Writer finds relative at Arlington
STUDENT PAYS RESPECT TO FAMILY MEMBER WHO SERVED IN VIETNAM
STORY AND PHOTOS BY TRAVIS DAVID V WHITTAKER
W ith m a n y s ig h ts and sou n d s th a t
resonate throughout our nation’ s capital,
one of the best sights is on the Virginia
side of the Potomac River, one mile west of
the Lincoln Memorial. Many people have
been laid to rest there at the historical
landmark, Arlington National Cemetery.
A rlin g to n N atio n al C em etery w as
founded on May 13,1864. Currently the
cem etery has 400,000 gravesites on the
624-acre property. It will expand over the
next few years.
For just a few bucks, I was able to take
th e M etro, th e subw ay system in the
W ashingtonr D.C. area, to the cemetery.
Arriving late in the afternoon, I only had
a few hours to w alk around and see what
I wanted since the park closed at 5 p.m.
I decided to narrow it down to the two
•memorials that I wanted to see the most:
the Tomb o f the Unknown Soldier and
the gravesite w here a fa m ily member*
was laid to rest.
As I was walking up the hill towards the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I started
hearing noise in the distance. The wind
started to blow, and it becam e hard to
hear. Once I got to the top of the hill, I
discovered that th ey w ere perform ing
“ The Changing of the Guard.”
8 Clackamas Print NOVEMBER 2,2016 thedackamasprint.com
The 3rd U .S, In fa n try R egim en t,
traditionally known as “ the old guard,”
performs “ The Changing o f the Guard” at
the Tomb o f the Unknown Soldier.
As I stood and watched the changing
of the colors, I was moved w ith em otion.
I too k pictures o f th e color guard and
wrote down notes about the em otions of
the approxim ately 150 others who stood
there w atching w ith m e,
I could view the downtown portion of
W ashington, D.C,, and I could see the
sadness and tears in the eyes of the people
who were there.
Once the ceremony ended, Iwent to find
m y fam ily m em ber’ s grave. I was able to
obtain some o f the inform ation ! needed
from the main desk, took a picture of the
map of where to go and headed that way.
Once I got closer, I forgot w here exactly
what his gravesite number was. I knew
that he w as located in section 60 or 6 5 .1
downloaded the ANC locater app on my
phone and typed in the inform ation that
was needed to get an exact location once
again along w ith attem p tin g to photo
m atch a picture that I had.
While on the phone w ith m y aunt I was
able to find the gravesite of m y fam ily
member Capt. Mason Burnham, who was
in the Air Force during the Vietnam War.
His location of burial is in section 60,
gravesite num ber 7,934-
In 1972 during the Vietnam War, both
Burnham and Maj. Thomas H. Amos were
assigned to the 366th tactical fighter wing
to do a night escort mission. Am os was
the pilot and Burnham was the navigator
of the F-4D Phantom Plane. While flying .
off of the coast near the Ho Chi Minh Trail,
th ey lost radio contact and even tu ally
crashed, according to th e cem etery ’ s
website.
Neither of their bodies were found until
1989.
In 1998 th e U.S. A ir Force w as able
to recover enough bone fragm ents and
inform ation to identify both Burnham
and Amos.
B urnham w as buried at A rlin g ton
National Cem etery in on May 25,1999.
Overall, it w as a great experience to,
go to Arlington and to interact w ith the
others who were there. I enjoyed being
able to visit the gravesite of a relative, who
fought for our country. For any United
States history nut this is one of the many
places that you have to v isit and w alk
through if you get a,chance to visit the
W ashington D.C. area in the future.
Bottom left: Arlington Cemetery has
4Q0,000 gravesites.
Below: The Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier overlooks Washington, D.C.
Bottom right: Capt. Mason Burnham
and Maj. Thomas Amos died in 1972.