(November 11, 1921), was originated three years after the end of World War I. The records disclose how six soldiers were sent back to France for a special assignment. Outside the chapel at Chalons-sur-Marne, an officer met them with the instructions, “Men, it is my task to choose one of you to perform a great and sacred duty.” Handing a rose to Sgt. Edward Younger, the officer continued, “In this church are four caskets. In them lie the bodies of four nameless American soldiers. Go into the chapel and place a rose on one of the caskets.”
After the casket was chosen, it was brought back to America and placed in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery, Virginia, to represent all of those brave men who died so our country could remain free. The inscription reads:
Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known only to God.3815
On Memorial Day, 1958, two more unknown soldiers, from World War II and the Korean War, were buried there as well. During his administration, President Ronald Reagan, along with citizens of the United States, laid the fourth soldier to rest in the tomb.