In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed
November 11th as Armistice Day to remind
Americans of the tragedies of war. A law
adopted in 1938 made the day a federal
holiday. In 1954, Congress changed the
name of the holiday to Veterans Day to
honor all U.S. veterans.
Veterans Day is a time to remember
those men and women who served in our U.S.
Armed Forces.
On Memorial Day 1958, two more unidentified
American war dead were brought from overseas
and interred in the plaza beside the unknown
soldier of World War I. One was killed in
World War II, the other in the Korean War.
In 1973, a law passed providing interment of
an unknown American from the Vietnam War,
but none was found for several years. In 1984,
an unknown serviceman from that conflict was
placed alongside the others. To honor these
men, symbolic of all Americans who gave their
lives in all wars, an Army honor guard, The
3d U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day
and night vigil.
At 11 a.m. on November 11,
a combined color guard representing all
military services executes "Present Arms"
at the tomb. The nation's tribute to its war
dead is symbolized by the laying of a
presidential wreath. The bugler plays "taps."
The rest of the ceremony takes place in the
amphitheater.
HERE RESTS IN
HONORED GLORY
AN AMERICAN
SOLDIER
KNOWN BUT TO GOD
In 1998 the Vietnam soldier was
identified through DNA tests as Michael
Blassie, a 24-year-old Air Force pilot who
was shot down in May of 1972 near the
Cambodian border. His body was disinterred
and reburied by his family in St. Louis,
Missouri.
