During many trips to Washington DC I took time to walk the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. Every visit was special. Moving. Thoughtful. It is an exceptional place. Walking along the never ending rows of tombstones, you feel the tremendous loss and the suffering of countless surviving family members. Their pain and the impossible to answer question: Why him? Why her?
While you stroll over immaculate lawns reading names, losing yourself in your thoughts, you begin to understand the depth of the place. The dates remind you of our struggles to defend liberty, to restore peace. You are taken to places around the world where they gave their life to defend our values. So often were these battles fought for the weak and oppressed who had no strength to establish liberty and justice themselves.
Your emotions start to shift. The sadness is overthrown by pride and thankfulness. You raise your eyes and there you see flowers standing bright in the sea of stones. They smile at you and say: In this place rests the Past. In this place we experience our Present struggles. But above all, this place exists because these brave men and women gave their life for our Future.
This place is about the Future.
From the distance you start remembering the words:
WE the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, …