redskins38
Newly Enlightened
Ive always wondred, do the guards of the tomb have live ammunition in their rifles? If they do, are they given the right to use deadly force to protect the tomb?
I'm not sure, but I've read that Lincoln was so POed at Lee that he started burying war dead there to insure that Lee would never come back to his pre-war home. Nothing would suprise me.eluminator said:I don't like the way the feds got that land though. It was Robert E. Lee's home. It was occupied by federal troops and there was a "wartime law" requiring owners of occupied property to show up in person to pay their taxes. When Lee didn't show up, the land was confiscated for non-payment. They immediately started burying dead soldiers there. There were a lot of dead soldiers in that war...
LifeNRA said:So the military can defend a dead man with a loaded gun but DC citizens cannot defend their loved ones with the same? :thinking:
Washington DC, sounds about right.
Edit to add: No disrespct meant to the soldier by calling him a dead man. I know he is much more than just a dead man.
Lee1959 said:Arlington National Cemetary is one place every American should vist, it is quite amazing.
LowBat said:I've never been to Arlington, but I've visited the U.S. cemetery in Normandy, France in 1994 at the 50th anniversary of d-day. It was a very emotional experience. My mother, who was a Marine during WWII, was in tears as we walked along the rows. A few years later the same cemetery was shown in the opening and closing shots of "Saving Private Ryan", and again it brought me to tears.
bwaites said:Arlington was never owned by Robert E. Lee, but was his wifes, a daughter of George Washingtons stepson.
It's a bit more complicated than that, but it was initially taken by the federal government for taxes as noted above.
Then, Robert E Lee's son sued because it had been misappropriated and won. The Federal Government eventually bought it back for $150,000 and it then developed into what we know today.
There is a good history on the official Web site.
Few remember that Lee was actually offered command of the Union Army and turned it down to stay in his beloved Virginia. He was the only General that Lincoln truly respected as a fighting man until Grant came along.
Bill