100 YEARS OF VIGIL: THE HISTORY OF THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER AND ITS GUARDS

November 11th, 1921. Three years to the day since the guns famously fell silent across the Western Front, marking the end of the Great War. On that solemn anniversary, on the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery, President Warren G. Harding officiated a massive funeral for one of the brave Americans who lost their lives during that bitter conflict. One who would soon be interred in a massive marble tomb in front of the Memorial Amphitheater overlooking the cemetery’s rolling green hills and the nearby city of Washington, D.C.

But unlike so many others honored with burial at the nation’s most revered resting place for those who served in uniform, buried beneath plinths and plaques bearing their names and ranks and records of their awards, the deeds and identity of the Soldier buried that autumn day were a mystery. But that was the point. For his resting place would be not only a memorial to him, but to all those who died while serving the United States in combat, but whose remains could not be identified: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The Origins of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

What most people think of as Arlington’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is actually the second such monument. The first was dedicated in September of 1866: a massive vault containing the remains of over 2,000 unidentified Soldiers who died on the bloody battlefields of the Civil War. Constructed under the direction of the US Army’s then Quartermaster General, Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs, the Tomb of the Civil War Unknowns was America’s first major monument dedicated to those whose very names were lost in battle along with their lives.

The impetus to build a new tomb dedicated not just to the unknown dead from a specific war but all wars began in the years after World War I. No doubt inspired by Great Britain and France establishing their own tombs to the unknown in 1920 (in Westminster Abbey and beneath the Arc de Triomphe, respectively), people in the United States began to advocate for a similar memorial. Led by New York Representative and decorated WWI Veteran Hamilton Fish III, efforts to create such a monument led Congress to pass a law authorizing it on March 3rd, 1921. Then-President Woodrow Wilson signed it the next day.

The Best Sitrep for Today's Vets.

Benefits intel, military tech, field-tested gear, untold stories of those who served, and history like you've never heard before. Sign up for the VeteranLife newsletter.

​

Subscribe

Always free. 🇺🇸 | Unsubscribe anytime.

In order to select someone for interment in the tomb, four randomly chosen caskets containing unidentified remains were removed from American military cemeteries across France. Sergeant Edward Younger, a US Army Soldier who’d been wounded twice during the war and was serving in Europe at the time, was assigned to select one of them in a formal ceremony.

After circling the caskets three times, Sgt. Younger placed white roses on one of them to indicate his choice. That casket, the remains it contained, and the roses were sent to America for re-interment at Arlington during the massive funeral mentioned above. Thousands attended the ceremony, during which President Harding awarded the Unknown the Medal of Honor. Congressman Fish laid the first wreath.

Initially a flat slab of marble, Congress eventually authorized the construction of a larger tomb to mark the Unknown Soldier’s resting place in 1926. Completed six years later, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in its current form includes a massive marble sarcophagus above where the WWI casualty lies. On one side, three carved figures represent the embodiments of Peace, Victory and Valor. On another are the words “Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known but to God.”

The First Guards of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

When most people picture the Tomb of the Unknown, they almost certainly include the iconic guards who march in front of it, decked in Army dress uniforms, 24 hours a day. But that wasn’t always a feature of the tomb.

In fact, when the Army first assigned people to protect the tomb in 1925, the guards were civilian employees. It wasn’t until the following year that the military began assigning Soldiers to take over that duty. On March 24th, 1926, the Army’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Fox Conner, ordered that armed troops begin standing guard at the tomb during daylight hours. The following morning, the first US Soldiers to stand vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier took their post.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Through the 20th Century

In the decades that followed, the tomb and those guarding it underwent several further changes. In 1937, the Army began to guard it 24 hours a day. And while the honor of providing Soldiers for that purpose cycled through several units and bases in the D.C. area during its first decades of existence, the 3rd Infantry Regiment (“The Old Guard”) based at what is now Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall became the permanent provider of tomb guards in 1948. Ten years later, the remains of an unknown American casualty from World War II and another who died during the Korean War became part of the tomb.

And in 1984 a fourth set of remains, those of an American who perished in the Vietnam War, joined them as well. Although not permanently. Advances in DNA analysis led to the 1998 identification of the Vietnam Unknown as First Lieutenant Michael J. Blassie, a US Air Force officer killed in action when his plane was shot down on May 11th, 1972.

He was subsequently disinterred and reburied in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, located in Blassie’s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Rather than fill Blassie’s space in the tomb with the remains of another unidentified Vietnam War casualty, the military decided to leave it empty and in 1999 inscribed the marble slab covering it with a new dedication: Honoring and Keeping Faith with America's Missing Servicemen 1958 – 1975.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its Guards Today

The tomb hasn’t changed since those modifications were made in 1999. Soldiers of The Old Guard maintain the 24-hour vigil over it, marching 21 steps up and down a lengthy rubber mat with a rifle on their shoulder and pausing for 21 seconds at each end (the multiple uses of 21 is a reference to the 21 gun salute). They do so in rain, shine, snow, or sleet, clad in impeccably tailored dress uniforms and carrying unique sidearms designed specifically for them, changing over in an intricate and deeply moving ceremony every hour (every half hour in the summer). These steadfast sentinels and the tomb they protect act as stark symbols of the courage of America’s servicemembers and reminders of the ultimate sacrifice so many have made over the centuries.

And while the kind of DNA science that successfully identified 1stLt Blassie may mean that Americans who perish in conflicts to come may never again risk going to their graves unknown, the Tomb of the Unknown, it still serves as a powerful memorial to all who gave their lives for their country. Especially those whose names will never be known. Even today, the words that President Harding spoke on that November day over a century ago still ring true:

"We do not know from whence he came, but only that his death marks him with everlasting glory of an American dying for his country."

Suggested reads:

• Congress Is Closer to Raising DIC For Survivors, But the Funding Fight Could Raise Some VA Home-Loan Fees
• More Than 1 Million Veterans May Qualify for Additional GI Bill Benefits After Supreme Court Ruling
• VA's Review of Over 1 Million Disability Claims Sparks Concern. What Veterans Need to Know