From Patrick Henry to Robert E. Lee, heroes have made Virginia their home for centuries. Virginians laid the foundation for an experiment in democracy that has survived and thrived for more than two centuries, thanks to those ready to defend it. During the Civil War, Northern Virginia saw more conflict than any other state in the Confederacy or the Union.

While most travelers are fascinated by the extensive Colonial and Civil War history in the region, Contributing Editor Sharon Cavileer suggests that visitors can march with heroes along an emerging military history corridor right in the heart of Northern Virginia, Washington, DC's bedroom community. Many sites, just minutes from Washington's monuments, are familiar and beloved. Others are waiting to be discovered.

From the time the Union Army dug graves in Mrs. Lee's rose garden, Northern Virginia has paid a special homage to servicemen and women. The graves at the Lee-Custis mansion were the beginning of what would become Arlington National Cemetery. This is the premier site for contemplating the sacrifices of America's heroes. On a weekday, visitors may see the black, horse-drawn caisson and hear a lone bugler's mournful rendition of taps as another soldier is laid to rest in Virginia soil.

Arlington National Cemetery is actually a vast collection of military monuments and memorials. It's a place to pause and reflect that freedom is often paid for by ordinary citizens who answered their country's call. Plan on spending a day to see it all: the USS Maine Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknowns, the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial.

New memorial honors women

The newest addition to Arlington's offerings is the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. Although women didn't serve officially until the 20th century, thousands worked alongside the military. The Army Nurse Corps, established in l901, was the first official women's military service. Women later served in the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), Women's Army Corps (WAC), Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), and Cadet Nurses. Sharon urges that you not miss the Hall of Honor that pays tribute to servicewomen killed in the line of duty.

Adjacent to the cemetery is the US Army's Old Guard Museum at Fort Myer. Founded in 1784, the Army's oldest active infantry regiment perform ceremonial duties in and around Washington, DC. Its members provide the sentinels at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, provide the caissons and horses at Arlington, have buried presidents and generals, and have escorted presidents and heads of state.

A smaller version of the Arlington Iwo Jima statue stands at the gates to Base Quantico, where visitors can sense the esprit de corps of the US Marines. Drive into the town of Quantico, the only village in America completely surrounded by a military base. After your visit, have lunch or dinner at the Globe and Laurel, a popular gathering spot for Marine Corps brass.

Civil War buffs should spend a couple of days marching through Manassas. The Manassas National Battlefield Park actually commemorates two separate battles, one on July 21, 1861, and the second just 13 months later. Watch "End of Innocence," a new film at the Henry Hill Visitor's Center. Rangers help envision the first, great battles of the Civil War.

Be sure to travel into Old Town Manassas to stop at the Manassas Museum and take a walking tour of the six-block historic district. The visitor's center is located in the train depot that offers weekday train service to DC. You'll discover a quaint Victorian community that rose from the ashes of the Civil War. Don't miss the restored candy factory that now serves as an arts center. Take tea at the Victorian Tearoom.

At Manassas Regional Airport, the temporary headquarters of the Freedom Museum is open throughout the year. The museum honors veterans of the conflicts of the 20th century. Founded by veterans, the museum tells the individual stories of modern heroes.

Just to the east of Manassas is Old Town Fairfax, the site of the Marr Monument and Civil War Cemetery. Once called Providence, this town was founded in 1805 around the county courthouse that safeguards George Washington's will. Fairfax is better known for the first fatality of the Civil War, John Marr; Confederate spy Antonia Ford; and the daring raids of the "Gray Ghost," Colonel John Mosby. Take a walking tour offered by the Fairfax Museum and Visitor's Center (which will reopen on the 11th after renovations), then stop for drinks, dinner, or an overnight stay at the Bailiwick Inn, one of the city's historic properties that still receives guests.

On the northwestern border of the City of Fairfax is the National Firearms Museum that traces America's history through firearms. The site celebrates the Second Amendment and features a Coney Island Shooting Gallery, presidential firearms, a law-enforcement section, and famous guns owned by the likes of Kit Carson, Walt Whitman, and Annie Oakley.

Among the most anticipated new museums is the Smithsonian Air and Space Annex scheduled to open in Chantilly this December to mark the centennial of flight. Located just a few miles away from the National Firearms Museum, the massive hangar rises from the Piedmont near Dulles Airport. Mammoth in size and scope, the Steven Udvar Hazy Center will display more than 200 aircraft and 125 spacecraft within the 760,057-square-foot structure. Visitors will soon soar on skyways among legendary craft including the Space Shuttle Enterprise, an SR-71 Blackbird, the B-17 Flying Fortress, and the Enola Gay. The center will also feature an observation tower to watch landings and take-offs from Dulles, as well as a theater, classrooms, shops, and restaurants.

Pentagon heroes remembered

Those who perished at the Pentagon on 9/11 will be remembered in a strikingly appropriate memorial that will rise in the flight-path of American Airlines Flight 77. Slated to be dedicated this September 11, it will be only 200 feet from the rebuilt side of the Pentagon off Washington Boulevard. Lighted aluminum benches cantilevered above a small reflecting pool will represent each of the 184 victims of the attack. Each bench will be inscribed with the name of a victim, from the youngest, three-year-old Dana Falkenburg, to the oldest, 71-year old John Yamnicky. Young maple trees will be planted throughout the memorial to reflect light and create shadows.

"The memorial," says co-designer Julie Beckman, "had to be like no other memorial because September 11, 2001, was like no other day."

Francis Gary Powers, Jr., son of the U-2 pilot whose capture caused a firestorm of Cold War conflict between President Dwight Eisenhower and USSR Premier Nikita Kruschev, is leading the effort to build a Cold War Museum in Lorton. Slated to open in 2006, it will be the perfect complement to the engaging new Spy Museum in DC. The nation's capital was "spy central" during the Cold War, with unending intrigue and betrayal. Take the splendid "Spies of Washington Tour" with two ex-CIA operatives to see key sites. The Cold War Museum will be located near the Lorton Workhouse, a former prison that will soon house an arts center with studio space and a bar appropriately named "The Slammer."

The Marine Corps will consolidate its historical collections at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in November 2005 outside the gates of Base Quantico. The Army Museum will be located at Fort Belvoir within the next five years, and the Air Force will lift all eyes to the skies with a trio of high-flying spires near the Pentagon in September 2006.

From the hallowed ground at Arlington to the blue Virginia skies, old soldiers are always welcome, always honored, and always remembered.

Military Lineup

- Arlington National Cemetery, 703-607-8052, www.arlingtoncemetery.org

- Air Force Memorial, 703-247-5808, www.airforcememorial.org

- Cold War Museum, 703-273-2381, www.coldwar.org

- Fairfax Museum & Visitors Center, 703-385-8414,
www.ci.Fairfax.va.us/Visitors/Visitors.htm

- Freedom Museum, 703-393-0660, www.freedommuseum.org

- Manassas Museum, 703-368-1873, www.manassasmuseum.org

- Manassas National Battlefield, 703-361-1339, www.nps.gov/mana

- Manassas Visitors Center, 703-361-6599, www.visitmanassas.org

- National Firearms Museum, 703-267-1600, www.nrahq.org/museum

- National Museum of the Marine Corps and Heritage Center, 703-640-7965, www.usmcmuseum.org

- Old Guard Museum, 703-696-6670, www.mdw.army.mil/fs-g11.htm

- Pentagon Memorial Project, http://memorial.pentagon.mil

- Spies of Washington Tour, 703-273-2381, www.spytour.com

- Steven Udvar Hazy Center, 202-357-2700, www.nasm.si.edu

- USMC War Memorial, www.nps.gov/gwmp/usmc.htm

- Women in Military Service Memorial, 800-222-2294, www.womensmemorial.org

For more information on traveling in Northern Virginia, contact the Northern Virginia Visitors Consortium at 888-393-9114 or 703-642-4676, or point your browser to www.visitnorthernvirginia.com.

April 2003