The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a practice utilized
throughout the world to memorialize soldiers who have
died in modern wars without being identified. The first
monument of this kind was the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers
in Fredericia, Denmark
(1858), which memorialized unknown soldiers who died in
the First War of Schleswig. Another such Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier is found in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania and was erected in 1866 to honor those
soldiers who died during the American Civil War.
The history of Tomb of Unknown Soldier begins in modern
times in 1920. A Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was erected
while burying an unknown soldier who had fallen, unidentified,
during the First World War. The soldier was buried to
commemorate all of the unknown soldiers and was laid to
rest in the famous Westminster Abbey. Throughout history,
Westminster Abbey has been the burial place for British
monarchs and nobles, and as such erecting a Tomb of Unknown
Soldiers at this spot was seen as a highly significant
and meaningful gesture. This first Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier in modern times has the inscription, “They
buried him among the kings because he had done good toward
God and Toward His house”.
Since that time, many other countries have also created
a Tomb of Unknown Soldiers to honor veterans from following
wars, including France,
also after the First World War. The history of Tomb of
Unknown Soldiers also extends to the United States, where
such a tomb was erected to honor fallen during the Revolutionary
War, and later came to commemorate all soldiers fallen
during wars involving American soldiers, including the
American Civil War. The history of Tomb of Unknown Soldiers
also includes a long and moving letter written by John
Adams in 1777 after he toured the site himself.
Although the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Pennsylvania began simply as a place to bury the masses of soldiers who died during the Revolutionary War, in later times it would be dedicated to the memory of George Washington and the soldiers he commanded. Visitors today will see a life-sized statue of George Washington resting above the site, which is located within Washington Square in Philadelphia. Although there are a number of inscriptions found on the wall of the memorial found just behind the statue of George Washington, perhaps the best-known is the statement, “Freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness”. The tomb itself bears the inscription, “Beneath this stone rests a soldier of Washington's army who died to give you liberty." An eternal flame also burns here at the site, and the eyes of the George Washington statue purposefully look directly at nearby Independence Hall, which is adjacent to the Liberty Bell. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is within easy walking distance of both of these historical sites, and is also within walking distance of the Franklin Institute of Science and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
