Odom laid to rest in Arlington

I’ve just returned from the funeral for Lt. Gen. William Odom at Arlington. A remarkable and completely understated ceremony. Zbigniew Brzezinski spoke for about 15 minutes, a cellist played a Bach suite in C Major, a pianist played a Brahms intermezzo in B Minor, and then the two concluded with a Rachmaninoff sonata in G Minor. Bach, Brahms and Shostakovich: Odom’s funeral took us from Germany to Russia, just like his Army career.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad was in evidence, among others, as was Oleg Kalugin, Odom’s opposite number; the former head of KGB operations in the United States.

It really hit me seeing the burial at Arlington. The gunshots and salutes, the order. You have to have a ritual for these things, otherwise they just don’t make sense. It breaks your heart to see the graves. Small white headstones, neatly lined, one after another. Operation Iraqi Freedom. Operation Iraqi Freedom. Operation Iraqi Freedom. Crosses after crosses, occasionally crescents and Stars of David.

On the way out of the cemetery, you drive through an arch dedicated to what you’re about to see on all sides: many of the 315,000 Americans who died in World War II.