The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1921-10-06
UNKNOWN SOLDIER
To Be H0N0RE0
WILL BE BURIED IN ARLINGTON
ON ARMlsTIcE DAY WITH ALL
MILITARY CEREMONY.
REPRESENTS THE SERVICE
How II Happened That Many Who
Died IN France Could Not Be lden.
titled, Despite the Disks They Were
Given.
Bv EDWARD Q. CLARK.

BY EDWARD Q. CLARK.
Washington.-ln the presence OF
ranking military officers Of all coun
tries which took part in the great
war as allies against the central pow.
crs of Europe, an unknown American
/ soldier will be buried on Armistice day
/ in the national cemetery at Arlington
/ The highest military honors which II
| is possible to give viii be accorded the
unknown warrior
Already In England and in France
/ the bodies of unknown soldiers OF
those countries have been buried with
every possible tribute. The French
soldier lies under the Arc de Tri.
Omphe, and the British soldier within
the walls of Westminster abbey.
Gen. John J. Pershing, commanding
general Of the American army, is now
on his way to France, where he viii
participate in the ceremony of award
ing the American Medal of Honor
voted by the American congress, to
the unknown soldier of France, whose
body lies under the great triumphaI
arch.
If General Pershlng has time before
his presence is needed In the United
States to welcome Marshal FOch and
other foreign military officers, he will
visit England and place the American
Medal Of Honor upon the grave Of the
unknown British soldier, who lies in
Westminster abbey In case he can.
not visit England, the medal ceremony
will be performed by another Ameri-
can military officer Of high rank.
Represents Spirit Of the Service.
The unknown American soldier,
whose body is to be buried in Airing
ton on Armisfice day, will rest in the
great amphitheater which has within
its encrcIing walls a Hall of Fame.
The soldier will be the only unknown
American to rest within the enclosure.
Unknown as he u.s. this American mem
Der of the eypeditiOnary force is in
sentiment supposed to represent the
spirit Of the service and the willing
ness for sacrifice of all Americans
who entered the army or navy during
the great war. That he is not known
adds, of course, Ia the somewhat mys
tical nature Of the ennobing cere-
mony.
Who Is the unknown soldier? M
one can answer. 1t Is certain, Of
course that the American authorities.
and the British and French authorities,
used every effort to determine the
identity Of the unknown before maxi
Ing the bodies the subjects and the CEN
tiers of the tributes Of the nations A
good many unknown soldiers were bur
led In the fields Of France. Since their
burial, some Of the unknown dead have
been Identified, hut identification in
many cases has been due more to ac-
cident than to anything else.
Every soldier and sailor in the
American army, officer or enlisted
man. was supposed to year on his
person two identification disks. Some
times three were worn, one on the
wrist and two about the neck pendent
from cords When soldier was bur
led on the field one of his Identified
tiOn disks was buried with him and
the other was kept for reference. I'm
less the burial was under fire, or nee
essarily hurried for some reason, the
grave always was marked with the
Identification number of the dead and
with the number of his regiment and
the letter Of his company These pre-
llmlnary precautions made 1t possible
in almost every case to fix the iden-
tlty Of the fallen.
Discarded or Lost Their Disks.
Soldiers sometimes did curious
things which It Is lard 70 explain.
A number of men threw away their
Identification disks or else lost them
although how they could be lost II Is
hard to explain. The cords by which
the disks were suspended from the
neck and hidden under the blouse We're
stout tapes which years of wear seem
ingly would not abrade TO the break
ing point The tapes and pendants
were not supposed to be removed.
In an the armies which fought the
Germans ON the western front 1t wa,
found at times that soldiers who had
been killed bore no Identification tags
There We're few cases In which all
the insignia ON the mans clothing had
been removed In most of these cases
the presumption was that the bodies
lay unbur'pd after temporary re
treat aud that the Germans removed
the tags and the regimentaI ldentih
cation marks tor the purpose of deter
mining just what units Of the enemy
lay AT their 'front.' This Is regarded
of course as being n legitimate act N
warfare for II is Of the greatest scrv
/ ice sometimes 10 the commanding off
/ Ger To know with whom he is to dea
/ nt his front
Watson May BE Senate Leader.
/ During The vacation time the Re
| publican senators who remained II
/ Washington interested themselves II
quiet discussions as 10 who shouC
be the temporary leader of the party
In the senate while senator Lodge
II serving In the room OF th'
conference on The limitation OF arlna
mcnts ana Far East problems. There IS