Arlington National Cemetery personnel adorned the Memorial Amphitheater with U.S. flags as part of the Virginia cemetery's yearly preparations for the National Memorial Day Observance. Monday's proceedings will be the 156th such observance honoring the nation's fallen service members.
Cemetery Superintendent Charles Alexander Jr. helped facilities maintenance employees hang the flags in the amphitheater, where dignitaries are expected to speak, military musicians perform and veterans organizations intend to conduct a parade of colors on Memorial Day.
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As is traditional, a joint service team also places a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Although attendance at the wreath-laying will be limited to official participants, members of the public will have an opportunity to place a flower at the Tomb on Sunday during the cemetery's Flowers of Remembrance Day. Flowers are provided; visitors should not bring their own.
American flags will also decorate headstones and columbarium niche rows throughout the cemetery, placed by soldiers assigned to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, also known as "The Old Guard," as part of the 76-year-old "Flags In" tradition.
Memorial Day weekend is an exceptionally special time of year at Arlington, which hosted the first official, national "Decoration Day" commemoration in 1868 — a tradition that eventually became known as Memorial Day.