Chaplains Hill Preview

This tour contains three types of stops: HONOR stops mark the gravesites of specific individuals. REMEMBER stops commemorate events, ideas, or groups of people. EXPLORE stops invite you to discover what this history means to you.

Military service, especially in combat, can bring individuals to the extremes of human experience, including severe stress and danger, chaos and loss, and risk of injury or death. In such circumstances, many people seek support and comfort from their religious faith.

Because the free exercise of religion is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, the U.S. military employs chaplains to meet service members’ spiritual needs. Chaplains are active-duty service members who are also ordained, or credentialed, by their religious organization. In times of peace, chaplains conduct religious services (including the funerals held here at Arlington) and provide spiritual counseling. In times of war, they serve as non-combatant members of military units, providing combat stress support and performing rites and rituals for the injured and dying. Each chaplain represents his or her own faith group, but also works to support all service members’ right to practice, or not practice, their beliefs. Individually and through the Department of Defense Armed Force Chaplains Board, chaplains also advise military leadership on religious, ethical, and moral matters.

In Section 2, atop a rising slope, stands Chaplains Hill, the resting place of numerous military chaplains. However, not every chaplain memorialized on Chaplains Hill is buried at the cemetery. Atop the hill stand four monuments that honor 254 chaplains, representing various faiths, who were killed in the line of duty. The monuments memorialize the chaplains’ dedication to faith and the free exercise of religion in the armed forces.

As you walk through the cemetery, look for the different symbols engraved on the government-provided headstones. These symbols, called emblems of belief, are the most common image on government headstones at Arlington.

• First chief of chaplains of the U.S. Army
• Presided over the funeral of the Unknown Soldier of World War I

After World War I, the remains of thousands of service members from the various combatant nations could not be identified. To honor their unknown soldiers, in 1920, Great Britain and France each selected one set of unidentified remains to be buried in a tomb of honor. The British and French staged elaborate funerals for their newly selected unknown soldiers and used the funeral as a way to honor all of their nation’s war dead.

Inspired by these events, in 1921 the U.S. Congress approved a joint resolution that provided for a single unidentified American service member to be brought back to the United States and buried at a tomb constructed in Arlington National Cemetery. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier would represent all missing and unknown service members who sacrificed their lives for the United States in World War I. It would also function as a central place for Americans to mourn all of the war dead.

• First Roman Catholic priest appointed Army Chief of Chaplains
• Professionalized the Army Chaplain Corps during World War II

• Served on the frontlines of World War II and Korean War
• Awarded Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Silver Star for recovering American casualties under fire

Chaplains play unique roles within the military community. While they conduct worship services and perform religious rites, they also regularly minister to individuals outside of their own faiths. Military chaplaincy has been described as a “ministry of presence,” meaning that chaplains must be available to support service members in their time of need, regardless of their spiritual affiliations. U.S. Army Chaplain Joshua T. Morris recalls being told in his training that he would “be where the soldiers were; live as the soldiers lived; suffer as the soldiers suffered.” Chaplain Morris served in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

• First Navy chaplain to achieve the permanent rank of rear admiral
• Wrote "The Midshipman Prayer" that is used at the U.S. Naval Academy chapel

• Received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Vietnam War.

• First Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Navy
• Participated in the burial of the Unknown Soldier of World War I

You've reached the end of the Chaplains Hill Walking Tour. We hope you enjoyed your time exploring the cemetery and learning about military chaplains' service.

You can explore additional content and resources on the Arlington National Cemetery Education Program website, or find more tours through Arlington National Cemetery's STQRY.