Each morning at Arlington National Cemetery, a team assembles to usher through some 30 burials with one goal: Make each grieving family feel as if its funeral is the only one that day.
The morning meeting begins at 7:44 in one of the four family rooms at Arlington National Cemetery’s administration building. Outside the large windows, the rising sun bathes the grass and distant rows of headstones in soft amber light. Eight cemetery representatives—four men, four women—settle into the elegant blue chairs and couches. Each clasps a copy of the daily schedule. It’s a sunny Friday in mid-March, one of the first warm days of spring. Today these eight people will attend a total of 30 funerals.
From the June Issue: The Last Full Measure
Each morning at Arlington National Cemetery, a team assembles to usher through some 30 burials with one goal: Make each grieving family feel as if its funeral is the only one that day.
The morning meeting begins at 7:44 in one of the four family rooms at Arlington National Cemetery’s administration building. Outside the large windows, the rising sun bathes the grass and distant rows of headstones in soft amber light. Eight cemetery representatives—four men, four women—settle into the elegant blue chairs and couches. Each clasps a copy of the daily schedule. It’s a sunny Friday in mid-March, one of the first warm days of spring. Today these eight people will attend a total of 30 funerals.
Read the full text of Caitlin Gibson's feature, "The Last Full Measure" online at Washingtonian.com.
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