Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Arlington)

At Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, in front of the Memorial Amphitheater, lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On 11 November 1921, an American soldier of the First World War whose identity could not be established was buried here after being brought back from France. Unknown soldiers from the Second World War and the Korean War were added later; their graves are marked by white marble slabs set into the plaza. A soldier from the Vietnam War was identified by DNA testing in 1998 and returned to his family.

The present tomb of Yule marble from Colorado was set up in 1931 and completed without ceremony in 1932. It was designed by the architect Lorimer Rich and the sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, and the carving was done by the Piccirilli Brothers, who also carved the Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial. The east side shows three figures representing Peace, Victory and Valor, and the west side bears the inscription “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God”.

The tomb is guarded around the clock by soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, “The Old Guard”. Serving as a sentinel is considered a high honor in the U.S. armed forces, and the Changing of the Guard is an elaborate ceremony. Other countries such as France and the United Kingdom have their own tombs of unknown soldiers from the First World War.