Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery occupies 612 acres in Virginia
on the Potomac River, directly opposite Washington. This land was part of the
estate of John Parke Custis, Martha Washington's son. His son, George
Washington Parke Custis, built the mansion which later became the home of
Robert E. Lee. In 1864, Arlington became a military cemetery. More than
240,000 service members and their dependents are buried there. Expansion of
the cemetery began in 1966, using a 180-acre tract of land directly east of
the present site. In 1921, an Unknown American Soldier of World War I was
buried in the cemetery; the monument at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Tomb of the
was opened to the public without ceremony in 1932. Two additional Unknowns,
one from World War II and one from the Korean War, were buried May 30, 1958.
The Unknown Serviceman of Vietnam was buried on May 28, 1984. The inscription
carved on the Tomb of the Unknowns reads:
HERE RESTS IN HONORED
GLORY AN
AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT
TO GOD
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