Episode 9: Known but to God

The Meuse-Argonne Cemetery is one of eight cemeteries in Europe dedicated as the final resting place of American service members killed in World War I. 

The three unknown soldiers not selected of transfer to Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were placed in Block G, Row 1, Graves 1, 2, and 3 

Construction on the Tomb of the Unknown Monument at Arlington was completed in approximately six months and was ready for dedication on Armistice Day, November 11, 1921.

 The body of the Unknown Soldier was transported from France on the USS Olympia and arrived in Washington, DC on November 9, 1921.

The Unknown Soldier laid in state in the Capitol Rotunda on November 10, 1921, and was visited by 90,000 - 100,000 people at a rate of 100 per minute. President Warren G. Harding was one of the dignitaries who was able to visit on November 9th. 

A huge crowd turned out to watch the Unknown Soldier's final movement from the Capitol Building to Arlington National Cemetery.

 

As part of the burial ceremony, General Pershing tossed American dirt into the mausoleum, where the Unknown Soldier would rest on French soil brought over on the Olympia.

Several dignitaries from WWI allied nations attended the burial ceremony, including Chief Plenty Coups of the Crow Nation who placed his war bonnet onto the Unknown's Casket before it was lowered into the mausoleum.  

The original sarcophagus for the tomb, seen here on its first anniversary, November 11, 1922, was smaller than today's sarcophagus and was intended to be a temporary marker. It was eventually replaced by what is in the cemetery today in the 1930s... but we'll talk about that next week.