America's Unknown Soldier

Kerrie Logan Hollihan
Teaching the Power of Wonder

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The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington D.C.’s Arlington National Cemetery is one of America’s sacred places. This marble monument is indeed a grave of a World War I soldier. It’s also a powerful symbol for Americans who fought or died in war.  

         America chose its first unknown soldier after its victory over Germany in the Great War. It wasn’t called “World War I” until a second world war started twenty years later.

         The honor of making that choice went to an Army sergeant from Chicago named Edward Younger, who was stationed in France. The bodies of four unidentified soldiers were removed from their graves in four American military cemeteries near battlefields in France. Officials made sure they were American soldiers by inspecting their uniforms and checking their bodies for combat wounds.        

          During a solemn ceremony, Sergeant Younger entered a private room where the four caskets sat side by side. He carried a bouquet of white roses.  He walked around the caskets quietly and then placed the roses on one of them. 

         The remains of that soldier were transferred to a new casket. It was sealed and draped with the American flag, so that the field of stars lay over the soldier’s head and heart. With great ceremony, the casket was honored in France and then escorted by the U.S. Navy across the Atlantic to Washington, D. C. The spray of white roses went along, as well. 

         The Unknown Soldier lay in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building until November 11, 1921. That was the third anniversary of Armistice Day. “Armistice” means to lay down weapons and stop fighting. This is exactly what happened at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in November, 1918. Today, we call our national holiday “Veteran’s Day.”

         Crowds gathered to watch as the Unknown Soldier’s casket was placed on a gun carriage and drawn by horses to nearby Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac in Virginia. After a solemn burial service, many dignitaries paid their respects at the casket, including the U.S. president and the American Indian Chief Plenty Coups of the Crow Nation. The chief laid his war bonnet alongside the memorial wreaths. 

         The casket was lowered into the tomb onto two inches of soil from France. Sergeant Younger’s spray of roses was buried with it. Later, a massive marble sarcophagus was placed on top. The words carved into the sarcophagus state simply: 

       Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.

The Unknown Soldier was laid to rest on November 21, 1921.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as it appears today. The flat-faced white marble sarcophagus is relieved at the corners and along the sides by neo-classic pilasters, or columns, set into the surface. Sculpted into the east panel which faces Washington, D.C., are three Greek figures representing Peace, Victory, and Valor. The six wreaths, three sculpted on each side, represent the six major campaigns of World War I..

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Throughout history, the wars of men have been off-limits to women; to break through these barriers, women had to fight with newspaper gatekeepers and the leaders of warring nations alike just to get the story.  Kerrie Logan Hollihan's newest book, Reporting Under Fire, tells how women won the war for equality in the journalism world.  To find out more about the book on Kerrie's website, click here. 

Kerrie Hollihan is a member of iNK's Authors on Call and is available for classroom programs through FieldTripZoom,  a terrific technology that requires only a computer, wifi, and a webcam.  Click here to find out more.

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​MLA 8 Citation
Hollihan, Kerrie Logan. "America’s Unknown Soldier." Nonfiction Minute, iNK
     Think Tank, 1 June 2018, www.nonfictionminute.org/the-nonfiction-minute/
     Americas-Unknown-Soldier.