About 24 burials take place each weekday at Arlington National Cemetery.

The tomb of Robert Todd Lincoln, the only child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to survive into adulthood. The son of the 16th president had a distinguished career in the public and private sectors.

Robert Todd Lincoln interrupted his studies at Harvard to serve as a captain on the staff of General U. S. Grant.

Robert, a lawyer like his father, also became president -- of the Pullman Company.

Looking west toward William Howard Taft's grave site. Taft was not a war veteran but was the nation's 27th commander in chief. His father, Alphonso, served as secretary of war under President Ulysses S. Grant.

William Howard Taft is one of two former presidents buried at Arlington.

Looking northeast down Custis Walk.

Pictured is the Visitors Center, across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial.

Along Roosevelt Drive near the Women's Memorial, a majestic oak tree stands watch over graves.

The United States has more than 100 national cemeteries, but Arlington is the most famous. Its east-facing slopes hold the remains of veterans of every U.S. war, including the Tomb of the Unknowns.

What unites the memory of the almost 300,000 men and women buried at Arlington is one great distinction -- service to their country. "To each one, no matter what rank or station, whether decorated hero or unknown, belongs a place of honor" (from the Arlington National Cemetery brochure).

The remains of John F. Kennedy, a World War II veteran and the 35th president of the United States, are marked by an eternal flame.

Along with John F. Kennedy's remains are those of his wife Jacqueline and two of their children.

The remains of Robert F. Kennedy, the Kennedy administration's attorney general (and later a U.S. senator), are interred nearby. RFK interrupted his studies at Harvard to serve in the Navy during World War II.

Patrick Kennedy's gravestone.

John F. Kennedy's gravestone.

Jacqueline Kennedy's gravestone.

An unnamed daughter's gravestone.

The eternal flame.

Passages drawn mostly from JFK's Inaugural Address are memorialized around the Kennedy gravesite.

The Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol, seen on the horizon, are across the Potomac River, east of Arlington National Cemetery

More of JFK's words memorialized.

Perhaps the most famous words spoken by JFK, inspired by a passage from Orestes Brownson.

The endless rows of gravestones call to mind what G. K. Chesterton called "the democracy of the Dead." Do we, the living, honor their sacrifice?

Uphill view of Arlington House. The former home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee is now a memorial. In the middle ground, to the right of the tall tree, is the retaining wall marking the Kennedys' gravesite.