In a solemn and moving moment on the morning of Tuesday, September 16, 2025, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia.
Escorting His All-Holiness was General Andrew Poppas, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Forces Command, who is of Greek descent; as well as Karen Durham-Aguilera, Executive Director of Arlington National Cemetery. After the presentation of the wreath, a bugler played “Taps.”
Present at the laying of the wreath were His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America; other Hierarchs and members of the Patriarchal delegation; the Spiritual Advisor of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Rev. Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne Alexander Karloutsos; Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; and other Archons and dignitaries.
Numerous Greek-Americans are buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Each year, on Memorial Day weekend, members of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) gather at the historic cemetery to place a wreath and a red rose at the gravesites of Greek Orthodox Christians and other Greek-Americans who are interred there.
