The Unknown Soldier was a United States soldier who was killed in World War I whose remains are buried at the Tomb of Unknown Soldier burial site at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. He is interred alongside an unknown World War II soldier, an unknown Korean War soldier, and an unknown Vietnam War soldier until the latter was identified as Michael Blassie.
Case[]
In December 1920, Hamilton Fish Jr., a New York Congressman who fought in World War I, proposed legislation that would provide for the interment of an unknown American soldier at a special tomb to be built at the Arlington National Cemetery. In Fish's words, the purpose of this legislation was "to bring home the body of an unknown American warrior who in himself represents no section, creed, or race in the late war and who typifies, moreover, the soul of America and the supreme sacrifice of her heroic dead."
On March 4, 1921, the United States Congress approved the legislation, and so forth, an unidentified American soldier was to be buried at the plaza of the new Memorial Amphitheater.
On Memorial Day in 1921, on May 30, four unidentified United States servicemen were exhumed from four American cemeteries in France that were dedicated to World War I: Aisne-Marne, Meuse-Argonne, Somme, and St. Mihiel. They were transported in unmarked, identical caskets to the city hall of Châlons-en-Champagne, France. On October 24, 1921, Edward F. Younger, a distinguished United States Army Sergeant who was wounded in combat during World War I, was chosen to select one of the caskets by placing a spray of white roses on it. After walking around the caskets three times, he selected the second casket from the right. This casket was transported to Washington, D.C., via the USS Olympia while the remaining three were reburied at the Meuse Argonne Cemetery.
Upon his arrival in the United States, the unknown soldier lay in the Capitol Rotunda until Armistice Day, November 11, 1921. On that day, he was interred at what is now the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, with President Warren Harding officiating the ceremony at the Memorial Amphitheater. During the ceremony, the unknown soldier was awarded several medals and decorations.
- The Medal of Honor from the United States.
- The Victoria Cross from the United Kingdom.
- The Legion of Honor, the Médaille Militaire, and the Croix de Guerre from France.
- The War Cross from Czechoslovakia.
- The Gold Medal from Bravery of Italy.
- The Virtuti Militari from Poland.
- The Virtutea Militara from Romania.
Sources[]
- Arlington National Cemetery
- Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Wikipedia