What the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Means to Its Guards

In the autumn of 1921, the U.S. Army grappled with a challenging decision. Among four identical coffins containing unidentified American soldiers who perished in World War I, only one would be interred at the newly constructed Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. The Army deemed it fitting that an experienced commissioned officer should make the selection.

Among the four war casualties, all buried in French cemeteries, an enlisted man from France was chosen for France's Unknown Soldier. This decision came when the French military requested an enlisted man to select France's Unknown Soldier. The choice fell to Edward Younger, a 23-year-old sergeant and one of the pallbearers who had carried the coffins.

Younger, who had survived a shell explosion and was wounded in the thigh during World War I, expressed feelings of overwhelm and numbness upon being entrusted with this task. He acknowledged that some of the deceased might have been his friends or comrades. Younger placed roses on the second casket to his right and claimed his duty was complete.

The Unknown Soldier embarked on a journey that night by train to Paris and the following day to Le Havre, where his casket was loaded onto the USS Olympia for the trip to Arlington. The Unknown Soldier was buried beneath a marble slab atop a hill overlooking the nation's capital, overlooking the Potomac River. Younger's selection paved the way for a somber place for parents to mourn their children who never returned home from battle.

The tomb soon became a pilgrimage site for thousands of visitors to pay their respects to America's war dead. In 1926, military guards were stationed to prevent visitors from climbing or stepping on the tomb. The marble monument, familiar to today's visitors, was finished in 1932, and the 24-hour duty began in 1937. Today's guards, part of an infantry unit, bear a resemblance to Younger, including Thomas Iglesias, who received significant attention on Veterans Day as he reminded visitors to respect the tomb.

A CNN camera captured Iglesias shouting, "All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times!"