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 (and the white, marble sarcophagus above it) 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 unknown soldiers, one from World War II and one from the Korean War, who were buried beneath two slabs between the tomb and the Memorial Amphitheater behind it.

Other nations also have national burial sites for unknowns from the First World War (also known as the Great 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.Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients – World War I Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (archived from the original on 22 October 2006).

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, . (The completed cost was $48,000.) A design competition was held and won by architect Lorimer RichSyracuse University Archives has an extensive collection of Lorimer Rich (1914 Syracuse graduate) papers pertaining to his architectural design work of the Tomb, including 44 numbered drawings of the Tomb. http://archives.syr.edu/collections/alumni/rich_box.html 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 (cap, die, base and sub-base) of which the die is the largest block with the sculpting on all four sides.

Quarrying the Yule marble (3.9 miles south of Marble, Colorado by the Vermont Marble Company) 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 (in the town of Marble) 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."Marble, Colorado: the City of Stone"; by Duane Vandenbusche and Rex Myers; Golden Bell Press; Denver, Colorado; 6th printing February 1996 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 brothers also carved the Lincoln statue for the Lincoln Memorial, among others). The Tomb was completed without formal ceremony on 9 April 1932.

The TombMany sources reference the 1931 Tomb as a sarcophagus, but it is not: in a sarcophagus, the remains are placed in a hollowed-out portion of the stone; the marble in the Tomb was not hollowed out and the remains are underneath 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 (south) and Korea (north). Between the two lies a crypt that once contained an Unknown from Vietnam (middle). 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.

North and South panel with 3 wreaths on each side represent (in 1931) "a world of memories" but later the six major battles engaged in by American forces in France: Ardennes, Belleau Wood, Château-Thierry, Meuse-Argonne, Oisiu-Eiseu, and Somme. Each wreath has 38 leaves and 12 berries.

East panel that faces Washington, DC, are three Greek figures representing Peace, Victory, and "American Manhood" – but later "Valor" instead of "American Manhood"

West panel is inscribed with (centered on the panel):

HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD

Tomb Dimensions1931 body block tonnage calculated in 2004 is different (by 5.9%) from the other source amount of 56 tons and can not be explained with certainty. Sub-base cubic footage and tons were calculated from the source dimensions because cubic feet and tons were not included in the source data table. Per cubic foot, the marble weighs 170 pounds. as of 2004 (xxx)* 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" (14'-0")* 6'-6.4" (7'-4.8")* 5'-2.1" (6"-0")* 385.43 (621.6)* 32.76 (52.84)* 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.

In September 2026, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced its intent to petition the U.S. Army to exhume and identify the Korean War Unknown. DPAA officials noted that recent breakthroughs in DNA testing now allow investigators to match genetic material from family members up to four generations removed. The DPAA holds reference DNA samples for the family members of the 94% of the estimated 7,400 American service members still missing from the Korean War to aid in the identification process, according to Kelly McKeague, the director of the DPAA.

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.