Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a special memorial
created in the memory of all the soldiers who
fought in the services whose bodies unfortunately couldn't be
identified. However, knowing that this place honors
soldiers who fought in WW1, WW2, Vietnam War, and Korean War, guards guard it twenty-four seven to make sure no harm happens to the tomb.
created in the memory of all the soldiers who
fought in the services whose bodies unfortunately couldn't be
identified. However, knowing that this place honors
soldiers who fought in WW1, WW2, Vietnam War, and Korean War, guards guard it twenty-four seven to make sure no harm happens to the tomb.
History of the Tomb
We all know the stories about how the tomb is made to honor unrecognizable fallen soldiers, but what is the history behind the memorial we all know so well today?
The tomb was approved in March 4th, 1921 by congress. They knew that there needed to be a memorial to honor these soldiers who fought in our wars who sadly couldn't be identified. So, as a plan they decided to build this memorial. That same year, World War 1 had ended so they had to chose between 4 bodies from the war that weren’t identifiable. However, before selected each body had to be thoroughly inspected to make sure there was no evidence at all to whom the people once were because if that was the case they would have to be returned to the families. None of the bodies though were found to have any connections to anyone known. Finally on October 24th, 1921 at 10:00 Sergeant Edward Younger had selected the third one of the bodies for the tomb. There would be no remains in the tomb, so this body would only be representing all the Unknown Dead Americans of WW1 and many significant American wars to come. The next day, they took the soldier in a flag-draped casket on a special train car heading to Le Havre.
Then on November 9th, 1921 the body was delivered to the capitol's rotunda by the U.S. Navy followed by a train of important people; which is an unusual walk for a soldier being carried to its resting place. This line of people included the president, vice president, chief and associate justices of the supreme court, Diplomatic corps members, bearers of the congressional medal of honor, senators, members of congress, generals of the army from WW1 and previous wars, other distinguished officers of the army, marine corps, and navy, plus many other supreme officers, veterans, and thousands of pedestrians. In the morning of November 11th, 1921 the casket arrived at Arlington National Cemetery escorted by the Navy and Admirals. When the body was finally laid on the ground before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there was a huge but simple funeral ceremony was held to commemorate all of the Unknown Americans that have passed away. The sounding of Taps ended the funeral, ending with the president honoring this soldier with the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross.
The tomb was approved in March 4th, 1921 by congress. They knew that there needed to be a memorial to honor these soldiers who fought in our wars who sadly couldn't be identified. So, as a plan they decided to build this memorial. That same year, World War 1 had ended so they had to chose between 4 bodies from the war that weren’t identifiable. However, before selected each body had to be thoroughly inspected to make sure there was no evidence at all to whom the people once were because if that was the case they would have to be returned to the families. None of the bodies though were found to have any connections to anyone known. Finally on October 24th, 1921 at 10:00 Sergeant Edward Younger had selected the third one of the bodies for the tomb. There would be no remains in the tomb, so this body would only be representing all the Unknown Dead Americans of WW1 and many significant American wars to come. The next day, they took the soldier in a flag-draped casket on a special train car heading to Le Havre.
Then on November 9th, 1921 the body was delivered to the capitol's rotunda by the U.S. Navy followed by a train of important people; which is an unusual walk for a soldier being carried to its resting place. This line of people included the president, vice president, chief and associate justices of the supreme court, Diplomatic corps members, bearers of the congressional medal of honor, senators, members of congress, generals of the army from WW1 and previous wars, other distinguished officers of the army, marine corps, and navy, plus many other supreme officers, veterans, and thousands of pedestrians. In the morning of November 11th, 1921 the casket arrived at Arlington National Cemetery escorted by the Navy and Admirals. When the body was finally laid on the ground before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, there was a huge but simple funeral ceremony was held to commemorate all of the Unknown Americans that have passed away. The sounding of Taps ended the funeral, ending with the president honoring this soldier with the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross.
changing of the guard ritual
The ritual of Changing of the Guards is extremely important, sacred, and a big part of The Tomb of the Unknown as a memorial. The monument is guarded twenty-four seven, seven days a week in every weather condition; rain, snow, hurricane, thunder, lightning, etc. The guards change shifts every hour, and when it’s time to switch a uniformed relief commander announces that it’s time for the Changing of the guard. Then, the relieving sentinel unlocks the bolt of their M-14 gun to signify the beginning of the ritual. The commander then approaches the tomb, salutes, then asks all to refrain from talking or loud noises to show respect. The relief commander carefully inspects every part of the sentinel’s rifle in white gloves, making sure everything is in order within the gun. The reliving sentinel and the relief commander both meet the retiring sentinel in the middle of the path in front of the tomb. All of them then turn to salute the tomb, representing the unknown soldiers who have been symbolically given the Medal oof Honor. After this, the orders go in the following sequence:
Relief Commander to Relieved Sentinel: Pass on your orders.
Current sentinel to New Sentinel: Post and orders, remain as directed.
New Sentinel in reply: Orders acknowledged.
Then he/she positions themselves on the mat. As the relief commander walks by, the new sentinel walks up to the tomb with 90 steps per minute.
The Tomb Guard then starts the 21-gun salute. The number is 21, because that is the highest honor that anyone in the military can be awarded with. He/she marches behind the tomb and down the matt with 21 steps, turns, faces east for 21 seconds, faces north for 21 seconds, then takes 21 steps back up the matt. After each turn, the sentinel has a “shoulder-arms” motion that causes his weapon to be placed on the shoulder closest to any visitor. This signifies that the guard shows how any threat will have to go through the guard, before going anywhere near the tomb. This marching sequence is then repeated as many times as needed.
This is a video of the Changing of the Guard Ceremony (Sorry if there is some background noise)