Photo of bald eagle atop veteran's gravestone goes viral
A remarkable photograph of an American bald eagle perched atop of a veteran's gravestone went viral on Memorial Day, and reminded the nation the true reason for the national holiday.Sunday evening, the Department of Veterans Affairs tweeted an image of our national bird sitting on a Fort Snelling National Cemetery gravestone. Suddenly, the image was all over Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The picture was taken by amateur photographer Frank Glick in the spring of 2011. According to the Star Tribune, the Minnesota resident was driving to work early one morning and spotted the eagle, so he took out his aging Nikon camera and snapped a series of pictures. After the Star Tribune published the photograph, it all started.
Calls from all over the country started pouring in with questions and requests to use the image of the eagle, Glick received "thank you" letters, a poem, even a song inspired by the image. However, there were also some critics who doubted the photo's authenticity and claimed the image was photoshopped.
"Initially when we found out people questioned it, I was really shocked," Glick told HuffPost Live via email.
Employees at Fort Snelling National Cemetery say they see bald eagles all the time.
Related: 2015 Memorial Day observations around the country
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