Tuesday

Arlington National Cemetery
Visit Arlington National Cemetery
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Arlington National Cemetery is part of a tract of land with a history of ownership dating to 1669. In that year the royal governor of Virginia, Sir William Berkeley, awarded a grant of 6,000 acres to Captain Robert Howsing in recognition of Howsing's bringing settlers from England to the colony aboard his ship. Howsing apparently preferred the life of a seaman to that of landowner, however, and sold the tract to John Alexander in exchange for six hogsheads of tobacco. 

In 1778, the 1,100 acre tract which today contains the Fort Meyer Military Reservation and Arlington Cemetery was purchased by John Parke Custis who was Martha Washington's son by her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. John Custis was an aide-de-camp to General George Washington and died in the battle of Yorktown in 1781. Two of his four children, George Washington Parke Custis and Eleanor Parke Custis, were adopted by George and Martha Washington following his death. It was young George who brought the name "Arlington" to the property.

George Custis inherited Martha Washington's property upon her death in 1802 and came into possession of his step-grandfather's memorabilia. In 1804, he built a Greek Revival-style house on the Custis estate overlooking the Potomac River to store the memorabilia and named it Arlington House; "Arlington" comes from the name of the original Custis estate on the Virginia coast, granted to the family by the Earl of Arlington.

Two of the leading families of this nation's history were linked by Mary Ann Randolph Custis, daughter of George Washington Parke Custis and Mary Fitzhugh. In 1831, Mary Custis married Lieutenant Robert E. Lee thus joining the Washington and Lee families as well as setting the stage for the appropriation of land which once belonged to George Washington (through marriage) for use as a national burial ground. 

National Cathederal 
Washington__National Cathedral 
Historic Information

The official name of Washington National Cathedral is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

• The Cathedral welcomes nearly 700,000 visitors and worshipers annually.
• The Cathedral was completed eighty-three (83) years to the day after it was begun (September 29, 1907–September 29, 1990).
• The first tract of land for the Cathedral site (thirty acres) was purchased in 1898 for $245,000. Two other parcels of land were purchased later, bringing the total cost to $291,427 and the total area to fifty-seven acres.

Holocaust Museum
Visit the Holocaust Museum
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The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were "life unworthy of life." During the era of the Holocaust, the Nazis also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the handicapped, and some of the Slavic peoples ( Poles , Russians, and others).

The Museum's Permanent Exhibition The Holocaust spans three floors of the Museum building. It presents a narrative history using more than 900 artifacts, 70 video monitors, and four theaters that include historic film footage and eyewitness testimonies. The exhibition is divided into three parts: "Nazi Assault," "Final Solution," and "Last Chapter." The narrative begins with images of death and destruction as witnessed by American soldiers during the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945. Most first-time visitors spend an average of two to three hours in this self-guided exhibition. Recommended for visitors 11 years of age and older.

THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE MEMORIAL HONORS THE SERVICE AND sacrifices of the men and women of the United States Air Force and its predecessor organizations, including the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps; the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps; the Division of Military Aeronautics, Secretary of War; the Army Air Service; the U.S. Army Air Corps; and the U.S. Army Air Forces. More than 54,000 airmen have died in combat while serving in the Air Force and these historical service arms of the military, the second highest of any of America’s four armed services.

The memorial honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S. during World War II, the more than 400,000 who died, and the millions who supported the war effort from home. Symbolic of the defining event of the 20th Century, the memorial is a monument to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people to the common defense of the nation and to the broader causes of peace and freedom from tyranny throughout the world. It will inspire future generations of Americans, deepening their appreciation of what the World War II generation accomplished in securing freedom and democracy. Above all, the memorial stands as an important symbol of American national unity, a timeless reminder of the moral strength and awesome power that can flow when a free people are at once united and bonded together in a common and just cause.

Freedom is not free.” Here, one finds the expression of American gratitude to those who restored freedom to South Korea. Nineteen stainless steel sculptures stand silently under the watchful eye of a sea of faces upon a granite wall—reminders of the human cost of defending freedom. These elements all bear witness to the patriotism, devotion to duty, and courage of Korean War veterans.

“In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.” Beneath these words, the 16th President of the United States—the Great Emancipator and preserver of the nation during the Civil War—sits immortalized in marble. As an enduring symbol of freedom, the Lincoln Memorial attracts anyone who seeks inspiration and hope.

Deliberately setting aside the controversies of the war, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial honors the men and women who served when their Nation called upon them. The designer, Maya Lin, felt that “the politics had eclipsed the veterans, their service and their lives.” She kept the design elegantly simple to “allow everyone to respond and remember.”

The U.S. Marine Corps Memorial (also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial) which commemorates all the marines who have died in battle since 1775, is one of the largest bronze statues ever cast at 78-foot tall . The monument, created by Felix W. deWeldon, is based on the famous Joseph Rosenthal photograph capturing the flag being raised on Mount Suribachi during the World War II battle for Iwo Jima.

More than a monument to a great humanitarian, the National Memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a place for visitors from all over the world to be energized by its extraordinary power; the power that illuminated the faith of our founders and now impels us toward our destiny as a nation; the power flowing from the uniquely American spirit of brotherly love, freedom, justice, and the priceless blessing they endure...peace.