Unknown Soldier, Tomb of the

UNKNOWN SOLDIER, TOMB OF THE

UNKNOWN SOLDIER, TOMB OF THE, in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 1921 by President Warren G. Harding as a memorial to all American soldiers and sailors who lost their lives in World War I. An unknown serviceman was chosen and buried with a two-inch layer of earth brought

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from France so that he could rest on the earth on which he died. The tomb itself was not completed until 1932. In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower participated in ceremonies at which two other nameless soldiers, one to represent members of the armed forces lost in World War II and one to represent those who died in the Korean War, were also buried in the tomb. At that time, the monument was renamed the Tomb of the Unknowns. In 1973, Congress authorized plans to add a burial place for an unidentified casualty of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam unknown was interred in 1984, although his remains were disinterred in May 1998 after his body was identified using methods previously unavailable. His body was returned to his family, and the crypt remains empty. The bodies within the tomb have been selected with great care to avoid future identification. The present tomb was designed by Thomas Hudson Jones and Lorimer Rich and dedicated in 1932 on the site of a former uncompleted monument. A perpetual military guard is maintained at the tomb.

Frederick P. Todd

Honor Sachs

See also Cemeteries, National ; Memorial Day ; Prisoners of War and vol. 9: Dedicating the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier .