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greetings and welcome to the talk with

History Podcast I am your host Scott

here with my wife and historian Jen

hello

on this podcast we talk about history's

continuing impact on us and our personal

journey through YouTube as we continue

to explore record and share our history

walks with you

now Jen

normally we would be doing a five-star

question or review of the week but we've

taken a little bit of time off from the

holidays and we're getting back into it

so I want to give a quick shout out to

one of our podcast listeners and he shot

us an email said hey when are the when's

the podcast coming back out so thank you

to Doug mcliberty yes thank you and

we're hoping we can sync up with him

sometime in the future so quick shout

out and thank you to Doug

now we left off with what I'm going to

call Arlington part one

and we are moving on to Arlington part

two

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and we left it with some follow-up yes

so you and I bantered about the tomb and

the unknown and the guard yes and I

believe that I said I thought the guard

changed every hour and you were saying

every 20 minutes and we discovered it

was actually we were both right yes so

we discovered that actually in the

summer

um from April 1st to September 30th they

actually do change every 30 minutes

and then in the winter October 1st to

March 31st they change every hour and

that's during regular working hours

after Arlington closes

at 7 pm in the summer months and 5 p.m

in the winter months they actually

change every two hours

so it is it is man 24 hours and it has

been manned for 24 hours since 1937.

I actually looked that up uh it they

started guarding the Tomb in 1926

so about 11 years later they started

with 24 hours

um guarding but we do the the 21 seconds

is still 21 steps 21 seconds that all is

still the same um and because it's the

highest honor in the military the 21 gun

salute right and I think that's

something that Doug had actually

mentioned us in his email too so

um again we mentioned it briefly we'll

cover it a little bit more right this

was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is

like a memorial to everybody who never

made it home yes

um so we just wanted to kind of finish

up with a follow-up and

there are a couple things that I saw as

well the weapon will always be facing

the crowd

and they do that to signify it's guarded

oh interesting and it's only unknown

soldiers from World War One World War II

and Korea

they had an unknown soldier from Vietnam

but they were actually able to identify

him oh interesting and his family wanted

him to come home oh I had no idea oh wow

so just those conflicts what were One

World War II in Korea oh how interesting

well

um so Jen you know now that we've kind

of kind of uh done that follow-up

once you tell us who we're going to

start off talking about today well I

really wanted to talk about Medgar Evers

he's somebody who was very influential

to me

and I was very honored to visit him in

Arlington he is part of the tour so when

you take the tram tour they will

point out Medgar Evers grave

and it is right off the main path so

it's easy to find he does have a lot of

stones or people have left some kind of

memorial marker that they visited yeah

so who is remind me who makers so Medgar

Evers was just so influential in the

NAACP that's right it was so we do a

very good three-part series on Emmett

Till and Medgar Evers was so

instrumental in getting some of those

Witnesses during the Emmett Till trial

that's right he came in with the NAACP

and they

went out into the fields and they just

like sharecroppers and started to ask

questions and they were able to get

witnesses to come forward and

basically tell the truth of what

happened that night and without their

work a lot of that story never would

have been uncovered so Medgar Evers

he was in World War II he

does not graduate from high school he

joins the war before he graduates oh wow

and he's actually in Normandy uh until

June of 1944 he comes home finishes high

school goes to college and then he

starts the NAACP chapters in 1954 right

after Brown versus the Board of

Education which is the desegregation of

schools right and so he's very

instrumental in in fighting for that he

starts boycotting restrooms in

Mississippi that have segregated

restrooms they boycott and they don't

boycott the restrooms they boycott the

gas stations or any place of business

that has segregated restrooms he starts

to really fight for that unfortunately

he is murdered in his driveway while his

children are home June 12 1963 and

he gets full military honors he's buried

in Arlington his wife is still alive he

actually has a Navy ship named after him

I think I knew that they finally did

convict his murderer in 1994.

but he's just somebody he just did a lot

of anti-lynching work especially with

Emmett Till and because that's the work

that I did with my Master's Degree I

just really always looked up to Medgar

Evers and he lived in Jackson

Mississippi

so to be able to visit his grave in

Arlington was just an honor for me yeah

now was his one of the ones that was

right next to someone else

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no he's kind of off to the right when

you first get there and you first drive

he's off to the right kind of by Taft I

would say but in the President Taft area

yes okay it's Taft is still across the

main road

Medgar Evers is right off like you could

probably not even get off the tram you

could probably see it from the tram okay

and then uh so we did do a quick drive

by of President Taft's we did so

President Taft is the first president to

be buried in Arlington he's the 27th

president I didn't realize he was the

very first very first because there's

only two presidents in Arlington Taft

and Trinity yeah and so Taft is

in section 30 and he his wife is there

too so Taft's wife is is instrumental in

getting the cherry blossoms that's

capacity she's the one who helps plant

the cherry blossoms and not just like in

Arlington but all around Washington DC

yes with the Japanese Ambassador yeah

they do it together yeah and and for

folks if you've never been to Washington

DC which uh there I I would I will posit

that a lot of people have been if you're

listening to this it's highly likely

that you have been but if you've never

been that's a great time of year to try

and go

um I was lucky enough to go to school in

the in the greater DC area

um not too far away anyways and uh

the the cherry blossoms and actually our

when we were out there it was cherry

blossom season because we we did yeah

you can see this cherry blossoms yeah

there's cherry blossoms at Arlington and

we also did like the Washington mall and

all that stuff yeah the blossoms yes

yeah so that the cherry blossoms was was

pretty cool what's neat is Taft has a

very unique memorial marker and his was

made by a man named Frasier and Frasier

is a pretty famous DC sculptor he's also

he did Robert Todd Lincoln's sarcophagus

he does the sculptor of

Benjamin Franklin at the Franklin

Institute is done by Frasier the the

picture the statue of Theodore Roosevelt

on the horse in front of the American

History Museum that was just removed

that was done by Frasier he did the two

justices in front of the Supreme Court

that was made by Frasier the Alexander

Hamilton in front of the treasury so

he's wow so he's he's done quite a bit

he's pretty famous sculptor of DC so he

has Taft and he has done Robert Todd

Lincoln both in Arlington

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yeah so now Robert Todd Lincoln yes that

that one was an interesting one because

to kind of set the stage here

right we had we had already done like

the Washington Mall tour so obviously

the Lincoln Memorial is a big thing and

we had done we had recorded already

recorded the Lincoln assassination video

um we hadn't published it yet

um

but when we when you started telling me

about Robert Todd Lincoln

talk about someone who has was around

like physically in locations for key

points throughout American history so

tell us a little bit about Robert I like

it uh Robert Todd Lincoln is the oldest

son of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd

Lincoln and actually it's the only son

who survives because all three of their

their children will meet an early end at

different times one dies before he's in

office one dies after he's during office

one dies after office so did you talk

about Abraham Abraham Lincoln yeah so

Robert Todd

he's just I think I learned more about

him being in locations after I worked at

the James Garfield house because I

worked at the James Garfield house in

Ohio James Garfield was the 20th

president but also the second president

to be assassinated and

there's also there's four presidents

who've been assassinated Abraham Lincoln

James Garfield

President William McKinley and John F

Kennedy

and Robert Todd Lincoln

with has a presence in the first three

yeah and literally physically either

where it happens when it happened or

obviously there was his father and he

was at his father's side so when his

father is shot he's actually home at the

white house because he had just traveled

back from Appomattox he was at the

surrender of the Civil War and Lincoln

has killed just within days of that

surrender and Robert Todd had just

traveled home on a wagon he was tired

his parents went to the theater his

brother goes to the theater he stays

home and when he hears that his father's

been shot he makes sure his brother gets

home and then he goes to the

The Boarding House the Peterson boarding

house and he's with his father when he

passes

then

when James Garfield is President James

Garfield makes him his Secretary of War

and he's with him James Garfield is

going to the train station to convalesce

with his wife who is recovering from

sickness and where was he again do you

see okay it's in Washington DC so it's

at the train station in DC it's now

where the I think it's the National

Portrait Gallery is there now that's

right where the marker is and there's

only two little markers on the mall that

kind of tell you that Garfield was

assassinated here there's no Mark yeah

what actually happened would be on the

road and so they they think it'd be

dangerous for tourists to know exactly

where it would be because they would run

out into the road but in our Garfield

video we cut to that yeah so we talk

about that a little bit because there

are people who are upset that Garfield

has no recognition of that but Robert

Todd Lincoln was with him at the train

station he was taking him on the train

like and someone jumped out and Yeah

Charles Godot shoots him and Robert Todd

Lincoln I think he's instrumental in

getting the gun away and I think he

testifies as well in gudo's trial but

he's there so that's number two that's

number two and then McKinley which who's

in Buffalo New York for the Pan American

Exposition he's greeting people in the

Hall of music and he's standing outside

the door he's there with him and he's

standing outside the door when he's shot

by shalgas and so Robert Lincoln just I

think we we kind of make fun of it but

he also refuses any formal invitation

after the future yeah in the future he's

basically like listen guys you don't

want me around presidents because for

some reason they tend to get shy

he is seeing he does do he does come to

another public event when the Lincoln

Memorial is dedicated and actually it's

Taft who dedicates it oh wow yeah that's

right and he does he does

um he is present for that so he

yeah it comes out of hiding he risks it

sure and everything seems goes okay but

he's buried in Arlington with his wife

and his son his son dies young as well

and they're in a sarcophagus all

together it's kind of that's another one

that's kind of a path off to the side

that's where I'm breathing heavy because

it's hard to find it's off to the side

and it's kind of guarded with a lot of

trees and shrouds so you have to really

know where it is

and uh but it's it's it's beautiful the

sarcophagus is beautiful and it has his

name on one side and his wife and son

yeah and learning the history around him

was was super super interesting

especially him being present for 75

percent of the in assassinations of

presidential assassinations in our

history we also talk about that when

Arlington has actually paid for in full

and

America has given the money to the Lee

family to actually own it outright it's

Robert Todd Lincoln that gets the actual

Deed from them because at the time he's

again the Secretary of War so he gets

that deed so it's very interesting that

he receives that deed for the cemetery

that basically starts because of the

Civil War that his father was President

yeah I mean he had he had some pretty

key roles he was he's a larger character

in history in our history than I think a

lot of people realize yes and he's

depicted as a Joseph Gordon-Levitt oh

that's right Lincoln yeah yeah and you

love you love Joseph Gordon I do I think

he's a great actor and I think he does a

very good job of playing him and showing

that kind of conflict where he wants to

fights he wants to join the war he wants

to be a help to his father but his

father you know they've lost children

his mother is very frail mentally and so

Lincoln wants to also keep him safe and

protect him as well so

there's kind of that conflict that's

going on in Robert Todd's life

especially taking care of his mother he

will take care of his mother until she

dies so but if you ever see Lincoln I

think it's a great depiction of the 16th

president yeah yeah that's a good one so

who's uh who who are we visiting after

that

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so I definitely wanted to we'd go to

Glenn Miller's grave that was a cool one

so I am a huge Glenn Miller fan I used

to listen to his music in college while

I would study and it was just an honor

to visit his grave now he has a memorial

he doesn't actually have a grave there

are a couple memorials since his body

was never recovered his body was never

recovered and they don't actually

they they don't actually know quite what

happened wasn't he like traveling by air

and lost over they lost contact with

their plane so more most more than

likely most likely it crashed in the

water yeah and you I think you do a

pretty good job about talking in the

video of like hey you know he was

traveling around Europe yes he did 35

bases in one month so Glenn Miller goes

into the military as a musician because

he's too old to fight he's 40. and so

they come in for morale play for the

troops in World War II more than happy

to do that yes World War II and

he loves that so he's going around and

Glenn Miller at the time you have to

realize he was like a best-selling

recording artist from 1939 to 1942. in

four years he had 16 number one hits

holy cow so if you think in the mood

Moonlight Serenade yeah well and there's

it's funny you mentioned Glenn Miller

because even for me I don't know if I've

ever mentioned this to you before for me

when my youngest Years A lot of people

who know me personally I was a gymnast

all growing up and actually in my very

first gymnastics center in central

California we would go around and

perform for schools and that was one of

the songs was a Glenn Miller song oh

really it was a it was very like big

band right you know very big band type

style and there's a bunch of you know

kids doing gymnastics and stuff like

that so so we would do something like

that

um and also one of the things I think

that attached you to Glenn Miller if I

remember right was Jimmy Stewart yes

played him in a movie it's fantastic if

you've never seen The Glenn Miller Story

1950 three Jimmy Stewart plays him and I

think Jimmy Stewart even learned how to

play some instruments to play him

because Glenn Glenn Miller played a

couple different instruments including

the trombone and the piano and I just

think he looks like him he kind of

embodies the character very well and

it's just a great story great depiction

when we go to the when we went to the

Jimmy Stewart Museum they had his

costume yeah that's right from that

movie so if you get a chance to check

that out that was really neat but yeah

it was a foggy day December 15 1944 he

was this kind of came out later but he

was trying to rush to get to a party for

Eisenhower because Eisenhower just was

getting promoted and it was cold and

they think that they froze the fuel

intakes and they think they crashed in

the English Channel yeah so another

interesting thing that unless you're you

have been in the Navy you may not know

this but even today to come into the

Navy as a musician isn't incredibly

Difficult by today's standards you have

to unless you're a singer and you're an

out of this world singer which we

actually know some yes

um

you actually have to be able to play

like two or three instruments oftentimes

you need to be able to read music I mean

you can't be just a high school hobbyist

and come into the Navy as a musician so

I think it's kind of neat to hear that

you know I don't I'm pretty sure he

probably didn't come into the Navy as a

musician but he came into the service as

a musician because all the services that

you know they're musicians and the

musicians across all services are

incredibly talented so it was cool to

see that the Glenn Miller one yeah and

this music still stands to test the time

and so I I listened to him in college I

loved his CD at the time

but um another one that's close is Joe

Lewis

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so we had talked a little bit about Lee

Marvin in the first podcast about

Arlington and right beside Lee Marvin is

Joe Lewis and you won't miss that marker

I mean it's right next to it and it's

big and it's pink and it has a depiction

of him and bronze in his boxing with his

fists up and and it says Joe Lewis on it

so you won't miss it it's actually

easier to spot the Joe Lewis one than

the Lee Marvin one so if you go looking

for either of those look for the Joe

Lewis one and leave Marvin is is next to

that and it's right by the Tomb of the

Unknown and I think it's also pointed

out on the tram but Joe Lewis uh was a

heavyweight champion of the world 1937

to 1949 and we we kind of joke about him

because of coming to America yes I put a

clip in there because that was my first

uh introduction to Joe Lewis was coming

to America and they're talking about

boxers yeah the Eddie Murphy movie if

nobody's ever seen it go look it up it's

absolutely they're arguing boxes in the

barbershop just like old men they're

depicting old men like what would old

men argue about they're arguing about

who is the best boxer of all time right

right and of course none of these men

some of these men have faced each other

but none of them have all faced each

other so in time who was the best and

Joe Lewis comes up and so his grave is

in Arlington because he was in the army

during World War II he served from 1942

to 1945.

he had 25 title fights and like I said

he was the heavyweight champion of the

world

he retires and then tries to make a

comeback but he's not successful he

retires at 51 and then you know just

trying to make a comeback after 51. he's

understandably not successful but yeah

he's buried in Arlington he was from

Alabama

yeah I mean and part of the cool thing

for me is someone who doesn't

follow a lot of this stuff is is when

I'm researching

folks like Joe Lewis or Glenn Miller and

I'm seeing kind of their their resume

right their life in a snapshot I mean

guys like Joe Lewis I mean absolutely

incredible absolutely and just tough

yeah just one of those people who just

all around is an overachiever if you can

imagine it's like a really tough person

but he has

we had talked about not all markers in

Arlington are the same and it's

interesting that how different some are

and his is one that is it's it's a pink

marble so it is it's just yeah it stands

very different yeah no it definitely

stands out but when you talk about the

differences you know we talk about the

two presidents that are there and of

course Kennedy's

Kennedy's is a big one right the Eternal

Flame this is the most visited grave in

Arlington and he had visited Arlington a

couple months before he died and because

you yeah that's right you told me he had

he didn't want to be buried there

initially well he he just never thought

about it he was visiting I mean he was

young so he's not thinking about his

mortality and he said this I could see

myself spending eternity here he says

that that's crazy so then when he is

assassinated his his wife wants him

buried at Arlington and she wants

something unique and she had remembered

a flame an eternal flame in Greece on

one of their visits so she had thought

this would be a great way to honor him

to give him an eternal flame so Robert I

John F Kennedy has an eternal flame

right by his grave and he's been moved a

couple times because as family have

passed they have kind of moved his grave

and there are pictures Robert

um Robert was Gerald Kennedy yeah I I

honestly it's hard for me to keep track

of okay I think it's Robert Fitzgerald

Kennedy he would be there when they

would move his grave at night oh okay so

there's pictures you can find of him

standing there when they would move his

brother's grave and then when Robert is

assassinated he's buried there Ted is

there of course Jackie O was there

um his

his children that were that died very

young are there but his son JFK Jr is

actually

um he was cremated and bear and spread

over the ocean okay yeah and the setting

of that one right and again I hadn't

really known much about it other than he

was there

um the setting is just it's beautiful

it's beautiful it's a beautiful spot to

visit it's it's large right it's it's a

it's a large space

um and especially with when we were

there with the uh the cherry blossoms it

was it was a cool one to do that's

that's a kind of a must visit if you're

there it's an honor he's the 35th

president and I always you know I always

look up to John F Kennedy because he

served in the Navy and he has that great

line I can always look back on my life

with pride and say I served in the

United States Navy so I I love that

about him

we've got more Arlington videos that

we've done we we do and we'll do some

more videos because we've we went back

and we spent more time with more

connection to

literature and media and other

influencers and we've done another video

so we'll we'll do another part we'll do

some more Arlington podcast but we

appreciate everybody uh for sticking

with us for this this two-part podcast

series on Arlington National Cemetery

um and as I said on the last podcast as

you can tell by the stories that we've

covered and how much we've is there's a

talk about we've only scratched the

surface and we just mentioned another

video that we did with more Larger than

Life characters

um so thank you again for listening to

the talk with History Podcast and please

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