Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Arlington National Cemetery)

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, United States is the burial site of a World War I soldier whose remains were unidentifiable. After a design competition was held in 1928, the winning project was completed in 1932. The site now also includes the gravesites of two other unknowns, one from World War II and one from the Korean War, who were buried under two slabs between it and the Memorial Amphitheater behind it.
Other nations also have national burial sites for unknowns from the First World War, such as the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Portugal, and Italy. The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is in the United Kingdom and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is in France. Nations have presented their highest awards or medals to each other's unknown soldier.
The World War I "Unknown" is a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the Victoria Cross, and several other foreign nations' highest service awards. The U.S. Unknowns from World War II and Korea have also received the Medal of Honor.
The Tomb is guarded around-the-clock by a Tomb Guard from the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment, "The Old Guard". An elaborate ceremony, the Changing of the Guard, takes place every half-hour from April through September and hourly from October through March.

Tomb of 1921

On 4 March 1921, the United States Congress approved the burial of an unidentified American serviceman from World War I in the plaza of the new Memorial Amphitheater. On 11 November 1921, the unknown soldier brought back from France was interred below a three-level marble tomb. The bottom two levels are six granite sections each and the top at least nine blocks with a rectangular opening in the center of each level through which the unknown remains were placed through the tomb and into the ground below. A stone slab, rather than marble, covers the rectangular opening.

Tomb of 1931

Since 1921, the intent was to place a superstructure on top of the Tomb, but it was not until 3 July 1926, that Congress authorized the completion of the Tomb and the expenditure of $50,000,. A design competition was held and won by architect Lorimer Rich and sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones. An appropriation from Congress for the work was secured, and on 21 December 1929, a contract for completion of the Tomb itself was entered into. The Tomb would consist of seven pieces of marble in four levels of which the die is the largest block with the sculpting on all four sides.
Quarrying the Yule marble was a one-year process beginning in 1930. The cap was quarried on the first attempt but the base required three tries. The large middle block also required three tries. In late January 1931, the 56-ton middle block was lifted out of the quarry. The quarrying involved 75 men. When the block was separated from the mountain inside the quarry it weighed 124 tons. A wire saw was then brought into the quarry to cut the block down to 56 tons.
On 3 February 1931, the block reached the marble mill site after a four-day trip from the quarry. There it was crated, then shipped to Vermont on 8 February. The block was sawed to final size in West Rutland, Vermont, and fabricated by craftsmen in Proctor, Vermont, before it was shipped by train to Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. By September, all seven blocks were on the grounds of the Tomb site, at Arlington.
Assembly began in September 1931. An imperfection was found in the base, requiring three more quarryings. By the end of December 1931, the assembly was completed. Finishing work followed, with the carvings on the die block by the Piccirilli Brothers under the direction of sculptor Thomas Jones.. The Tomb was completed without formal ceremony on 9 April 1932.
The Tomb was placed at the head of the grave of the World War I Unknown. West of this grave are the crypts of Unknowns from World War II and Korea. Between the two lies a crypt that once contained an Unknown from Vietnam. His remains were positively identified in 1998 through DNA testing as First Lieutenant Michael Blassie, United States Air Force, and were removed. Those three graves are marked with white marble slabs flush with the plaza.
The Tomb has a flat-faced form and is relieved at the corners and along the sides by neo-classical pilasters set into the surface with objects and inscriptions carved into the sides. The 1931 symbolism of the objects on the north, south, and east sides changed over time.
Tomb Dimensions
as of 2004 * 1931 die block dimension coming out of the quarry.

Level	Length	Width	Height	Cubic Feet	Tons
Cap	12'-5.4"	6'-6.7"	1'-3.3"	100.69	8.56
Die	12'-3.0" *	6'-6.4" *	5'-2.1" *	385.43 *	32.76 *
Base	13'-10.0"	7'-11.9"	1'-11.1"	198.64	16.88
Sub-Base	14'-10.4"	9'-0.2"	1'-10.9"	255.81	21.74

The Unknown of World War I

On Memorial Day, 1921, four unknown servicemen were exhumed from four World War I American cemeteries in France, Aisne-Marne, Meuse-Argonne, Somme, and St. Mihiel. U.S. Army Sgt. Edward F. Younger, who was wounded in combat, highly decorated for valor and received the Distinguished Service Cross, selected the Unknown of World War I from four identical caskets at the city hall in Châlons-en-Champagne, France, on 24 October 1921. Younger selected the World War I Unknown by placing a spray of white roses on one of the caskets. He chose the second casket from the right. The chosen Unknown was transported to the United States aboard. Those remaining were interred in the Meuse Argonne Cemetery, France.
The World War I Unknown lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda from his arrival in the United States until Armistice Day 1921. On 11 November 1921, President Warren G. Harding officiated at the interment ceremonies at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. During the ceremony, the World War I Unknown was awarded the Victoria Cross by Admiral of the Fleet Lord Beatty, on behalf of King George V of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom Victoria Cross was placed with the soldier. Other Allied nations also awarded the American Unknown Soldier with decorations, including the Legion of Honour, Médaille Militaire, and Croix de Guerre from France, the War Cross from Czechoslovakia, the Gold Medal for Bravery from Italy, the Virtuti Militari from Poland, and the Virtutea Militara from Romania.
Earlier, on 17 October 1921, the British Unknown Warrior had been conferred the U.S. Medal of Honor by General of the Armies John Pershing.

The Unknowns of World War II and Korea

On 3 August 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who served as a general during World War II, signed a bill to select and pay tribute to the Unknowns of World War II and the Korean War. The selection ceremonies and the interment of these Unknowns took place in 1958. The World War II Unknown was selected from remains exhumed from cemeteries in Europe, Africa, Hawaii, and the Philippines.
Two Unknowns from World War II, one from the European Theater and one from the Pacific Theater, were placed in identical caskets and taken aboard and placed on either side of the Korean unknown. Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class William R. Charette, then the U.S. Navy's only active-duty Medal of Honor recipient who was an enlisted man, selected the right-hand casket as the World War II Unknown. The casket of the remaining WWII unknown received a solemn burial at sea.
The Korean unknown had been selected from four unknown Americans who died in the Korean War that were disinterred from the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. Army Master Sergeant Ned Lyle made the final selection. The unselected unknowns were re-interred there.
The caskets of the WWII and Korean unknowns arrived in Washington on 28 May 1958, where they lay in the Capitol Rotunda until the morning of 30 May, when they were carried on caissons to Arlington National Cemetery. President Eisenhower awarded each the Medal of Honor, and the Unknowns of World War II and the Korean War were interred in the plaza beside their World War I comrade.

The Unknown of Vietnam

The Vietnam Unknown service member was originally designated by Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Allan Jay Kellogg Jr., during a ceremony at Pearl Harbor.
Each branch of the Armed Services took part in the transportation to honor the unknown. Marines from Marine Barracks Hawaii consisted of an Honor Guard of nine enlisted men and Lt. Denis Muller. The designated Vietnam Unknown was transported aboard, where the Marines stood guard over the casket during the voyage to Naval Air Station Alameda, California. At Travis, the debarkation ceremony turned the remains over to the USAF on 24 May 1984. The next day, the remains of the Unknown were flown from Travis Air Force Base, California, arriving at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. Once there the remains were turned over to the US Army, where the remains were taken to Fort McNair for placement upon the horse-drawn wagon which later carried the Unknown to the Capitol Rotunda for display before interment. While on display for public viewing, all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces stood in honor, guarding the casket of the Unknown for two weeks.
Many Vietnam veterans and President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan visited the Vietnam Unknown in the U.S. Capitol. An Army caisson carried the Vietnam Unknown from the Capitol to the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, 28 May 1984.
President Reagan presided over the funeral, presented the Medal of Honor to the Vietnam Unknown, and acted as next of kin by accepting the interment flag at the end of the ceremony. The interment flags of all Unknowns at the Tomb of the Unknowns are on view in the Memorial Display Room.