Eagle Feathers #285 – Arlington National Cemetery

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

The western border of Somerville is marked lengthwise by the Dilboy Recreation Field which honors a World War I veteran, the Alewife Brook Reservation and the Alewife Brook Parkway which stretches between Medford and Cambridge.

An athletic stadium, a statue in front of our City Hall, and the V.F.W. Post 529 in Davis Square, all honor this hero. One of Somerville’s most noted champions, Army Private George Dilboy, was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions above and beyond the call of duty and is buried in the National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

On the other side of Somerville’s western border lies the Town of Arlington which on June 17, 1867, “Bunker Hill Day,” renamed itself after this sacred national graveyard. Since then, an impressive eagle-surmounted Civil War Memorial has commanded the view of Arlington’s Center.

Dilboy had the acclaim of being honored by three United States Presidents:

• Woodrow Wilson authorized his Medal of Honor.
• Warren G. Harding brought his remains back to Arlington National Cemetery.
• Calvin Coolidge presided at his funeral.

Arlington National Cemetery is one of the most moving, memorable sights in the nation and more than 400,000 people are laid to rest there. It includes Civil War veterans, qualified veterans and their eligible family members. Medal of Honor recipients, high-ranking federal government officials and their dependents are also honored. Only two presidents lay there and both have touched Somerville:

• First was President William Howard Taft, who in 1910 was the recipient of the largest welcoming parade in Somerville’s history.
• Second was President John F. Kennedy who in 1947 began his political career representing the Somerville and Cambridge districts. This year, 2023, will commemorate 50 years that the eternal flame of his memory has burned just a few feet from where he was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.