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James Jackson Instructor Amber Lemiere English 101 2/22/14 Tomb of the Unknown Soldier People all across the world and throughout the history of time have been building memorials to pay respect to those lost in wars and tragic occurrences that have happened in history. In America one of the most famous and well known memorials that pay tribute to our men and women whove died during times of war is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. This memorial remembers the soldiers who lost their lives fighting in WW1, WW2, Korea, and Vietnam who never had their bodies identified for proper burial. It is guarded by soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment or The Old Guard and sits on a hill that overlooks Washington D.C. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is an important sign of respect to our soldiers and country because it memorializes all of the soldiers who have given up their lives in war and have not been identified. The idea of honoring the unknown dead originated in Europe and after World War 1; seemed like the right way to not only pay respect to those who lost their lives fighting for our country but also to help those who were mourning over the loss of their loved ones get the closure they sought after. The first country to honor its unknown warriors from that war was Great Britain. (Tomb Guard Official Website) Selection of the soldiers used in these graves was a long and drawn out process due to the fact that the United States wanted a soldier who not only died in the battle field during the war, but also wanted a soldier who was anonymously picked for the burial so that not only one, but all unknown soldiers would be recognized. On Memorial Day, 1921 four bodies of U.S. Military soldiers were exhumed from European cemeteries and on

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October 24, 1921 president Harding selected U.S. Army Sgt. Edward F. Younger who was wounded in combat, highly decorated for valor and received the Distinguished Service Medal in "The Great War, the war to end all wars" too select the Unknown Soldier of World War I from four identical caskets at the city hall in Chalons-sur-Marne, France. (Arlington National Cemetery website) This dead soldier was then shipped back home and was buried with full military honors and was placed in the first grave at the tomb location. Sacrifice, suffering, and grief are synonymous with war. A nation of families, friends and citizens, mourning the loss of their loved ones, need closure in order to start their grieving process. They need a place that represents this loss and celebrates the sacrifice that protects the liberties of free nations. (Tomb Guard Official Website) The Tomb of the Unknowns by architect Lorimer Rich memorializes all of the soldiers lost in world wars one, two, the Korean War, and Vietnam that died and have yet to be identified. The tomb is three levels of marble with the bottom two having 6 sections and the top having 9. In the middle of the three levels is a rectangular space where the body of the unidentified soldier is placed and over the top another stone is placed to seal the tomb and protect the body of the soldier. The tomb is made up of 56 tons of marble (the same marble used in the Lincoln Memorial) and is guarded at all times by members of The United States Army 3rd Infantry Regiment. The North and South panels represent A world of Memories and the six major battles engaged in by American forces in France. Each panel has 3 wreaths placed on it with exactly 38 leaves and 12 berries each. On the East Panel three Greek figures are carved representing peace, victor, and valor. The western panel has the words Here rests in honored glory a soldier known but too god carved on its face to let us know that even though we cant identify all of the soldiers who die for our country we still respect and appreciate them and they are not forgotten.

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The tomb of the unknown soldier is located at Arlington National cemetery on the hill of the new amphitheater overlooking Washington D.C. (Wiki) It is guarded by soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment or The Old Guard. The soldiers who are a part of The Old Guard guard the memorial 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Soldiers of this regiment must apply for the job of tomb guard and must be super soldiers (Tomb Guard official Site). The soldiers that are selected for this job must go through gruesome training and pass five very difficult tests. These tests include tests on the changing of the guard and walking the mat, knowledge on 35 pages of information about Arlington National Cemetery and tomb uniform standards for dress blues and shoes/glasses/brass & medals. Also each soldier must know the weapons manuals, military cadences, seven ceremonies and each step needed to complete each ceremony, and military bearings and orders. If they fail even one of the tests they are sent back to their regiments and continue on with their chosen MOS (military occupation specialty) and all of the time they spent learning everything about the tomb guard becomes pointless and wasted. Members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment change guard every half hour (in summer time) hour (in winter times) and must perform the proper changing of the guard ceremony each time. The fact that the training and testing for this job are so difficult shows that our country has nothing but the utmost respect for our unknown soldiers and only the best of the best are given the honor of guarding this memorial. Not only is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier the first memorial that memorializes those lost in war, but the creation of this memorial and selection of soldiers used were considered under long and drawn out processes which shows that we cherish and respect those lost in war. Also the soldiers who guard this memorial must go through gruesome and copious training processes in order to join the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment. From the selection of the bodies used in

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the tomb and the graves near it too the soldiers who guard it, the tomb is an excellent sign of respect to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is an important sign of respect to our soldiers and country because it memorializes all of the soldiers who have given up their lives in war and have not been identified. Every person who makes the decision to protect this country is appreciated and those both alive and deceased are respected and cherished.