‘Arlington National Cemetery – Quiet Watch – 7-19-09’
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Memorial Day weekend is not just about cooking out and beautiful spring weather here in the District. If you want to take a moment to take in some of the sights and sounds of remembrance, it’s worth the time to travel across the river and a walk through Arlington Cemetery. One of the most important additions to the fields of memorials for this holiday weekend is the small American flags that are placed near each of the 350,000 headstones throughout the cemetery.

Yesterday, more than 1,500 members of the Army’s “Old Guard” and other service branches spent the time to complete the task at hand. This “Flags In” ceremony has been an annual observance since 1948, and the flags will remain through the weekend until being removed before it opens on the morning of Tuesday, June 1.