Unknown Soldier from World War I being taken from the USS Olympia at the Washington Navy Yard and transported to the US Capitol to lay in state. On November 11, 1921 the body was intered at Arlington National Cemetery.
On Memorial Day, 1921, four unknowns were exhumed from four World War I American cemeteries in France. 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,” selected the Unknown Soldier of World War I from four identical caskets at the city hall in Chalons-sur-Marne, France, Oct. 24, 1921. Sgt. Younger selected the unknown by placing a spray of white roses on one of the caskets. He chose the third casket from the left. The chosen unknown soldier was transported to the United States aboard the USS Olympia. Those remaining were interred in the Meuse Argonne Cemetery, France.
The Unknown Soldier lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda from his arrival in the United States until Armistice Day, 1921. On Nov. 11, 1921, President Warren G. Harding officiated at the interment ceremonies at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Unknown Soldier being taken to Arlington National Cemetery.
Crowds walk alongside the limbers and caissons carrying the flag-draped coffin of the Unknown Soldier on November 9, 1921.
The casket of the Unknown Soldier is seen here lying in state in the Capitol on November 9, 1921.
View from above of the casket of the Unknown Soldier during burial ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery on November 9, 1921.
View of the dignitaries gathered for the funeral services for the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
Upper view of the dignitaries gathered for the funeral services for the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
View of the funeral services for the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
View of the funeral services for the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
Photograph shows the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, at night, with reflection in pool in the foreground. The specific time was 10:30 p.m. on November 11, 1921, the date of the first celebration of Veterans Day.
(Images courtesy of the DC Public Library/Tehrkot Media and the Library of Congress/Tehrkot Media)
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HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY
AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD
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