ )

 The chaplain, the Naval honor guard and casket bearers were waiting at Section 12. They slowly and precisely, took the casket and then carefully carried it across the snow covered ground, and at times, snow hidden tree roots, to the interment site. Green cloth covered chairs, by then covered in snow due to the initial paperwork confusion, were set out for the family. The wind whipped down the hill side and buffeted us as the chaplain said some very kind words, read a few scriptures and then ended the quick service. Because of the weather and illnesses among other family members, it was just Carol and me. Tears, due to the wind and the service, clouded our eyes. The Arlington representative said he would stand at the grave site and wait for the interment crew; acknowledging that the body in the casket was more than just a body, but the loved one of someone special.

Before we walked back to the car, we had a chance to chat for a few minutes with the representative. In an earlier conversation, we gathered he was a Christian. We talked about the day when Jesus will return for His own,

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV

And we talked about how quickly this was going to happen:

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory”                                    1 Corinthians 15: 50-54 NIV

We had only known each other for about an hour but the brotherhood of the faith bound that kind and respectful representative and us to a bond of family far greater than that of the family member soon to be lowered into the ground. Brothers and sisters in Christ. And in Christ waiting and looking for His soon return, we were talking about and picturing the graves opening and in a twinkling of an eye, those soldiers and sailors, airmen and marines, husbands and wives would be rocketed into the air to join Christ forever.

Sadness, yes, as we carefully walked back to the car over the snow covered ground, but heartened to know God had been with us and we would soon be seeing Him. Praise the Lord!

As we drove away from the interment site, we looked back at the grave. The representative was standing tall, back to the blowing wind, honoring the wife of a Navy man, and Carol’s aunt. Lord, please remember all his help and kindnesses, and bless him and his family, wonderfully.

Earlier, when we were leaving the administration building to follow the representative to the grave site, another, but very large group of very well dressed people, accompanied by officers in uniform, were on their way in to meet their Arlington representative for the burial of their loved one. Now as we were driving away, we saw in another section that officer’s funeral. We had to stop at a cross road for a young man, in uniform, who was leading a magnificent black horse in "dress tack", with the saddle backwards, as well as the tall leather riding boots also facing backwards. The silver saber in its scabbard was clicking against the tack. It was a moving scene.

If you ever visit Washington, D.C. to tour the sites, drive west on Constitution Avenue NW and stop at the Vietnam War Memorial (The Wall) and walk a few steps around to the Nurses Memorial, perhaps walking over to the Lincoln Memorial. But then, please, get back in your car, go out of your way, and follow Constitution Ave. around the Lincoln, over the Arlington Memorial Bridge and into Arlington National Cemetery. It is open to visitors. Perhaps you’ll be there when Jesus returns, the graves open and those in Christ who have been asleep will rise to meet Him in the clouds of the air. Not even a snow storm will make a difference. According to the web site of Discovery World, the twinkle of an eye is as fast as

“Remember that the light entering the eye and reflecting as a twinkle happens in about a billionth of a second. So what does this have to do with anything in the Bible?   https://www.discoveryworld.us/science/a-wink-a-blink-and-a-twink/   (scroll down)