The Arlington National Cemetery, located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va., has become the final resting place for thousands of Americans who were killed in war or who died while in the service of their country. Established in 1864, the 612-acre site also contains the Tomb of the Unknowns, the Confederate Monument, and the Custis-Lee mansion. The site was purchased by the government at public auction for use as a burial ground following tax default by Robert E. Lee after he left to join the Confederacy.
Among the many famous persons buried there are presidents Taft and Kennedy and generals Pershing and Marshall. Also resting here are two Italians and a German who died of natural causes as prisoners of war in the U.S as well as prizefighter Joe Louis, astronaut Virgil (Gus) Grissom, William Jennings Byran, and the remains of the seven Challenger crewmembers. Of the 201,000 interred 7,725 are unknowns, mainly from the Civil War.
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