The Creation of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
High above the Potomac River, in the quiet expanse of Arlington National Cemetery, stands one of the most solemn places in America. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded day and night by Sentinels from the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment—The Old Guard—who keep watch in silence, in heat and cold, rain and snow, without pause or exception. Their measured steps, deliberate pauses, and flawless precision are not ceremony for ceremony’s sake, but a living promise that those who gave their lives in service to the nation, and whose names were lost to history, are never forgotten. Millions visit the Tomb each year to silently pay their respects, yet few know the remarkable story behind its creation.
America and the Cost of the Great War
The United States entered World War I in April 1917 and remained engaged until the Armistice on November 11, 1918. In that brief but devastating period, America suffered approximately 320,000 casualties. More than 116,000 Americans died, including over 53,000 killed in combat and tens of thousands lost to disease, most notably the 1918 influenza pandemic. More than 200,000 were wounded. For a nation new to industrial-scale warfare, the losses were staggering and deeply personal.
World War I introduced a grim reality: modern warfare left countless soldiers unidentifiable. For families who received no body to bury and no grave to visit, grief had no physical place to rest. In response, nations sought a way to honor the unknown fallen. These tombs became symbolic graves for families without closure, national places of mourning, and enduring reminders that sacrifice transcended rank, class, and even name.
A National Decision
Inspired by memorials already established in France and the United Kingdom, the United States began debating how to honor its unidentified dead. In 1921, Congress—spearheaded by Representative Hamilton Fish of New York, himself a World War I veteran—approved the burial of an unknown American service member from the Great War. Several sites were discussed, but Arlington National Cemetery was ultimately chosen for its military significance, solemn setting, and symbolic proximity to the nation’s capital.
Congress moved with remarkable speed. The dedication was intentionally planned for November 11, 1921, the third anniversary of the Armistice. On March 4, 1921, Congress formally authorized the burial, leaving just eight months to complete an extraordinary series of tasks: select the remains in France, transport them across the Atlantic, prepare Arlington, and organize what would become one of the most significant ceremonies in American history.
Choosing the Unknown Soldier
Perhaps the most powerful chapter in this story is the selection of the Unknown Soldier himself. In October 1921, the U.S. Army chose Sergeant Edward F. Younger, a decorated World War I combat veteran and recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, for a singular and solemn duty: to select the Unknown who would represent all Americans who never came home with their names known.
On October 24, 1921, four identical caskets containing unidentified American remains were placed side by side in a chapel in Châlons-sur-Marne, France. Each had been exhumed from a different American cemetery on the Western Front, ensuring there was no clue to identity, rank, or unit. Younger entered the chapel alone, carrying a bouquet of white roses. He walked slowly past the caskets several times, paused to pray, and then—guided not by instruction, but by emotion—placed the roses on one coffin.
With that quiet gesture, the Unknown Soldier of World War I was chosen.
The remaining three were reburied in France. The selected casket began its journey home to represent them all.
The Nation Mourns
The Unknown Soldier arrived in Washington aboard the USS Olympia on November 9, 1921, landing at the Washington Navy Yard. He was received with full military honors and profound national reverence. The following day, the casket was escorted by caisson to the U.S. Capitol, where it lay in state beneath the Rotunda. For nearly two days, tens of thousands of Americans filed past in silence—veterans, families, government officials, and ordinary citizens—many openly weeping, finally able to mourn a son, brother, or husband who had never returned.
On November 11, 1921, Armistice Day, the nation came to a standstill. After a solemn funeral service at the Capitol, the casket was again placed on a horse-drawn caisson and escorted across the Potomac River to Arlington National Cemetery. Along the route, church bells tolled and crowds stood silently with heads bowed.
The Burial at Arlington
At Arlington, President Warren G. Harding presided over the burial ceremony before an audience that included military leaders, foreign dignitaries, veterans, and families of the fallen. Among those present were representatives of the nation’s Gold Star Mothers, women who had lost sons in the war and whose grief symbolized the private sorrow felt in homes across America.
One of the most poignant moments came when Chief Plenty Coups, the revered leader of the Crow Nation and a longtime ally of the United States, stepped forward. In a deeply symbolic act, he laid his war bonnet and coup stick upon the casket—traditional honors reserved for a great warrior. With that gesture, the Unknown Soldier was recognized not only as an American hero, but as a warrior worthy of the highest respect across cultures.
Because of the tight timeline, the original grave was marked by a simple marble slab. The elaborate white marble sarcophagus seen today would not be completed until 1932. But the meaning was already complete.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was not built for grandeur. It was built for memory—and for a promise that those who gave everything, even without a name, would never be forgotten.
On a personal note, I’d like to share what Memorial Day truly means to me. We often say “we will never forget” or “we will always remember,” but those words only matter if we act on them. How do we truly honor the men and women who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today? For me, the answer has always been to tell their stories. It has been both my privilege and my responsibility to share the lives and sacrifices of those who secured those freedoms and to ensure their legacy endures.
Over the years, that commitment has grown beyond storytelling alone. I have taken travelers to places where history was forged, including the Normandy Invasion Beaches, allowing them to stand where sacrifice and courage changed the course of the world. Through my small group tour company, I have organized more than 30 of these journeys, each one a meaningful act of remembrance.