Arlington National Cemetery: History Carved in Stone

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National cemetery, January 1987. (Photo by Robert Sacchi)

Travelogue

Arlington National Cemetery is open every day. The Cemetery’s operating hours begin at 8 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. from October through March and 7 p.m. from April through September. Arlington National Cemetery bills itself as “America’s shrine to those who honorably served our nation.”[i]

This cemetery is the final resting place for over 400,000 active duty service members, veterans, and their families.[ii] The cemetery’s monuments tell the story of the United States from the Civil War to today. There are ceremonies at the Memorial Amphitheater on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.[iii] There is the daily changing of the guard ceremony at the Tombs of the Unknown Soldiers.

[i] Official Online Brochure, https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Portals/0/Web%20Final%20PDF%20of%20Brochure%20March%202015.pdf, last accessed 3/14/26.

[ii] Official Online Brochure, https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Portals/0/Web%20Final%20PDF%20of%20Brochure%20March%202015.pdf, last accessed 3/14/26.

[iii] Official Online Brochure, https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Portals/0/Web%20Final%20PDF%20of%20Brochure%20March%202015.pdf, last accessed 3/14/26.