Flag, Arlington cemetery, Washington DC – October 2008
Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC is a 624 acre cemetery near the Pentagon, established in the late 1800s on land previously owned by the celebrated General Robert E. Lee. The cemetery contains the remains of military personnel killed in every American conflict from the American Civil War to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as American presidents and former presidents and, most recently, Senator Edward Kennedy.
I wandered across the Potomac River late one afternoon last October with the idea that the cemetery only contains rows and rows of little white crosses set in green lawn, the image that most people associate with Arlington. I was surprised to find a host of other memorials, such as the Tomb of the Unknowns, the John F Kennedy Eternal Flame, a memorial to those killed in the Pentagon on September 11th, and the crew of the ill-fated space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. This particular flag had been planted by a visitor underneath a memorial stone engraved “Republic of Vietnam”.
Saturday Snapshots is a series of non-food photographs published every Saturday on CookSister. Previously featured photographs can be viewed on the Saturday Snapshots archive pages. Many photos featured in Saturday Snapshots are available to buy as high-quality greeting cards or prints in my RedBubble store, or even as high-quality A3-size calendars. If you want a custom calendar with your own selection of photos, starting with any month (not only January), please e-mail me and we can discuss your requirements.