This particular post is presented one day tardy . This Typist

has been working a great deal of late , a hazard for writers

looking to be productive . Alas . . . . Yesterday ' s date ,

1 1 November , is a Federal Holiday known to this generation

of Americans as VETERAN ' S DAY . Your Faithful Typist

can recall , however , that the Holiday was known

heretofore as ARMISTICE DAY .

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Originally , 1 1 November was formally observed as a

commemoration for the Armistice that concluded the First

World War . The Documents of Surrender were signed by

German emissaries in a rail car , in Versailles , a small

city some eighteen miles outside of Paris .



As KURT VONNEGUT JR . said of Armistice Day in his

novel BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS , the Holiday is a

gesture of homage for a specific moment , supposedly the

eleventh second of the eleventh minute of the eleventh

hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the

year 1 9 1 8 . Vonnegut , no fan of the transition from

" Armistice " Day to " Veterans ' " Day , laments the

fact that no formal commemoration honors the end of

World War One .



I won ' t actively disagree , although my own admiration

and respect for the Veterans of the United States Army ,

Navy , Air Force , Marine Corps and Coast Guard is

considerable - - the worst I can say of a roster of

Federal Holidays that includes " Memorial Day " and

" Veterans ' Day " is that it smacks of redundancy .



Even that I believe one can justify by designating

" Memorial Day " as homage to deceased military vets ,

whilst " Veterans ' Day " could then be designated as a

most special Day for the Soldiers , Sailors and Aviators

still extant . It does open ' Pandora ' s Box , ' though :

would it be necessary to have a separate " Presidents '

Day for Commanders - In - Chief Ford , Carter ,

G . H . W . Bush and Clinton ?



Perhaps not so splendid an idea , that .



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This discussion of Veterans ' Day makes the Author ponder

some Hallowed Ground , ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY .

I have been to Arlington several times , have taken in a good share

of the Cemetery on foot , and I ' ve a personal stake : my own

Father was buried at Arlington , 2 April 1 9 8 2 ( a Friday ) .



One gets to see " ARLINGTON HOUSE " on the grounds of

the Cemetery . Herein , some very peculiar historical irony :

General IRWIN McDOWELL , the first of the underachievers

to command President Lincoln ' s ARMY OF THE POTOMAC ,

established his temporary headquarters at Arlington House ,

as it had been vacated by its owner - - none other than

General ROBERT E . LEE ( ! )



Tour Arlington with a sharp eye , as I myself tried to do ,

and one finds grave - sites of note . I recall finding the head -

stone of WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT , Twenty - Seventh

President and former Chief Justice ; the special Memorial

to JOE LOUIS , HeavyWeight Boxing Champion for a

record eleven years and twenty - five defenses , who enlisted

during World War Two ; the MONUMENT TO THE

CONFEDERATE DEAD , situated in a remote part of the

Cemetery ; the JOHN FOSTER DULLES Plot , where

DWIGHT EISENHOWER ' s Secretary Of State was

interred after succumbing to cancer in 1 9 5 9 ; ROBERT

KENNEDY ' s burial site ( the Senator from New York and

former Attorney General was not a combat veteran , butt he

was for many years a resident of Arlington , Virginia - -

the city , rather than the Cemetery ! ) Of course the

ETERNAL FLAME has burnt , to my knowledge without

respite , at the grave - site of the Thirty - Fifth President ,

JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY , since 2 5 November of 1 9 6 3 .



Possibly my favorite Arlington spectacle is the CHANGING OF

THE GUARD , done every two hours at the TOMB OF THE

UNKNOWN SOLDIER . The Soldiers of the " BlackJack

Pershing " Regiment take turns standing watch over The

Tomb , timing their turns so they occur at twenty - one

second intervals , taking twenty - one strides at a time .

Save perhaps the " Dress Blues " of the United States

Marine Corps , the Uniforms of the Pershing Regiment

are the Miltary ' s Handsomest , methinks .



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Arlington National Cemetery , I fear , has butt a very

finite bit of space remaining , so I think it fortunate the

Nation has other military cemeteries . I am lucky to have

seen the " PunchBowl " , the Military Cemetery on the

island of Oahu . This typist has been to Hawaii just once ,

6 - 7 - & 8 December of 1 9 9 1 , there to take in the

Fiftieth Anniversary of the Attack on PEARL HARBOR .

( Again , a Family Connection : My Old Man was the

' Officer - Of - The - Deck ' aboard the BattleShip

U . S . S . WEST VIRGINIA on 7 December 1 9 4 1 . )



Arlington , for most interested visitors , is more readily

accessable than Hawaii . If perchance You go : the METRO ,

high - speed regional rail in the Capital Area , has a stop

near the cemetery - - convenient , inexpensive , and an

enjoyable means of travel . Those of You who have Relatives

buried at Arlington may request an automobile pass , which

permits those who insist on driving to take their cars on the

Cemetery ' s paved roads . Otherwise , one may ride the

tourist ' s Tram , or do as this devout Pedestrian is wont to

do : walk , and walk plenty more . ( It is , I think , Patriotic ! )



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