Tomb of the UnknownsRon Kagan

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier• Perpetually guarded since

July 2nd, 1937

• Located by the Arlington National Cemetery Amphitheater

• The Arlington National Cemetery spans 624 acres of land by the Potomac River across from the monument to President Lincoln in Washington DC

•The only cemetery administered by the Department of Army

History

Overlooking Washington DC, the Tomb contains servicemen who fought in the First World War, Second

World War, the Korean War and Vietnam

Each of the deceased soldiers buried at the Tomb could not be identified and were buried with a funeral that the President of the United States would

oversee as next of kin

On March 4, 1921, Congress approved the burial of an unidentified American Soldier of World War I in the plaza of the Arlington National Cemetery Amphitheater

The white marble sarcophagus is inscribed with these words:Here rests in

honored glory an American soldier

known but to God

The tomb rests above the grave of the unknown from World War I; graves marked by marble tombstones nearby contain unknown soldiers from World War II, Korea and Vietnam

Visiting Arlington National Cemetery

• Hours: 7 days a week, 365 days a year

• 8 am - 7 pm (April - September)

• 8 am - 5 pm (October - March)

• Phone: (877) 907-8585

• Directions: located on the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Area Metrorail’s Blue Line. A Metrobus stops nearby on Memorial Drive. Narrated tours are offered exclusively by TourMobile

• http://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/VisitorInformation/PublicTransportation.aspx

Sources & Further ReadingPhoto Slide 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/6093757560/Photo Slide 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/2583383455/Photo Slide 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterkrazy/5766496720/Photo Slide 4: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/4097699225/Photo Slide 5:

The Arlington National Cemetery by John C. MetzlerRecords of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. Vol. 60/62, The 44th separately bound book (1960/1962), pp. 224-230

Where Valor Rests by Rick Atkinson, National Geographic Society, 2009