THE GULF WAR: The Home Front : Remembrance: Arlington National

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY is the best known and one of the largest of the more than 100 NATIONAL CEMETERIES in the United States. The final resting place for 216,000 veterans and their dependents, the Arlington cemetery covers about 612 acres in Arlington, Va., across the Potomac River from Washington. The mansion and the estate that became the cemetery were confiscated from the wife of Gen. Robert E. Lee when the Civil War became imminent. By the end of the Civil War, more than 16,000 soldiers were buried on the plantation. Now, more than 3,500 funerals are held in Arlington each year.