Category / Tomb of the Unknowns

by Old Guard History

The Unknown Soldier – November 11, 1921

On November 11, 1921, the third anniversary of the World War I armistice, the Unknown Soldier was laid to rest next to Arlington National Cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater, just completed the previous year.

The Unknown Soldier’s remains were placed in the crypt atop two inches of French soil, brought back for the ceremony, amid wreaths and gifts bestowed by other members of the Allied forces, and even the Crow Nation, all to honor the Unknown Soldier.
by Old Guard History

Selection of the Unknown Soldier – October 24, 1921

95 Years Ago Today


On October 24, 1921, the Unknown Soldier of World War I was selected in Chalons-sur-Marne, France, about 90 miles east of Paris. The remains of four soldiers killed in World War I were exhumed from four American cemeteries in France (Romagne, Thiacourt, Belleau, and Bony) and brought to Chalons.


The honor of selecting the Unknown Soldier fell to Sergeant Edward Younger, a veteran of World War I. Younger had been wounded twice in World War I and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for valor. Younger was one of six soldiers assigned to be pallbearers for the ceremony, but after learning the French selected an enlisted soldier for their Unknown Soldier selection process, the task went to Younger. Younger was instructed to lay a spray of white roses on the remains that would be interred at Arlington National Cemetery.


The selected remains were transported to Le Havre the next day. At Le Havre, the honor guard placed the remains aboard the USS Olympia for the ocean voyage to Washington, D.C.


Younger died in 1944 and was interred in Arlington National Cemetery (Section 18; Grave 1918-B). The USS Olympia is currently docked in Philadelphia, PA at the Independence Seaport Museum, where fundraising is underway for a restoration of the ship that first entered service in 1892.


For a full narrative of the events around the selection of the Unknown Soldier see the War Department Report on the Selection and Burial of the Unknown American Soldier:

by Old Guard History

State Funeral for the Vietnam Unknown – May 28, 1984

On May 28, 1984, the nation honored the Vietnam Unknown with a State Funeral Ceremony and interment at the Tomb of the Unknown. President Reagan acted at the Unknown’s next of kin and received the honors rendered to the Unknown. The State Funeral was part of the Memorial Day observance ceremonies that year.


In the following years, some contended that the Vietnam Unknown’s identity was not “known but to God.” Support grew for attempting to identify the Unknown. On May 14, 1998, the Vietnam Unknown was exhumed. DNA testing confirmed the Unknown was  Air Force First Lieutenant Michael Blassie. After his identification, 1LT Blassie was reinterred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, MO.


The crypt today stands empty as a memorial to all service members who did not return home from Vietnam. The inscription now reads, “Honoring and Keeping Faith with America’s Missing Servicemen 1958-1975.”


See photos of the State Funeral for the Vietnam Unknown:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/oldguardmuseum/albums/72157626935375009
by Old Guard History

Unknown Soldier lying in state – November 10, 1921

On November 10, 1921, the remains of the Unknown Soldier of World War I lain in state under the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Starting at 8 AM, the Rotunda opened to allow the public to pay their respects before the State Funeral commenced the following day. Over 90,000 people passed by the Unknown’s casket, with so many still waiting in line at 11 PM, visitation hours were extended through midnight. The casket rested on the Lincoln catafalque, the support built for President Lincoln’s funeral, and is used for all of those are granted the honor of lying in state under the Rotunda.


The previous day, the USS Olympia docked at the Washington Navy Yard with the Unknown Soldier’s remains aboard. The Unknown Soldier was transported on a horse-drawn caisson by members of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, based out of Fort Myer, VA, and conveyed to the Capitol. The procession route was “lined with sorrowing people standing bareheaded in silent tribute, regardless of the rain.”


On November 11, 1921, the third anniversary of the World War I armistice, the Unknown Soldier was laid to rest next to Arlington National Cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater, just completed the previous year.


The Unknown Soldier’s remains were placed in the crypt atop two inches of French soil, brought back for the ceremony, amid wreaths and gifts bestowed by the Allied and even the Crow Nation, all to honor the Unknown Soldier.


Earlier this year, descendants of Thomas Cecil Scott, a clerk in the War Department’s Cemeterial Division, donated a history of the Unknown Soldier of World War I selection and State Funeral. The entire document can found here:

by Old Guard History

Intergration of the Army – October 30, 1954


On October 30, 1954, Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson announced that the last segregated unit in the United States military had been integrated. The path to this point started in 1948 when President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981. President Truman’s order said,
“It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale.”
Despite President Truman’s Executive Order, it took 6 years to make it reality. The Defense Department’s definition of a segregated unit was any unit that was 50 percent African-American. Even though integration was considered accomplished in 1954, change did not occur in a uniform manner. The Old Guard integrated in 1953, but the first African-American soldiers were not assigned to Mortar Battery (Honor Guard) until 1960. The following year saw the first African-American serve as a Tomb Sentinel, when Specialist 4 Fred Moore walked the mat. A year later the first commissioned officer was assigned to the Regiment, when First Lieutenant James McCall was named Executive Officer of the Mortar Battery (Honor Guard).
The Army was not alone is disproportionate representation. The section below is from the book “Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965” and details when President Kennedy noticed the make-up of the joint honor guard during an arrival ceremony.
“He [President Kennedy] was also upset to see “few, if any” black honor guardsmen in the units that greeted visiting Ghanian President Kwame Nkrumah on 13 March [1961], an observation not lost on Secretary McNamara. “Would it be possible,” the new defense chief asked his manpower assistant, “to introduce into these units a reasonable number of negro personnel?” An immediate survey revealed that Negroes accounted for 14 percent of the Air Force honor unit, 8 percent of the Army’s, and 2.2 percent of the Marines Corps’. The 100-man naval unit had no black members.
The book, “Integration and the Armed Forces, 1940-1965” can be found online at:
http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/050/50-1-1/index.html
Read about Fred Moore’s experience as a Tomb Sentinel:
http://www.army.mil/article/74448/First_African_American_Tomb_Guard_recalls_journey/