Arlington National Cemetery

The Arlington Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, near the center of the Cemetery, is the home of the Tomb of the Unknowns where Unknown American Servicemembers from World War I, World War II, and Korea are interred. This site has also hosted the state funerals of many famous Americans, such as General of the Armies John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, General of the Air Force Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, the Unknown Soldiers, and five victims of the September 11 attacks, as well as annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies. Every American President of the 20th and 21st centuries has presided over holiday gatherings at this site.

Judge Ivory Kimball worked during several sessions of Congress as the department head of the Grand Army of the Republic in the District to get a bill through Congress to build the Amphitheatre. The bill finally went through in President William Howard Taft's administration, when Congress authorized its construction March 4, 1913. Judge Kimball participated in the ground-breaking ceremony, March 1, 1915, but did not live to see his dream completed. President Woodrow Wilson placed its cornerstone Oct. 15, 1915.

A colonnade of arched openings with attached Doric columns on the piers completely encloses the amphitheater. The architect was Thomas Hastings of the New York-based firm of Carrère and Hastings. The Amphitheater was dedicated on May 15, 1920.Arlington National Cemetery website

The white marble is from the Danby quarries of Vermont.

Category: Image - :Arl-mem-amphi.png|center|500px|thumb|The façade of the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater

The Tomb of the Unknowns (also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, although it has never been officially named) is a monument dedicated to American servicemen who have died without their remains being identified. It is located in Arlington National Cemetery in the United States. The "Unknown Soldier" of World War I is a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the Victoria Cross, and several other foreign nations' highest service awards. The U.S. Unknown Soldiers who were interred afterwards are also recipients of the Medal of Honor, presented by the U.S. presidents who presided over their funerals.The Unknown Soldiers - Arlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery:: Funeral InformationCongressional Medal of Honor Recipients - World War I Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame is a presidential memorial at the gravesite of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in Arlington National Cemetery. The gravesite is aligned with the Lincoln Memorial across the Memorial Bridge.

After the assassination of JFK, the widowed First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, requested an eternal flame for his gravesite. She was inspired by the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which she and her husband had seen during a visit to France in 1961, and/or took inspiration from the "candle in the wind" of Arthurian legend, and the Broadway Play "Camelot."Camelot and the Cultural Revolution, James Pierson, page 197

According to William Manchester's Death of a President (1967), Mrs. Kennedy made her request for an eternal flame on the afternoon of November 24, 1963, after she returned to the White House from the lying-in-state ceremony at the Capitol. The military planners who were organizing the funeral granted her request...