On Monday I gave some ways to explore the cemetery by using one of the kiosk at the Welcome Center. This is of course designed to help you find an individual's grave. But it can be used for so much more... even from thousands of miles away in your own living-room. Today's blog introduces some of these treats.
As noted on Monday, the kiosk image of the cemetery is an air shot that allows you to zoom in or out. Zooming in allows you to enlarge the picture enough to see flags on the side of a building. It can give details so large that you can actually count how many graves in from an end you have to go to get to the grave sought.
Zoomed out allows you to see a much wider area of course. In the above picture, as in all in today's blog, the top of the page is North and the south is at bottom of page. In this picture, where you see the middle arrow pointing off to the right, or to the East, the image below the arrow is the downtown area of Washington DC. Over to the left of the page, and to the West is a yellow circle. Within that circle is of course the Arlington Cemetery.
If you were to draw an imaginary line about an inch outside of Arlington to the north, run that line southbound... on the left side of Arlington and then wrap it around the bottom..to about mid point.... you will have drawn out the basic boundaries of an army base next door to the cemetery. This base is called the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.
Between the cemetery, which is actually located at Arlington Virginia, and the DC area runs the Potomac River.
When you go to the Cemetery website and go to the kiosk image, explore the picture. Put your cursur on the middle of the image and right click it. This will allow you to grab the picture and move it to the left or right, up or down. This will of course give you more real estate to look at.
Zoomed out allows you to see a much wider area of course. In the above picture, as in all in today's blog, the top of the page is North and the south is at bottom of page. In this picture, where you see the middle arrow pointing off to the right, or to the East, the image below the arrow is the downtown area of Washington DC. Over to the left of the page, and to the West is a yellow circle. Within that circle is of course the Arlington Cemetery.
If you were to draw an imaginary line about an inch outside of Arlington to the north, run that line southbound... on the left side of Arlington and then wrap it around the bottom..to about mid point.... you will have drawn out the basic boundaries of an army base next door to the cemetery. This base is called the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.
Between the cemetery, which is actually located at Arlington Virginia, and the DC area runs the Potomac River.
When you go to the Cemetery website and go to the kiosk image, explore the picture. Put your cursur on the middle of the image and right click it. This will allow you to grab the picture and move it to the left or right, up or down. This will of course give you more real estate to look at.
I have enlarged the pictured slightly to let you have a look at a number of interesting spots and see where they are in relationship to each other. Instructions given by two different people said that after I drove across the Arlington Memorial Bridge I was to turn right.. according to one and left according to the other. Both were wrong... I was to keep going forward.
Hopefully you will recall my noting the frustration I had in actually finding the Cemetery and that I ended up at the Pentagon without realizing it at first. You can see from this map that major highways separate the two and getting off at the correct "off" ramp was critical.
Item number 9, given several times above shows the army base. It, the Selfridge (spelt wrong above) grave, and gate and the parade square are shown as they played an important role in history, and ought to be noted when looking at the over-all image above.
Thomas Selfridge is the very man who worked with Alexander Graham Bell in his air plane experiments at Badeck Nova Scotia, and then returned to the army base above to continue his work. He flew with Orville Wright and circled the parade ground... now called the Summerfall Field, and shown as #8 above, 4 times at a height of about 150 Feet. Then a piece of the propeller broke off, chipped off a piece of the back of the contraption and threw it into a dive into the earth at the parade ground. It was the first airplane accident on record in the United States. The accident totalled the plane, injured Orville, but not seriously, and killed Selfridge.
Selfridge's uncle... Thomas O. Selfridge, a later admiral, was a young officer, who served on the USS Cumberland in 1862 and almost lost his life when it was sunk by the Merrimack which went on to battle the Monitor in the world famous battle of the next day. For a brief period on that 2nd day, Selfridge was in command of the Monitor. Canadians were in both ships at the time and trying to kill each other. The first death for the Confederates in that battle was a fellow from New Brunswick. T.O. Selfridge later served on the Kearsarge in another famous battle a few years later in the CW and his enemy that day was the famous Alabama in another equally famous battle. And again in both, Canadians were fighting Canadians on each side, and yet again a Canadian died with the Confederates in that battle and today is at rest in a small grave on the waters edge at Cherbourg France. Selfridge also had a grandfather who held the rank of Rear Admiral.
Item Number 7 above is a gate named in honour of Selfridge and is not open to the public and guarded by security on both sides.
Hopefully you will recall my noting the frustration I had in actually finding the Cemetery and that I ended up at the Pentagon without realizing it at first. You can see from this map that major highways separate the two and getting off at the correct "off" ramp was critical.
Item number 9, given several times above shows the army base. It, the Selfridge (spelt wrong above) grave, and gate and the parade square are shown as they played an important role in history, and ought to be noted when looking at the over-all image above.
Thomas Selfridge is the very man who worked with Alexander Graham Bell in his air plane experiments at Badeck Nova Scotia, and then returned to the army base above to continue his work. He flew with Orville Wright and circled the parade ground... now called the Summerfall Field, and shown as #8 above, 4 times at a height of about 150 Feet. Then a piece of the propeller broke off, chipped off a piece of the back of the contraption and threw it into a dive into the earth at the parade ground. It was the first airplane accident on record in the United States. The accident totalled the plane, injured Orville, but not seriously, and killed Selfridge.
Selfridge's uncle... Thomas O. Selfridge, a later admiral, was a young officer, who served on the USS Cumberland in 1862 and almost lost his life when it was sunk by the Merrimack which went on to battle the Monitor in the world famous battle of the next day. For a brief period on that 2nd day, Selfridge was in command of the Monitor. Canadians were in both ships at the time and trying to kill each other. The first death for the Confederates in that battle was a fellow from New Brunswick. T.O. Selfridge later served on the Kearsarge in another famous battle a few years later in the CW and his enemy that day was the famous Alabama in another equally famous battle. And again in both, Canadians were fighting Canadians on each side, and yet again a Canadian died with the Confederates in that battle and today is at rest in a small grave on the waters edge at Cherbourg France. Selfridge also had a grandfather who held the rank of Rear Admiral.
Item Number 7 above is a gate named in honour of Selfridge and is not open to the public and guarded by security on both sides.
The United States Air Force has a very attractive memorial in the shape of a "Bomb Burst" image... three planes in the "One Man Missing" formation... mounted at item # 1 above. I will bring you images of this in the next blog. But look carefully at the end of the arrow and see its shadow.
The 9-11 memorial is in the block above and numbered #2. I have brought you several images of this a past blog. If you enlarge the image of the Pentagon large enough from the Arlington site and study the roof. there are obvious signs that the roof has been repaired... and in the very spot where the disaster took place. Enlarge it and check it out. Most interesting!
The 9-11 memorial is in the block above and numbered #2. I have brought you several images of this a past blog. If you enlarge the image of the Pentagon large enough from the Arlington site and study the roof. there are obvious signs that the roof has been repaired... and in the very spot where the disaster took place. Enlarge it and check it out. Most interesting!
The recent blockbuster movie Forest Gump, was loosely based on the some of the activities of still living Medal of Honor recipient Sammy Davis, a recipient from battles in Vietnam. If you remember the scene were Gump talking to the crowds gathered in front of him with the large tower behind then, he was standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial shown as # 2 above. The reflecting pool had some people in the water I believe in the movie. Number 4 above is mislabelled. It is actually the WW11 monument and #6 above is also incorrect... it points to the Washington Monument. The Air Force monument is not in this image.
You can actually see in the image the few blocks that President Lincoln had to travelled from the White House to Ford's that dreaded night in 1865.
You can also see the streets I roamed travelling to and from the archives to the capitol, Fords and other downtown interesting sites as well. If you enlarge the image where the Canadian Embassy is shown, and do it enough times, you can actually make out the wonderful red from the several Canadian flags flying on the front of the building.
More on Friday.
Bart
You can actually see in the image the few blocks that President Lincoln had to travelled from the White House to Ford's that dreaded night in 1865.
You can also see the streets I roamed travelling to and from the archives to the capitol, Fords and other downtown interesting sites as well. If you enlarge the image where the Canadian Embassy is shown, and do it enough times, you can actually make out the wonderful red from the several Canadian flags flying on the front of the building.
More on Friday.
Bart
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