Memorial Day: in quiet remembrance
I like quiet and peaceful places. With three young boys at home, that’s not something I often get to experience these days. Maybe that’s one reason why, whenever I’m in Northern Virginia, I try to carve out a little time to walk through Arlington National Cemetery. There’s a peace and reflective stillness to the stroll, and few traditions are as moving as the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There is something uniquely stirring about witnessing the horse-drawn caissons at Arlington, too.
I’ve visited and like many of our national cemeteries. I have a grandfather who is a World War II veteran, buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix.
This Memorial Day, I wrote about the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, more commonly known as “Punchbowl.” It’s a cemetery I’ve visited a number of times while living in Hawaii. I wanted to write something about it because it’s a beautiful and moving experience to see the cemetery up close. When I lived there, I frequently placed flags on the graves when I was in scouting.
It’s worth visiting not only pay our respect to the fallen in our wars, but it has great views of Honolulu, Diamond Head, and the Pacific Ocean.
State Policy Network published my piece about Punchbowl. I hope you’ll take a moment to read and reflect.
—Ray Nothstine
— The Federalism Beat