A firing party

Biography of James Parks

The first graves in Arlington National Cemetery were dug by James Parks, a former Arlington Estate slave. Parks was freed in 1862 under the terms of the will of his former owner, George Washington Parke Custis. He still lived on Arlington Estate when Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton signed the orders designating Arlington as a military burial ground. Parks served in the U.S. Army from 1861 to 1929 by working as a grave digger and maintenance man for the cemetery. When James Parks died on Aug. 21, 1929, Secretary of War Stanton granted special permission for him to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. James Parks is the only person buried in Arlington National Cemetery who was born on the property (1843). He is buried near Selfridge Gate (West Gate) in Section 15, Grave 2 (Grid G-26).

SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY

Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated on June 6, 1968, after winning the California Democratic Primary for President. He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery on the evening of June 8, 1968. He is interred in Section 45, near the grave of his brother, President John F. Kennedy. Senator Kennedy was eligible for interment in Arlington National Cemetery because he had served as the Attorney General in his brother’s administration and had served honorably in the United States Navy during the late World War II. A reflecting pool with excerpts from speeches he gave highlights the gravesite, his grave is marked by a simple white wooden cross and a marble footstone.

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