A Day With America's War Dead

Did something today that I've wanted to for a very long time -- visit the Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington D.C., where 300,000 (and counting) veterans and military casualties lie buried. It is an astounding site -- you've seen it in the movies -- of tombstones running off as far as the eye can see down rolling hills over 624 acres. Signboards everywhere remind hundreds of daily visitors that these are "hallowed grounds", and therefore to conduct themselves with "dignity and respect at all times". To say that the site is intense doesn't quite cover it. It also made me really sad, thinking about how differently we honour our war heroes and military casualties in India. I mean, do we even have a national war memorial yet?

Photo by T. Singh
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