We've both been reading books on wars lately, so H and I decided to walk to Arlington Nat'l Cemetery and find the tombstones of a couple of folks we've been reading about. In my format incarnation as a DC Tour Guide, I used to take busloads of kids to the Cemetery. But since then I haven't gone, mainly because if you're just hitting the Kennedy grave and the Tomb of the Unknowns, once is enough.

But if you get off the tourist path, the Cemetery is less frantic and very peaceful. And because it was Memorial Day, flags decorate every marker. Looking for something makes the trip a bit of an adventure. H did some research beforehand and found the marker numbers for of Dieter Dengler and Michael Strank.

Dieter Dengler was the subject of a couple of films by Werner Hertzog (Little Dieter Needs to Fly and Rescue Dawn).

Michael Strank is one of the Marines depicted on the Iwo Jima Memorial. He was killed on Iwo Jima a few days after the photo was taken