WEBVTT 00:01.240 --> 00:02.240 mhm . 00:09.740 --> 00:11.860 There was an elaborate selection and 00:11.860 --> 00:13.638 entombment process that goes on 00:13.638 --> 00:16.140 throughout 1921 . And the main goals of 00:16.140 --> 00:18.130 this were twofold . First to 00:18.130 --> 00:20.297 demonstrate the respect and honor with 00:20.297 --> 00:22.241 which America held its war dead uh 00:22.241 --> 00:24.408 specifically the unknowns . But really 00:24.408 --> 00:26.408 extending to all of the dead of the 00:26.408 --> 00:28.519 world war . And then secondly , these 00:28.519 --> 00:30.741 these processes were designed to ensure 00:30.741 --> 00:30.560 that the unknown remains that 00:30.570 --> 00:32.900 ultimately entombed at Arlington can 00:32.900 --> 00:35.140 never be identified that it will remain 00:35.150 --> 00:36.060 forever on . 00:46.240 --> 00:47.340 Mhm . Yeah . 00:57.240 --> 00:58.240 Mm hmm , 01:19.240 --> 01:23.050 mm hmm . Mhm . Mhm . 01:31.340 --> 01:34.750 Yeah . Yeah . Mhm . 01:36.240 --> 01:39.650 Yeah . Mhm . 01:40.140 --> 01:43.960 Yeah . Mm hmm , 01:45.540 --> 01:46.540 mm hmm 01:52.540 --> 01:53.540 mm hmm 02:14.940 --> 02:16.250 mm hmm . Mhm . 02:18.800 --> 02:20.660 Yeah . 02:29.600 --> 02:35.950 A 02:36.740 --> 02:39.860 mm hmm . Yeah . 02:41.240 --> 02:42.340 Mhm mm hmm , 02:45.440 --> 02:47.050 mm hmm . Yeah . 03:27.340 --> 03:27.750 Yeah . 03:35.940 --> 03:38.690 During World War One , The over 100,000 03:38.690 --> 03:40.857 American war dead were buried close to 03:40.857 --> 03:43.023 where they fell in over 2000 temporary 03:43.023 --> 03:45.250 cemeteries . The graves registration 03:45.250 --> 03:47.028 service worked hard to properly 03:47.028 --> 03:49.520 identify and mark these graves . But 03:49.520 --> 03:51.742 the chaos of combat and the destruction 03:51.742 --> 03:53.798 of modern weaponry meant that at the 03:53.798 --> 03:56.020 end of the war , over 1600 remains were 03:56.020 --> 03:58.570 still unidentified Amongst over 4000 03:58.580 --> 03:59.691 missing in action . 04:03.340 --> 04:05.562 While the next of kin of the known dead 04:05.630 --> 04:07.408 were offered the choice between 04:07.408 --> 04:09.074 repatriation and overseas and 04:09.074 --> 04:11.130 tournament . All of the 1600 unknown 04:11.130 --> 04:13.241 remains were interred in the overseas 04:13.241 --> 04:16.050 cemeteries . In 1921 . Following the 04:16.050 --> 04:17.994 example of our allies , the United 04:17.994 --> 04:19.939 States decided to bring one set of 04:19.939 --> 04:21.883 unknown remains back to the United 04:21.883 --> 04:24.106 States to represent all of those fallen 04:24.106 --> 04:26.990 who are missing or unknown . This 04:26.990 --> 04:29.157 unknown would be entombed at Arlington 04:29.157 --> 04:32.550 National Cemetery . Mhm . Mhm . 04:44.340 --> 04:46.540 Yeah . Mm hmm . Yeah . 04:47.140 --> 04:49.060 Yeah . 05:02.840 --> 05:05.350 Yeah . Yeah . 05:07.240 --> 05:09.520 Yeah , 05:12.640 --> 05:16.570 that's right . Mm hmm , mm hmm , 05:16.570 --> 05:20.260 mm hmm . Mhm , mm hmm . Mhm . 05:43.540 --> 05:46.010 When I pass by any of the headstones 05:46.010 --> 05:48.232 and I see that it is an unknown soldier 05:48.660 --> 05:50.771 I like to go by and just let him know 05:50.771 --> 05:52.938 we're here for him that he hasn't been 05:52.938 --> 05:56.540 forgotten and we take care of him . And 05:56.550 --> 05:59.980 uh it's almost as if we have become 05:59.990 --> 06:03.220 family for someone whose family never 06:03.220 --> 06:05.760 got to find out where their loved one 06:05.760 --> 06:09.640 rests . A marne 06:09.650 --> 06:12.630 american cemetery is in Belleau France . 06:12.630 --> 06:15.370 It's a small community about an hour 06:15.380 --> 06:18.640 outside of paris . And this place 06:18.640 --> 06:20.970 figured prominently in World War One 06:20.980 --> 06:23.091 with the Battle of Belleau Wood which 06:23.091 --> 06:25.313 is just behind this chapel right here . 06:25.313 --> 06:28.350 Uh it was in the spring and summer of 06:28.350 --> 06:31.860 1918 and we had a number of U . S . 06:31.860 --> 06:34.060 Divisions who were here to include the 06:34.060 --> 06:37.340 second , The 3rd and the 26th 06:37.350 --> 06:39.940 divisions . And the Marines gained the 06:39.940 --> 06:41.829 reputation here because they were 06:41.829 --> 06:43.440 attached to the 2nd division 06:50.040 --> 06:53.300 After World War I after the battle here 06:53.310 --> 06:56.320 in 1918 . Uh this cemetery was 06:56.320 --> 06:58.860 originally a temporary site where all 06:58.860 --> 07:01.350 the remains were brought for processing 07:01.350 --> 07:04.900 and burial . And then afterwards the 07:04.910 --> 07:07.021 permanent cemetery was built over the 07:07.021 --> 07:09.330 course of the 1920s and we were 07:09.330 --> 07:12.580 dedicated in 1937 . 07:12.590 --> 07:16.390 Currently we have 2,289 07:16.400 --> 07:18.960 soldiers who are buried here Of them . 07:18.960 --> 07:22.320 We have 1060 whose names are here in 07:22.320 --> 07:24.650 the chapel and their remains were never 07:24.650 --> 07:26.817 found . So they are most likely either 07:26.817 --> 07:30.100 in the woods or in the fields around us . 07:31.340 --> 07:34.470 Yeah . We have 250 07:34.480 --> 07:37.060 of soldiers who are unknown . And they 07:37.060 --> 07:40.660 are buried within the cemetery itself . 07:43.640 --> 07:46.060 When the tomb of the unknown soldier 07:46.060 --> 07:48.850 was being dedicated 100 years ago in 07:48.850 --> 07:51.330 Marin provided a soldier who was 07:51.330 --> 07:54.220 unknown for the process of selection . 07:54.230 --> 07:56.397 There were three other sites in France 07:56.397 --> 07:58.960 as well . And so we don't know if the 07:58.960 --> 08:01.480 person who lies in the tomb of the 08:01.480 --> 08:03.591 unknown soldier in Arlington today is 08:03.591 --> 08:07.000 from a Martin . But if it is or isn't 08:07.010 --> 08:08.677 it doesn't matter that person 08:08.677 --> 08:11.310 represents all of the war dead from 08:11.310 --> 08:14.990 World War One . So if he's from belo 08:15.000 --> 08:17.390 here , he could be a soldier . He could 08:17.400 --> 08:21.180 be a marine . We don't know . But the 08:21.180 --> 08:24.220 significance of the fact is that that 08:24.220 --> 08:26.280 one person represents all of the 08:26.280 --> 08:28.610 american doughboys who fought and died 08:28.680 --> 08:29.736 in World War One . 08:34.040 --> 08:37.800 Yeah . I think 08:37.810 --> 08:40.520 another thing with american battle 08:40.520 --> 08:42.900 monuments commission the mission itself , 08:42.910 --> 08:45.630 it becomes very personal to the 08:45.630 --> 08:47.852 superintendent and the staff because we 08:47.852 --> 08:50.080 know we're taking care of these people 08:50.090 --> 08:53.130 who made the ultimate sacrifice and 08:53.140 --> 08:56.140 that we're not going to forget that um , 08:56.150 --> 08:58.261 those of us who served in uniform . I 08:58.261 --> 09:00.580 think it even becomes a more personal 09:00.580 --> 09:03.420 calling to ensure that you didn't leave 09:03.420 --> 09:06.250 someone behind that they have been 09:06.940 --> 09:09.480 appropriately taken care of for 09:09.480 --> 09:10.480 eternity . 09:16.440 --> 09:17.440 Yeah , 09:20.140 --> 09:23.440 wow . Yeah . 09:24.140 --> 09:28.110 People when they come here , they 09:28.110 --> 09:30.140 come into the cemetery grounds . 09:31.640 --> 09:34.950 Usually they are in awe of the amount 09:34.950 --> 09:37.700 of young men and women , you know 09:37.710 --> 09:39.877 resting over here resting in a foreign 09:39.877 --> 09:43.520 country . Um , you know who sailed 09:43.520 --> 09:45.687 across the ocean and never came home . 09:45.687 --> 09:47.890 You know , every one of these soldiers 09:47.890 --> 09:50.057 had a mother and a father and you know 09:50.057 --> 09:52.720 sisters , brothers and husbands , wives 09:52.730 --> 09:56.510 and Children . And you know , I like to 09:56.510 --> 09:59.830 talk about the word sacrifice and uh 10:00.120 --> 10:02.287 you know the soldiers , they make what 10:02.287 --> 10:04.620 we call the ultimate sacrifice . Mm hmm . 10:05.840 --> 10:08.110 We are at the Meuse Argonne American 10:08.110 --> 10:10.770 cemetery which is America's largest 10:10.780 --> 10:13.150 cemetery in Europe . And we are right 10:13.150 --> 10:15.317 in the heart of what was once known as 10:15.317 --> 10:18.040 the Meuse Argonne campaign . The last 10:18.040 --> 10:20.310 six weeks of the First World War from 10:20.320 --> 10:22.042 the end of September until the 10:22.042 --> 10:24.690 armistice in November of 1918 . And in 10:24.690 --> 10:26.850 that six weeks we had some 26,000 10:26.850 --> 10:29.740 Americans give their lives . Yeah . 10:32.640 --> 10:34.980 Yeah . Mm hmm . 10:35.540 --> 10:39.330 Amongst the 14,000 we have buried here , 10:39.330 --> 10:42.040 we have almost 500 buried as unknowns . 10:42.050 --> 10:44.050 No positive identification could be 10:44.050 --> 10:46.680 made . And and they are buried 10:46.680 --> 10:49.410 throughout uh with the other soldiers . 10:49.420 --> 10:51.520 Um , soldiers in death . Everybody's 10:51.520 --> 10:53.700 equal Sergeants next to Captain's next 10:53.700 --> 10:55.700 to Lieutenant Colonels , next to an 10:55.700 --> 10:57.144 unknown next to a nurse . 11:09.940 --> 11:12.600 Nobody comes specifically to visit 11:12.600 --> 11:14.489 their relatives who is an unknown 11:14.489 --> 11:16.656 soldier because they have no idea what 11:16.656 --> 11:16.650 happened to their soldier where they 11:16.650 --> 11:20.570 are . Um And when it happened , 11:20.580 --> 11:23.610 so there's there's a noble importance 11:23.620 --> 11:25.900 in honoring them as we honor all 11:25.900 --> 11:29.060 soldiers who sacrifice . Mm hmm . 11:37.240 --> 11:38.240 Thanks . 11:42.840 --> 11:43.840 Mhm . 11:50.240 --> 11:52.840 Yeah , mm hmm . 11:58.740 --> 12:00.360 Oh . 12:06.740 --> 12:07.740 Mhm , 12:10.640 --> 12:13.760 mm hmm . Early in the morning of 12:13.760 --> 12:16.750 October 24 , 1921 , a detail of a 12:16.750 --> 12:18.972 French and American soldiers rearranged 12:18.972 --> 12:21.260 the caskets ensuring their anonymity 12:21.270 --> 12:23.381 and that no casket could be connected 12:23.381 --> 12:25.760 to a specific cemetery . Later that 12:25.760 --> 12:27.660 same morning , a solemn selection 12:27.660 --> 12:30.440 ceremony was held following speeches 12:30.440 --> 12:32.440 from french and american generals . 12:32.440 --> 12:34.218 Sergeant Edward F . Younger , a 12:34.218 --> 12:36.440 decorated veteran of the war selected a 12:36.440 --> 12:39.010 single unknown by placing a spray of 12:39.010 --> 12:41.121 white roses upon one of the caskets . 12:54.040 --> 12:55.040 Yeah , 12:58.240 --> 12:59.650 mm hmm 13:02.240 --> 13:02.750 mm hmm 13:06.940 --> 13:08.107 mm hmm mm hmm mm hmm 13:20.940 --> 13:24.780 mm hmm mm hmm . 13:26.640 --> 13:27.750 Okay , 13:35.740 --> 13:36.740 mm 13:36.740 --> 13:40.660 hmm 13:44.840 --> 13:48.590 mm hmm mm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm mm 13:48.590 --> 13:51.340 hmm . Yeah . 13:55.140 --> 13:56.250 Hi . 13:59.580 --> 14:08.590 Yeah . 14:16.480 --> 14:19.280 Yeah . Mm hmm . 14:20.540 --> 14:33.860 A 14:34.640 --> 14:37.980 mm hmm mm hmm . 14:39.340 --> 14:42.560 Yeah . Mm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm 14:43.740 --> 14:46.590 mm hmm mm hmm . 14:48.540 --> 14:51.750 Okay .