The perfect symmetry of alabaster headstones, majestically holding formation along this national cemetery’s pastoral hills, reminds you that our soldiers are sentinels guarding our republic, even in death.

On a sunny spring day, a lone figure held a tiny flag blowing vigorously in the wind as he knelt before a headstone. He held a conversation with a lost service member, perhaps a son or daughter, alternating between amusement and grief.

Taps played from off in the distance.

Only the heartless could fail to be touched by the raw emotion of that moment or by the somber presence of all of these soldiers who died serving our nation through the ages.