Symmetrical rows of identical headstones convey concepts of order and equality. Marble stones have replaced transient human flesh, symbolic of individual soldiers' sacrifice of one short life for the greater, enduring nation. This is the gift we have been given, and the act which we, as citizens, are expected to repeat when called. We are reminded that death is the cost we pay for Liberty. It has been said that the United States truly emerged as one unified nation only after the end of the Civil War, almost 100 years after its founding.
National cemeteries serve to reinforce that concept.
Liberty and Sacrifice have traveled from the minds of individuals, to concrete presence in the landscape, to the minds of individuals in later times. Today we take the national cemetery landscape for granted as if it has always been an integral part of our culture. And so its purpose is fulfilled. Photo by Leah W. Jewett, 2000. Arlington National Cemetery.