Flag Day

Each year for the past 40 years, the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard) has honored America’s fallen heroes by placing American flags before the gravestones and niches of service members buried at both Arlington National Cemetery and the U.S. Soldier’s and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery just prior to Memorial Day weekend.

This tradition, known as “flags in,” has been conducted annually since The Old Guard was designated as the Army’s official ceremonial unit in 1948. Every available soldier in the 3rd U.S. Infantry participates, placing small American flags one foot in front and centered before each grave marker.

During an approximately three-hour period, the soldiers place flags in front of more than 260,000 gravestones and about 7,300 niches at the cemetery’s columbarium. Another 13,500 flags are placed at the Soldier’s and Airmen’s Cemetery. As part of this yearly memorial activity, Old Guard soldiers remain in the cemetery throughout the weekend, ensuring that a flag remains at each gravestone.

American flags are also placed at the graves of each of the four unknown service men interred at the Tomb of the Unknowns, by the Tomb Sentinels. All flags are removed after Memorial Day before each cemetery is opened to the public.

Arlington National Cemetery stands on the grounds of Arlington House the homes of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, his wife Mary Custis had left him a life interest. In 1861 as the Civil War began Lee left. It was confiscated during the Civil War and fallen troops buried in Lee’s Rose Garden so he could never return.

The first to be buried at Arlington was Pvt. William Henry Christman, 67th Pennsylvania Infantry, May 13, 1864.

About 1,500 United States Colored Troops killed in the Civil War are interred. Nearly 3,800 “citizens” or “contrabands” (former slaves who were living in Freedman’s Village on the Arlington Estate) are interred. Citizen or civilian is inscribed on their headstones. Over 2,000 unknowns are buried there too.

Four Medal of Honor recipients are interred there.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, the wife of President John F. Kennedy, died in 1994, and was buried next to her husband whose was assassinated in 1963.

American combat deaths include: 4,435 Americans in the Revolutionary War; 2,200 in the War of 1812; 1,733 in the Mexican-American War; 184,594 in the Civil War; 385 in the Spanish-American War; 53,513 in World War One; 292,131 in World War II; 33,651 in the Korean War; 47,350 in Vietnam; 148 in the Gulf War; 1582 in Afghanistan, and 3,511 in Iraq.

There have been dozens of other combats including Somalia, the Indian Wars, Yemen and others. A total of 437,421 killed and 1,343,812 in non-combat deaths and 2,489,335 wounded.