The pillar was accidentally toppled on July 3, 1996, by a contractor digging a trench for utility lines. The pillar fell forward onto a mound of earth, cushioning its fall. The pillar incurred moderate damage, but the urn on top was severely damaged and had to be replaced. Cemetery officials expressed surprise that the 500-ton, 50-foot-high pillar had no foundation and rested on a simple foundation set just inches into the earth.

The gates were constructed in 1932 as part of the construction of the Hemicycle (now the Women in Military Service to America Memorial) and Memorial Drive, which linked Arlington's new main gate to the Arlington Memorial Bridge and the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Arlington had expanded toward the Potomac River, making the old McClellan Gate and Sheridan Gate unuseable as an entrance as both were now deep inside the cemetery. Each gate consists of four granite pillars trending southwest-to-northeast. The southwesternmost pillar connects with the retaining wall that forms the Hemicycle. The gate itself is between the second and third pillars, while black wrought iron fences connect the outermost pillars to the innermost ones. A fifth pillar is set inward toward Memorial Drive from the northwesternmost pillar, and is connected to the fourth pillar by a black wrought iron fence. The two innermost pillars are topped by eagles, while the other three are topped by decorative funeral urns.

Gold gilded lamps top the hinge of each gate. On each gate, front and back, are two gold wreaths 30 inches (76 cm) in diameter. Each wreath cradles the shield of the U.S. Department of War (the precusor to the U.S. Department of Defense) as well as the armed services that existed in 1932. On the Schley Gate, these are the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard. (The United States Air Force did not exist until 1947.) Each gate is divided into 13 sections by wrought iron fasces, and above six of the sections are iron spikes topped by gold stars.