In 1921, the first soldier of the Tomb of the Unknowns was laid to rest. The memorial was filmed.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Thu Nov 11, 2021: In 1921, the first soldier of the Tomb of the Unknowns was laid to rest. The memorial was filmed

Retropolis

In 1921, the first soldier of the Tomb of the Unknowns was laid to rest. The memorial was caught on film.

Cameras captured three days of ceremony that culminated with the dedication of the monument to the unidentified killed in war.

By Michael E. Ruane
Yesterday at 7:00 a.m. EST

It was cold and raining that afternoon, and officials had spread sand on the gangway so the sailors carrying the precious casket off the ship wouldn’t slip. ... On the dock at the Washington Navy Yard, VIPs stood at attention, awaiting the return of America’s unknown soldier. The USS Olympia, which had carried the body from France, rang out eight bells — a traditional salute to the fallen.

A band began Chopin’s funeral march, and a team of six black horses hitched to an empty caisson waited for its cargo. ... As the cameras rolled, Gen. John J. Pershing, who had led the American troops during World War I, stood bundled in his Army coat. Gen. John. A. Lejeune, the Marine Corps commandant, raised his hand in salute. Secretary of War John W. Weeks took off his top hat, baring his bald head in the weather.

On Nov. 9, 1921, the anonymous “doughboy” — the nickname given to the infantrymen — was carried down the wet gangway. And Washington paused for three days of ceremony that would lead to the creation of the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery. ... There, the soldier was laid to rest on Nov. 11, 1921 — three years after World War I ended in 1918.

On Thursday, 100 years to the day, Arlington will commemorate the event with a public procession through the cemetery featuring honor guards, the U.S. Army Band and military flyovers.

{snip}

Editing by Monica Norton. Photo editing by Mark Miller. Video editing by Hadley Green. Copy editing by Jamie Zega. Design by Allison Mann and Talia Trackim.

By Michael Ruane
Michael E. Ruane is a general assignment reporter who also covers Washington institutions and historical topics. He has been a general assignment reporter at the Philadelphia Bulletin, an urban affairs and state feature writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and a Pentagon correspondent at Knight Ridder newspapers. Twitter https://twitter.com/michaelruane

[Aristus]

1. The ship that brought the soldier's remains to the U.S. from France, the cruiser U.S.S. Olympia

still exists, and serves as a museum ship in Philadelphia.