Semi-Successful at Arlington National Cemetery

Memorial Ampitheater and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery. Photo Credit Below.

Last April, I had the opportunity to visit Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, VA to attend an event connected to one of my favorite aspects of my job: meeting members of Black descendant groups tied to the early history of our nation. In this case, I was heading down to attend a public ceremony at Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, commemorating the ongoing reconciliation work being done between descendants of the Lee family and descendants of the enslaved Black men, women, and children who labored for them at Arlington House. They have titled themselves the Arlington House Family Circle, and it is absolutely worth looking up what they have been up to.

If you’re wondering what this has to do with Arlington National Cemetery, it’s that Arlington House actually sits inside of the cemetery. Much of the cemetery’s land was originally part of the Arlington House property. The National Park Service oversees the house and its interpretation, while the Office of Army Cemeteries operates Arlington National Cemetery.

Point being, by taking this trip down for my job, I also had the opportunity to explore the cemetery, if I so desired.

So, did I desire? Well, like any genealogist, I had to go into my database and see if I had any relatives or ancestors buried there. I knew I had relatives buried in other national cemeteries because they were veterans of the U.S. military, or were spouses of them. So, what about here? Turns out, the answer was yes – I had at least six of them!

• Isaac Cooper, my mom’s maternal uncle, and a World War II veteran

• Frederick Oswald Petite, my mom’s first cousin twice removed, an Army Reserve Officer and WWII veteran, and his wife Annice (Gray) Petite.

• Julian Anderson Branic, Sr., the husband of the sister of my mom’s uncle-in-law, and a WWII veteran. Also, his parents Otto H. Branic, Sr., a World War I veteran, and Anna (Rucker) Branic.

I used Arlington’s ANC Explorer gravesite mapping tool to find or confirm the exact burial location for each person, pinpointing where they were within the 639 acres of the cemetery. (An acre is roughly ¾ of a football field, to give you a sense of just how large that is!) 

Landing page for the Arlington National Cemetery Explorer App, desktop version.

And because I was taking the train down, not driving, I also had to figure out the tram system within the cemetery, since I wouldn’t be able to drive myself from section to section and gravesite to gravesite.

With all the planning done, all I needed to do was enjoy a leisurely Amtrak ride down to VA. I had checked the weather – it had previously looked like rain, but the pattern seemed to have shifted – and I felt like I’d have a great day in front of me.

And the day started fine. Lovely even. Sunny. Then a little cloudy, but nothing to worry about. A little cloudier as the Arlington House event wrapped up, but no drizzle, no rain, still nothing to worry about.

The view to DC, from the steps of Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial.

I said hello to a few old friends and new ones and toured the historic site to my heart’s content. And then I set out to find the burial sites of my family members. Goal: Say Hello and take a few pictures for my records. (Many national cemeteries have photos of grave markers online, but I wanted to take my own.) 

I started with Otta and Anna Branic. While the most distantly related to me, they were the easiest for me to get to on my planned route using the tram and courtesy shuttle. And it didn’t take long for me to find them. Here are they are, photographed individually, but situated directly next to one another:

Mission accomplished there, I set off to find my great-uncle, Isaac Cooper. The sky got a little darker. I walked to his section and began to scan the rows, trying to get my bearings so I could make a beeline for him. Low rumbles. No lightning I could see. I picked up the pace. I wasn’t too far from a tram stop, but I didn’t want to get myself in trouble.

I tried a few locations, the rumbling got louder. I felt a few droplets. I started to turn around. And then, the sky opened up.

Now, it’s not safe to run in graveyards. The ground is uneven, even in well-kept ones, and you’re likely to sprain an ankle, or worse. But it’s also not safe to be in an open field in the middle of a thunderstorm. (What happened to “the forecast had shifted???” I didn’t even have an umbrella!) So, I split the difference.

Back to the tram stop, where a dozen or so of us huddled in various states of drenched and displeased and waited for our ride back to the main entrance. Then a long, hopeful wait thinking, maybe, just maybe it will stop well before I have to get back to the train station, and I can complete my quest in one day. Next, a resigned wait for an Uber and a dash through the drops to get in the car, and, frankly, something of a dash to get back to the station on time – the storm had knocked at least 1 tree onto the road! And then, a rather soggy train ride back to Philadelphia.

So, my trip to Arlington National Cemetery wasn’t quite as successful as I had hoped. The first half of the day was fantastic. I was moved, I felt so excited for the work being done, I learned a lot. The second? Well, I did find family, but only the ones to whom I was most distantly related! Still valuable, but clearly a return trip is needed. I’m looking forward to planning that for sometime this year. Maybe I’ll drive this time. Either way, I’m definitely taking an umbrella, no matter what the forecast says.

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Photo Credit: Aerial photography of the Memorial Amphitheater and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., April 20, 2022. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / unreleased)