The Washington You Don’t know And The Media Won’t Cover: Ladies of Arlington Never Miss Final Salute
In 1948, Air Force Chief of Staff General Hoyt S. Vandenberg was living at Fort Myer, Virginia, in a home with a commanding view of the cemetery. He and his wife Gladys often walked there, and noticed airmen being buried with only the chaplain and an honor guard in attendance…
There are 23 interments daily, and the ladies are on hand to ensure that none is conducted in a bleak and friendless atmosphere. Even when friends and family are present, the ladies and their escorts, the young active duty men whose job it is to stand at their sides, volunteer their services.