Editorial: A telling symbol for veterans

Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

With President Warren Harding presiding, the body of America's Unknown Soldier from World War I was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on Armistice Day 1921. Inscribed on the soldier's white marble tomb are the words, "Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God." Armistice Day, commemorating the Nov. 11, 1918, end of World War I, is now known as Veterans Day, which we celebrate today.

On Memorial Day in 1958, with President Dwight Eisenhower presiding, remains of unknown American troops who died in Word War II and the Korean War were also interred in the tomb, which thereafter, unofficially, became known as the Tomb of the Unkowns. On Memorial Day 1984, with President Ronald Reagan presiding, the body of a then-unknown American serviceman killed in Vietnam was interred in the tomb. The body of U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Michael J. Blassie, however, was identified in 1998 through DNA testing and returned to his family in St. Louis for burial there. Some military items found with his body remain at the tomb, in remembrance of our troops killed in Vietnam.

The Tomb of the Unknowns stands as an eternal symbol for the debt we owe to those who have served honorably in our armed forces. The whole reason of why we observe Veterans Day and Memorial Day is conveyed by that tomb and its inscription. With its ties to Veterans Day, which honors all American veterans, and Memorial Day, which honors those who fell in the line of duty, the tomb represents what it means to wear the uniform of a branch of the U.S. military.

We think of all those who have died, including Marine Lt. Fred Pokorney, Marine Lance Cpl. Donald Cline, Army Capt. Joshua Byers, Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Cameron Sarno and Marine Pfc. John Lukac -- Nevadans who have been killed in Iraq -- and Army Pfc. Matthew Commons, a Boulder City High School graduate who was killed in Afghanistan. And, today especially, we think of all those who have served. The tomb in Washington represents the sacrifice they were prepared to make.