Where Valor Sleeps
National Cemeteries are among the most sacred places in our country's history. Plus, a Veteran's Day salute to a few good men and women.
Hey, it was Veteran's Day yesterday.
Hopefully, you got the chance to thank a veteran. (Reminder: It never gets old.)
Veteran's Day honors veterans of all wars and periods of history, but in general centers on the present day. And rightly so. These veterans continue to contribute to the nation sustained by their service — through their families and communities, as business leaders, teachers, shop owners, construction workers, engineers, clergy, civil servants and volunteers.
They include my brother-in-law Jerry Wedemeier, a Vietnam Veteran who has been married to my sister Joanne for 52 years … Tim Kowald, husband of my niece Erin Andrea-Marie Kowald … my niece Andrea (Osborn) Blatnik … and my son Andrew’s high school friend Justin Lansford, who served in Afghanistan in 2011-12 and lost his left leg in combat.
To Jerry and Justin, a special “Hooah!” To Tim and Andrea “Hooyah!”
And thank you for your service.
Yet for personal reasons, my mind breaks rank and drifts to the soldier who is no longer with us. Yes, we have Memorial Day. Traditional honors are carried out at the end of May, with the appropriate ration of flowers and wreaths, ribbons, flags, salutes, parades, and prayers.
But after the barbeques and fireworks, we go on about our lives. The tribute ends as quickly as the last rocket’s red glare fades and its cinders fall to earth.
At that time my thoughts return to our National Cemeteries, and why they are so important to our country’s heritage.
National Cemeteries
It's a bit sobering to realize that few World War II vets are still alive to honor. That generation of soldiers, the Greatest Generation, is nearly gone. Today, fewer than 120,000 remain from the 16 million who served.1
All are in their late-90s or older. All will be gone within a decade. Vietnam Vets, the next generation, are mostly in their 70s, some in their early 80s.
National Cemetery Administration
The National Cemetery Administration (NCA), under the Veteran’s Administration, operates 171 National Cemeteries and 34 soldiers' lots and monument sites in 42 states and Puerto Rico.2
More than 5.3 million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict, are interred in these sanctuaries. More than 400 interments are conducted every day.
Every uniformed service member or veteran of the Armed Forces is eligible for military funeral honors, which are provided by the decedent’s branch of service.
Funeral honors — including a detail of uniformed military personnel, a rifle detail, color guard, a presentation of the American flag, and a three-volley salute — are paid for by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).
Hallowed Ground
Among those honored is my father, Lester George Geschke (United States Army Air Corps), who was laid to rest on 14 April 2005 at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery (JBNC) just south of St. Louis. My mother Dorothy reunited with Dad at JBNC in 2016.
They were married for 61 years.
My siblings and I visit Mom and Dad when I travel to St. Louis. The pilgrimage always signals a personal transformation that hits the moment we pass through the gates.
The pilgrimage always signals a personal transformation that hits the moment we pass through the gates.
Anyone visiting a National Cemetery will sense the difference between them and community, church, and commercial cemeteries. Many of the latter are old and in disrepair, with grey, aging headstones and monuments randomly scattered among crumbling pathways.
National cemeteries are just … different.
Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg of hallowed ground. All National Cemeteries are hallowed grounds … the dirt … the trees … rolling landscapes of endless green and white … the symmetry of the stones. The reverent silence sits peacefully with the senses. Every step is measured by honor.
I am proud that Mom and Dad are there together. Forever.
Where Valor Sleeps
The first National Cemeteries were developed at the start of the Civil War (1861–1865) to bury the Union dead. Confederate soldiers could not be buried in National Cemeteries, nor were they afforded benefits for decades after the end of the war.
Eventually, the War Department commissioned the interment of both Union and Confederate soldiers at the new Philadelphia National Cemetery in 1885.
The most famous National Cemetery is in Arlington, VA, just outside Washington D.C., which sits (literally) on the doorstep of the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. More than 400,000 soldiers and their spouses are interred at Arlington, including the revered Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
(Famous graves at Arlington National Cemetery)
The general design of all National Cemeteries survives to this day.
Rows and rows of identical headstones stand side-by-side — simple and elegant, each made of durable marbled stone with a rounded top. A symbol of faith is etched on many. The height and distance between each stone are uniform, evoking military precision, mirroring rows of soldiers in formation.
This uniformity also speaks to the NCA’s egalitarian code. Generals are buried next to privates … men next to women … rich next to poor … black and brown next to white.
The order is not determined by station, rank, or race, but only by one’s courage to serve their country. The lines stretch over the rolling hills and to the horizon, and beyond. Countless trees stand guard as living monuments to history.
The image is powerful and enduring — a picture of freedom and the sacrifices made — a place where valor sleeps.
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Jim Geschke was inducted into the prestigious Marquis Who’s Who Registry in 2021.
More than 420,000 were killed in action in WWII.
A few National Cemeteries are located within national parks, battlefields, and historic sites. These are maintained by the National Park Service. Finally, the Department of the Army maintains two – Arlington National Cemetery and the United States Soldiers and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery.
On a recent trip to PA to see my sister I had a short time to go thru Gettyburg on the way home. I never had been there and wished I had more than an hour. It was way too much to take in during such a short drive by but hope to return again.
Thanks for this tribute, Jim. I have visited a US cemetery in Epinal, France and learned that our cemeteries overseas are similarly maintained by our government, and it had the same consistent symmetrical beauty as Jefferson Barracks, where my sister’s husband is buried on a hill overlooking the Mississippi. I have visited often with her when I am in St. Louis. (BTW, your sister Joanne and I were classmates at RGHS!)