Existing comment:
1920-1921
The Construction of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery
The idea of honoring the unknown dead of World War I originated in Europe. France and England paid such honors on November 11, 1920, on the second anniversary of the war's end. Other European nations followed. The commanding general of American forces in France proposed a similar memorial in the United States. On March 4, 1921, Congress passed a resolution to return an unknown US soldier from Europe and to build a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Designed as a simple structure to be later used as an appropriate monument, the World War I Unknown lay under a marble slab from 1921 to 1932. In 1932 the sarcophagus was added. |