40 Fun Facts About Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

How many steps does a Tomb Guard march down the black mat before turning to face the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

21 mirrors the 21-gun salute, the military's highest tribute. The guard then faces the Tomb for the same count in seconds before marching back.

What were sightseers doing on the flat, unguarded Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that prompted its first guard in 1925?

Having picnics on the low marble slab, with its view of Washington, was common enough that a civilian guard was posted in 1925. Soldiers took over the next year.

Why does a Tomb Guard pacing the mat at Arlington wear no rank insignia, unlike the relief commander?

Not to outrank the Unknowns, whose ranks nobody knows, the guard on the mat wears a uniform without insignia. Relief commanders show their rank only while changing the guard.

Which war's Unknown was removed from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1998 after DNA testing revealed his name?

Vietnam War remains buried in 1984 proved to be Air Force pilot Michael Blassie, shot down in 1972. His family reburied him in Missouri, and the crypt was left empty.

Sergeant Edward Younger chose America's World War I Unknown Soldier by placing what on one of four identical caskets?

White roses, handed to him by an officer in a French city hall, marked the casket. Younger said he circled the four three times before something made him stop.

The inscription on the west face of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier says the American inside is known only to whom?

God is the last word of the inscription, carved when the marble sarcophagus was finished in 1932. For its first decade the grave was a plain low slab.

Why are a Tomb Guard's white gloves dampened before duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

To grip the rifle better, guards moisten their gloves before each walk. They also spend hours preparing each uniform before a day at the Tomb.

Which nickname belongs to the 3rd Infantry Regiment, keepers of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier since 1948?

The Old Guard got its name from General Winfield Scott at an 1847 victory parade in Mexico City. Formed in 1784, it is the Army's oldest active-duty infantry unit.

The cemetery holding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier stands on land seized from which Confederate general's family?

Robert E. Lee's family lost the Arlington estate in a wartime tax sale over a $92 bill. His son won it back in the Supreme Court, then sold it to the government for $150,000.

Britain's Unknown Warrior, buried on 11 November 1920, lies among kings and queens in which London church?

Westminster Abbey buried him in soil brought from the main battlefields. His grave is covered by black Belgian marble lettered in brass from melted ammunition.

Which American decoration was laid on the World War I Unknown's casket and later given to every Unknown who followed?

Medal of Honor awards went abroad too: General Pershing presented one to Britain's Unknown Warrior in October 1921, weeks before America buried its own Unknown.

How often is the guard changed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during summer opening hours, April through September?

Every half hour in summer, hourly from October through March, and every two hours overnight once the cemetery closes. The watch has not paused since 1937.

France's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where a flame is rekindled every evening, lies beneath which Paris monument?

Arc de Triomphe was a late choice: lawmakers first voted to bury him in the Panthéon. The flame at the tomb has been relit at 6:30 every evening since 1923.

Which president led the burial of the World War I Unknown Soldier at Arlington on 11 November 1921?

Warren G. Harding spoke at the ceremony while Americans nationwide observed two minutes of silence. Foreign dignitaries added their own nations' highest awards.

Why do Tomb Guards often wear sunglasses while on duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

To cut the glare: sunlight bounces off the pale marble of the Tomb and the plaza around it. The rubber mat underfoot wears out and is replaced about twice a year.

How do soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Regiment come to serve as Tomb Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

By volunteering: candidates then face an interview and a two-week trial, memorizing pages of cemetery history to recite word for word before they earn a walk.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier overlooks Washington, D.C., from a hilltop across the Potomac River in which state?

Virginia holds Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 400,000 people are buried. The Tomb stands on a hill there, in front of a marble amphitheater finished in 1920.

Where in Washington did the World War I Unknown Soldier lie in state before burial at Arlington in November 1921?

The Capitol Rotunda drew about 90,000 people on a single day of public viewing. Later Unknowns lay in state there too before their own burials.

Long before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington sealed 2,111 unidentified dead of which war in one vault?

The Civil War left nearly half its dead unidentified, by some estimates. These remains, Union and Confederate alike, were gathered from battlefields within 35 miles of Washington.

Which capital's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier lies in the Alexander Garden, below the walls of a famous fortress?

Moscow reburied soldiers killed defending the city in 1941 beside the Kremlin wall in 1966. The torch for its eternal flame was carried from Leningrad.

What do the steel plates fitted inside a Tomb Guard's shoes produce during movements at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

A sharp heel click comes from a steel shank on the inner heel of each shoe. Guards judge a change by whether every click lands as one, and some changes run on clicks alone.

On which shoulder does a Tomb Guard carry the weapon while pacing the mat at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

The one nearest visitors: after each turn the guard shifts the weapon to the outside shoulder, a sign that the sentinel stands between the Tomb and any possible threat.

Tomb Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier work in three reliefs, each grouping sentinels by which shared trait?

Height sorts the reliefs so the soldiers in each guard change look alike. Each relief has a commander and about six sentinels, working a full day on, then a day off.

The Tomb Guard Identification Badge is the only U.S. Army badge that can be what after its wearer leaves the military?

Revoked is the word: the regiment's commander can take the badge back, even from a veteran in civilian life, for any act that discredits the Tomb.

What does the upside-down laurel wreath on the silver Tomb Guard Identification Badge signify?

Mourning is the message of the inverted wreath, which frames the Tomb's east face on the badge. Sentinels wear it on the right breast pocket.

In 1996, a military police sergeant became the first member of which group to earn the Tomb Guard Identification Badge?

Women could apply once a military police company joined the all-male infantry regiment. Sergeant Heather Johnsen came forward in June 1995 and earned the badge the next year.

The white Yule marble of Arlington's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was quarried high in the mountains of which state?

Colorado quarrymen cut a 124-ton block inside a mountain, then sawed it down to 56 tons. It rode by rail to Vermont for finishing before reaching Arlington.

The east face of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier shows three Greek figures: Peace, Victory and which third?

Valor, the male figure, holds a broken sword and faces Victory, who clasps the hand of Peace, a woman holding a dove. The three face east toward Washington.

Which cruiser, George Dewey's flagship at Manila Bay, carried the World War I Unknown Soldier home from France?

USS Olympia sailed from Le Havre and reached the Washington Navy Yard on November 9, 1921. She survives as a museum ship in Philadelphia, the oldest steel American warship afloat.

Which British decoration did Admiral Beatty give America's Unknown Soldier in 1921 on behalf of King George V?

The Victoria Cross, Britain's top gallantry award, answered an American award to Britain's Unknown Warrior weeks earlier. It is the only one never announced in the London Gazette.

After a Navy corpsman chose the World War II Unknown aboard USS Canberra in 1958, what became of the other candidate?

Given a sea burial with solemn honors, the second casket never reached land. The two had been set either side of the Korean War Unknown on the cruiser's deck.

Which president accepted the burial flag as next of kin when a fourth Unknown was interred at Arlington?

Ronald Reagan took the folded flag on Memorial Day 1984, standing in for a family nobody could name. The casket had lain in state for three days first.

Since 1923, what have British royal brides left on the grave of the Unknown Warrior after their weddings?

Their bouquets follow the example of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later queen, who laid hers there in 1923 for a brother killed at the Battle of Loos.

In which fortress city, scene of a 1916 battle, did a young private choose France's Unknown Soldier from eight coffins?

Verdun's citadel held the eight coffins. Private Auguste Thin picked the sixth because the digits of his regiment, the 132nd, add up to six.

Who chose Italy's Unknown Soldier from eleven coffins in the Basilica of Aquileia in 1921?

A bereaved mother, Maria Bergamas, had lost a son whose grave was destroyed by shelling. She collapsed before the tenth coffin, and that one went to Rome.

Which elite presidential guards stand watch at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Syntagma Square in Athens?

The Evzones of the Presidential Guard keep the post in front of the Old Royal Palace. The monument, an empty tomb, was unveiled in 1932 with a flame lit by a monastery torch.

By a 1922 decree, the regiment guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier alone may march in parades with what?

Fixed bayonets honor the regiment's bayonet charge at the Battle of Cerro Gordo in 1847, during the war with Mexico.

What do Tomb Guards call the small green shelter beside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, used during wreath ceremonies?

The Box gives the sentinel a place to step aside while a wreath is laid and Taps is played. Inside is a phone with a direct line to the guard quarters below.

Which New York congressman and World War I veteran proposed the law creating America's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

Hamilton Fish had commanded a company of the Harlem Hellfighters in France. His resolution passed Congress unanimously in March 1921.

The Piccirilli Brothers, carvers of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, also carved a famous statue of which president?

Abraham Lincoln, seated in his memorial, came out of the same family workshop a decade earlier. The Tomb's sculptor had once worked in the studio of that statue's designer.