Ghosts of Arlington Podcast

This week we talk a little about what Arlington National Cemetery looks like today, what the property started out as, and why a national cemetery was needed next to Washington, DC in the first place.

This Week's Ghosts of Arlington are:

1. George Washington Parke Custis  (Section 13, Grave 6513)
2. Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis (Section 13, Grave 6512)

For more information, including links to stream the show...

This week we discuss some of the firsts in Arlington's history - including the first burial, the first burial with family present, the first burial of a combat casualty, the first burial of a draftee, and the first officer burial. Included is also the history of arguably history's most famous bugle call, Taps. 

This Week's Ghosts of Arlington are:

1. US Army Private William Henry Christman (Section...

First off, there is a partial retraction (or at least a semi-correction) of last week's story of the origin of Taps... that didn't take long! Then, after years of unsuccessful attempts to recover the property and buildings of the former Arlington plantation, the Supreme Court rules in favor of the Lee family. So, what is the US Government going to do with the 20,000 military members interred there?!

This week&apo...

After the Supreme Court ruled that Custis Lee was the legal owner of Arlington and the US Government was forced to give the property back, how did it end up back in government hands? 

This week's ghost of Arlington is:

1.  Army First Lieutenant John Meigs, the 22-year-old son of the father of Arlington National Cemetery, General Montgomery Meigs (Section 1, Grave 1-SH)

For more information, includin...

This week's episode is the first of a two-part story about the life of Brevet Major General Montgomery C. Meigs,, covering his birth to just before the outbreak of the Civil War, with a major focus on his two most enduring pre-war engineering projects: The Capitol Expansion and Dome, and the Washington Aqueduct project.

For more information, including links to stream the show and pictures from these two major construc...

This is the second of our two-part story about the life of Montgomery Meigs. Many people with high-profile positions in the US Civil have praised  Meigs as an unsung hero of the Civil War, saying without his expert management of Union logistics, the war could have had a very different outcome. He continued to leave his mark on Washington, DC after the war - overseeing the growth of Arlington National Cemetery, the expansion of the ...

First off, an apology. For some reason, the audio got wonky in the final third of the show. I cleaned it up the best I could but as I have said before, I really don't have any idea what I'm doing when it comes to this. This week we talk about the Spanish American War and the approval to bury Confederate dead in the cemetery.

This week's Ghost of Arlington are:

1. The USS Maine Memorial 
2. Brevet Major General (...

Eeek! The podcast was plugged by Doctrine Man, himself. How cool is that?!?! A screen shot is absolutely on the website. Also, we didn't quite make it to the story of the Unknown Soldier like I thought we would - but next week for sure. We do talk about the plans - and the planner - behind the construction of Washington, DC, the first US military aircraft, and the Great War.

This week’s Ghost of Arlington are:

1.  Arm...

This week we cover the selection of an unidentified American World War I soldier who was returned from Europe to be buried in The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Armistice Day 1921.

This week’s Ghost of Arlington is:

The World War I Unknown Soldier 

Also, a very special thanks to Mountain Up Cap Company for its continued help to spread the word about the podcast on Facebook at: https://www.faceb...

We've got 1930s newsreel sound clips this week (Fancy!) which talk about the time the US Army attack US WWI veterans in Washington, DC on the order of the US president... true story. If you don't know about the Bonus Army in 1932, you need to hear it; not exactly the "support our troops" mentality of politicians today. Oh, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier gets its permanent sarcophagus and epitaph 10 years af...

Recovery efforts for WWII remains were well underway when the Korean War broke out in 1950 and put a halt to them. When that war ended, in 1953, the US Army was working to recover fallen Americans from two wars. As a result, the Unknown Soldiers from WWII and Korea were interred simultaneously. Also, sometimes a real-life Rambo does survive his valorous action on the battlefield.

This week’s Ghost of Arlington are:

1. Army...

I reflect just a little on the fall of Kabul to the Taliban then get back to business with how the Korean War put the recovery efforts of WWII fallen on hold and after the Korean War, recovery teams were cleaning up after two wars. Because the efforts were simultaneous, the Unknows from WWII and Korea were interred in a single ceremony.

This week’s Ghost of Arlington are:

1. Marine Corps Corporal Paul Kenneth Tay...

This week we talk about the most visited site at Arlington National Cemetery, President John F. Kennedy's grave - after his burial, everything changed.

This week’s Ghost of Arlington are:

1. President John F. Kennedy (Section 45, Grave S-45)
2. Jacquelin Kennedy Onassis (Section 45, Grave S-45)
3.  Senator Robert F. Kennedy (Section 45, Grave S-45-A)
4. Arabella Kennedy (Section 45, Grave S-45)
5. Patrick Kennedy (Section 45, Grave S...

Did you know that from the moment his remains were recovered, the Air Force officer eventually buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns was known to be 1st Lt. Michael Blassie? So how did he come to be later identified as X-26 and designated the Vietnam War's Unknown Soldier? If you listen to this week's episode, I will discuss just that.

This week’s Ghost of Arlington are:

1.  The Vietnam War Unknown Soldier
2. Air Force ...

For someone a month away from his 21st birthday when it happened, I can't believe it has been 20 years since 9/11. This week's episode just happens to talk about what went on in the cemetery day, less than 400 yards from the Pentagon, and what the last two decades have looked like. I didn't plan for this episode to drop on this auspicious anniversary, it just worked out that way.

This week’s Ghost of Arlingt...

With the exponential increase in terrorism over the last 30+ years, it is easy to remember the more recent events, but sometimes the events that happened longer ago fade to the background - last week I said that has probably happened to large extent with the US Marines killed in Beirut in 1983. It has also likely happened with those killed in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing in 1988. There were 270 victims - 259 in the air and 11 on t...

In this episode I make a case that the first American KIA in Vietnam didn't happen 1956, but rather in 1945. Am I crazy or is there some merit to my argument? You make the call! Also, I am headed out of town for some much needed R&R and this will be last episode for two weeks.

This week’s Ghost of Arlington is:

1.  Army Lieutenant Colonel Albert Peter Dewey, Section 3,  Grave 4272-A-3-4

Also, a very special t...

If you were to ask an American what the worst nuclear accident in the United States was, if they even have an answer, they would probably say Three Mile Island. Most Americans are unaware that in January 1961, a reactor an isolated Idaho desert went supercritical and killed two soldiers and a sailor. This is the story of the SL-1 reactor explosion, complete with finger-pointing, deflecting blame, and false, unsubstantiated rumors o...

Frank Powers was shot down over Russia while flying the iconic U-2 airplane on a reconnaissance mission in 1960. He was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 10 years in Soviet prison but was eventually exchanged for a Russian spy captured several years earlier. Upon returning home, Frank was both privately and publicly praised and denigrated for his conduct while in Soviet custody. He died when his son was 12. It wasn't unt...