Just life

I am not sure I believe in coincidence, but I think I believe more in things that come together in your life to tell you something. Most times I am not sure what I am being told, so I do nothing. Other times, I understand and do what I think I understand what I am being told. Today two things came together in an odd way that I know means something.

I was given a book to read called "Gods and Generals" by Jeff Shaara. It is an historical novel based on real people and places. The four main characters are Robert E. Lee, Winfield Scott Hancock, Thomas Jonathan Jackson and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. All real people from the Civil War. Lee, being the most well known to me. I have just finished reading about his father-in-law dying and Lee being left to rebuild his estate, George Washington Parke Custis had built as a museum to his famous grandmother and grandfather. I guess it was in pretty sad shape when Lee came home from Texas before the Civil War broke out. So he built it back into a working plantation complete with slaves and cotton.

Just now at lunch, I picked up a National Geographic to read while eating. In it is an article about Arlington National Cemetary in this article I read that William Henry Christman, age 21 was the first to be buried here in 1864. Arlington had recently be designated a burial ground from land confiscated from the estate of Robert E. Lee. The same land Lee had come home to rebuild in 1858 was taken from his family as punishment for what many believed to be treason. By the end of the war the following year 16,000 soldiers would follow William to Arlington.

I learned that there are more than 300,000 buried at Arlington now. During the Vietnam war there were as many as 47 funerals a day. Section 27 houses the graves of slaves buried around the Freedman's Village that was gone by 1900, but the graves remain. Of the 184 victims killed at the Pentagon on September 11th, 64 are buried here. That there are 50 buglers to play Taps that one final time. That every day maps and time tables are posted to keep track of the funerals of the day, so maintenace workers can stay out of sight of the dead and their mourners.

White marble is the only type of headstone. It is 24 inches above ground, thirteen inches wide and four inches thick. You are limited to 12 lines, 15 charaters per line and a spiritual symbol. 180 characters to tell a life time.

But what I read that disturbs me most is that Arlington is running out of space. It is estimated that at the current rate, Arlington will be out of space by 2060. I do not mean that I want more space, it bothers me because we should be out of space because there are no more dead to put in the ground in Section 60 where 1 out of every 10 fallen troops from Iraq and Afghanistan are laid to rest.

I cried reading this article because how many more 180 character life times are we going to have to put on those white marble markers before we all stand up and say "No more. No more. No more".

Well, like I said, sometimes I am not sure what I am being told. Today I know what it means. Stand up and shout -- NO MORE!