National Cemeteries
Posted by Gary O'Rielly on Mar 14, 2017
Our program on March 10th was all about our National Cemeteries provided by Hospital Corpsman Joe Paterniti. A National Cemetery is generally a military cemetery containing the graves of our United States military personnel, veterans and their spouses but isn't exclusively so. We learned that there are 147 National Cemeteries across the county with most being administered by the Veterans Administration. The goal is to have a National Cemetery with 1-2 hours of our citizens. We know, that the best known National Cemetery is the Arlington National Cemetery located just outside of Washington DC in Virginia.
Ironically, the site of the Arlington National Cemetery was purchased in 1802 by George Washington Parke Curtis the grandson of Martha Washington. The land passed onto to Custis daughter, Mary Anna who had married Unites States Army officer Robert E. Lee. Arlington National Cemetery is composed of 624 acres, and was established on May 13, 1864 and currently contains over 400,000 graves.
Joe Paterniti is a reservist serving our country all over the world including combat situations in Iraq. His current rank is Hospital Corpsman with a warfare specialty in Marine Corps Field Medicine. When he has been home, he has served as the non-medical care manager for the Wounded Warrior Project and currently serves as part of the Navy's Honor Guard, performing funeral honors at Tahoma National Cemetery.
Tahoma National Cemetery in Maple Valley encompasses 158.3 acres with 41,000 graves sites. Visiting hours are from sunrise to sunset. Burial ceremonies include the opening and closing of the grave or burial of the cremated remains or placement in above ground vault also called a columbarium. A government furnished grave liner, perpetual care of the grave site, a headstone or marker with proper inscription and a burial flag. No burials are performed on weekends or holidays. The National Cemeteries are closed on all holidays except on Veterans and Memorial Days.
When he's not at Tahoma Cemetery, Joe is a firefighter paramedic with the Everett Fire Department. And, two days after his presentation to our Club, he climbed the Columbia Tower in full firefighter gear raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He did it in 21 minutes! Congratulations, Joe.
Joe, thanks for your continued service and for bringing us so much information on our National Cemeteries.
