In October, it was my honor to be chosen for a trip sponsored by the Puget Sound Veterans Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., which included a tour of the many war memorials and a visit to the Arlington National Cemetery. This 624-acre cemetery is a tribute and respects those who served in the military and the country’s many conflicts. It is a magnificent and humbling site to see the acres of white, white, white marble headstones uniformly placed over the countryside.
After returning to Washington state I had the occasion to go to the Vancouver veterans Post Cemetery on the north side of Fourth Plain Boulevard. The contrast of what I saw at Arlington’s white, white, white and the Post Cemetery’s gray, grungy-looking headstones was upsetting. These marble headstones are the same supplied by the government for markers and once were definitely white. Whatever Arlington does to maintain the acres of headstones a pristine white should happen in Vancouver.
The people in charge of maintenance of the cemetery need to make the headstones more presentable and respectful either by their own labor or by recruiting volunteers. Care of the marble is special and should only be done under proper instruction. Veterans Day is Nov. 11. We can do better.
Walter Church Jr.
Woodland
