ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
MAY 30, 1869
CONGRESSMAN IAMES A GARFIELD, CIVIL WAR VETERAN; IF SILENCE IS EVER GOLDEN, IT MUST BE HERE, BESIDE THE GRAVES OF FIFTEEN THOUSAND MEN, WHOSE LIVES WERE MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN SPEECH, AND WHOSE DEATH WAS A POEM, THE MUSIC OF WHICH CAN NEVER BE SUNG. THEY SUMMED UP AND PERFECTED, BY ONE SUPREME ACT, THE HIGHEST VIRTUES OF MEN AND CITIZENS. FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY THEY ACCEPTED DEATH, AND THUS RESOLVED ALL DOUBTS, AND MADE IMMORTAL THEIR PATRIOTISM AND THEIR VIRTUE.
