[PW] Re: U.S. flag never at half-mast

[SHORE,J]

A little more information on Arlington National Cemetery, 
from 
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/visitor_information/Woodhull_Memorial_Flagstaff.html 
:

The Woodhull flagpole rises 90 feet above the south lawn 
of the Memorial Amphitheater and is one of only two 
flagpoles located in Arlington National Cemetery. The 
other stands in front of Arlington House. Erected in 1924, 
the Woodhull flagpole is dedicated to the memory of 
Commander Maxwell Woodhull, who served in the United 
States Navy from 1813 to 1863.

The flags on the Woodhull flagpole and the Arlington House 
flagpole fly at half-staff, commencing one-half hour 
before the first burial service of the day. They remain at 
half-staff until one-half hour after the last service.

And from the general FAQ page ( 
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/visitor_information/anc_facts.html 
):

The flags in Arlington National Cemetery are flown at 
half-staff from a half hour before the first funeral until 
a half hour after the last funeral each day. Funerals are 
normally conducted five days a week, excluding weekends.

 From the Fort McPherson National Cemetery site 
(http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/ftmcpherson.asp ):

The flag of our Nation flies in silent vigil 24 hours a 
day over the orderly rows of white marble monuments here 
at Fort McPherson National Cemetery. The flag is lowered 
to half-mast ½ hour before the first service of the day 
and remains there until ½ hour after the last service of 
the day. On Memorial Day, the flag is lowered to 
half-staff until noon in respect to all our honored dead.

I reviewed a number of other National Cemeteries' sites 
and came across this note on the Massachusetts National 
Cemetery
site (http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/massachuetts.asp 
):
After the last interment of the day, when the flag is 
raised to full staff, TAPS is rendered on the AMVETS 
carillon system to honor all veterans interred that day.

It appears to me that all National Cemeteries follow this 
same procedure, so they are a qualified answer.


I've also perused a number of pictures of the USS Arizona 
National Memorial http://www.nps.gov/usar/ all of them 
clearly show the flag at the top of the staff/mast.

J.

J. Shore
Systems Librarian - MEDLINE Quality Assurance
National Library of Medicine
Bethesda, MD, USA

shorej at cablespeed.com