Who's Who of Arlington Cemetery Quiz

Answer: Joe Louis

Joe Louis was born Joseph Louis Barrow on May 13, 1914 in LaFayette, Alabama. He started his amateur boxing career during the 1930s. When he turned to professional boxing, he had an amateur record of fifty wins, and four losses, with forty-three knockouts.

When Joe Louis moved to professional boxing, he fought in sixty-nine pro fights and only had three losses. He had fifty-two knockouts, and held the heavyweight championship from 1937 to 1949, longer than any boxer in the 20th century. Louis died in 1981 at the age of 66. Ronald Regan waived the eligibility rules for burial at Arlington National Cemetery for him. Louis was buried there on April 21, 1981.

Answer: Medgar Evers

Medgar Evers was a WWII veteran. When he returned from the war, he was struck by the racism in his home state of Mississippi where many things were very segregated. That had not been the case in many of the foreign countries where he'd been during the war.

He worked with the NAACP to try to advance desegregation in the south. He was very active in desegregating schools, public facilities, and many other aspects of the segregated society that he found himself in. On June 12, 1963, he was assassinated by a white supremacist outside his home. Having reached the rank of sergeant during the war, he was given a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery.

Answer: Helen Herron Taft

William Howard Taft died in 1930, at which time he became the first president to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. When his wife passed away in 1943, she was laid to rest beside her husband, thus becoming the first First Lady to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

This set a precedent for years later when Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was buried next to her husband John F. Kennedy when she passed away in 1994. As of the end of the 20th century, Taft and Kennedy are the only two US presidents to be buried at Arlington.

Answer: Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.

There are graves for all four Kennedy brothers in Section 45 at Arlington National Cemetery. They were each eligible for burial in the military cemetery because each had served their country in the military. Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. was a US Navy pilot during WWII.

He was shot down and his remains were never recovered, so although there is a grave with a memorial marker, there are no remains buried there for him.

Answer: Yes

After graduating from West Point in 1842, Doubleday continued to serve in the US Army from 1842-1873, eventually reaching the rank of Major General. He fired the first cannon shot in defence of Fort Sumter, the first battle of the US Civil War. He was also instrumental in helping the Union soldiers win a victory at Gettysburg.

After the Civil War, he was granted a patent for a cable car system in San Francisco, one that is still used today. Although he is often credited with inventing the game of baseball, he never made that claim while he was alive, so this is in dispute. Doubleday passed away in 1893 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Answer: John Glenn

John Glenn was a member of the US military where he completed 59 combat missions in WWII and 90 combat missions in Korea. In 1957, after the Korean War, he became a test pilot, and was the first pilot to fly a transcontinental supersonic flight in 1957.

At that point, he went from Los Alamitos, California to Floyd Bennett Field, New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes. He became an astronaut with NASA's Project Mercury. As a member of that project, he became the first American to orbit the earth on February 10th, 1962.

In 1988, he went back into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, becoming the oldest person ever to go to space at that point. He was 77 years old. When he passed away in 2016, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery because of his long and illustrious military career.

Answer: Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller was a very well-established musician in 1942 when he convinced the US Army to accept him. He had many notable hits from 1939-1942 including "Pennsylvania 6-5000", "Moonlight Serenade", and "Chattanooga Choo Choo". Apparently, wanted to sign up with the Army to help to modernize the Army band.

He was accepted, and did some modernization of the Army bands, but he also served to entertain the troops who were overseas. Unfortunately, his plane went missing over the English Channel and his remains were never recovered.

However, he has a headstone at Arlington National Cemetery in honour of his memory.

Answer: Audie Murphy

Audie Murphy enlisted in the US Army when he was 17 years old. With the help of his sister, he falsified his birth certificate so the Army would accept him. He first saw action in Italy in 1943. By the end of the war, he had received every medal for valour that the US had available.

He also received bravery medals from Belgium and France. When he returned to the US after the war, he starred in many movies, mostly Westerns. He died in a plane crash in 1971 and was given a military funeral in Arlington National Cemetery.

Answer: She is buried next to her third husband who was a US Air Force veteran

O'Hara is known for her roles in "Miracle on 34th Street", "The Parent Trap", "McLintock", "Rio Grande", "How Green Was My Valley" and many other popular movies. She was married three times. Her third husband was Brigadier General Charles F. Blair Jr., a member of the US Air Force.

When he passed away in 1978, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. O'Hara never remarried, and when she died in 2015, she was buried beside him.

Answer: True

Actor Lee Marvin enlisted with the US Marine Corps during WWII. There, he was trained as a sniper. Unfortunately, he was shot in the spine during the Battle of Saipan. He spent about a year recovering before he worked his way into acting. After starting with smaller roles, he ended up starring in films such as "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", "The Dirty Dozen", "The Killers", and "Cat Ballou".

When he passed away in 1987, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.