Evening star., 1950-04-13
1851 Burial Set
For Unknown
0fWorId WarI|
Entombment Planned
For Memorial Doy
At Arlington

World War II will be buried In
Arlington Cemetery on Memorial
Day of 1851.
The Defense Department, max
ing this announcement last night,
said the unidentified serviceman
Will be selected from among six
members of the armed forces who
gave their lives and whose iden-
Titles can never be established
The selection will be made at
ceremonies Iii Independence Hall.
Philadelphia. May 26, 1851.
Immediately following the selec-
ton, the Unknown Serviceman
Will be brought to the Naval Gun
Factory here by a naval vessel.
The remains then will lie in state
In the Capitol rotunda until the
funeral in Arlington.
The six bodies from which the
flnal selection will be made will
he taken from among unidenti-
ned dead now buried in Is per-
manent cemeteries overseas. There
are now about 5000 unidentified
dead buried in these cemeteries.
Under the plan one unknown
representing each Of the five over
seas theaters and the Alaskan
Command will be selected on or
before March Is, 1851,
The announcement stated:
The unknown dead will be Sc
lected as candidates for the great
est memorial honors which the
country can bestow on the basis
of three factors:
There must be no evidence
that the deceased was other than
a member of the United States
Armed Forces, the possibility of
identity being established In the
future must be eliminated beyond
all doubt and the deceased must
not be a part of group burial"
Unlike the Unknown Soldier OF
World War I, the serviceman Of
the last war may come from either
the Army, Navy. Air Force, Ma
rine Corps or Coast Guard.
Appointment OF a seven-mem-
ber preliminary selection board
by the Army Quartermaster Cen
eral will mark the first step In
choosing the Unknown Service
man. This board will use quar-.
termaster files to select one prin.
cipal and five alternate unknowns
in each of the overseas ceme-
teries OF October /.
The board then will prepare
capsules containing the code num-
Der OF the remains of each un.
known now on file. Unknowns
are identifiable only by code num-
bers.
The capsules will be placed In
containers designated for each
cemetery. and six will be drawn
from each container. The first
capsule drawn will be designated
the principal unknown, and the
remainder listed as alternates In
the order drawn.
Sealed Instructions. Y
Following this procedure, ofi-
GERS will carry sealed instructions
regarding the exhumation and
examination Of the selected re-
mains to make certain that quail
ifications as to unidentifiability
are met. If the principal fails to
meet the qualifications. those re-
mains will be re-interred, and an
alternate taken. If none quail
fles. a second drawing will be
ordered.
The commanders of the over
seas areas will determine the pro-
cedure for the next selection from
the six chosen from each of the
16 cemeteries. The unknown
selected will be placed in a new
steel, hermetically sealed casket.
AS provided by law the five un-
knowns not selected at Philadel-
phia will be returned to overseas
cemeteries.
Two bodies from the Pacific
theaters will be brought to this
country by naval vessels and the
unknowns representing the Euro.
pean. Mediterranean. Africa Mid
die East theaters and the Alaskan
command will be flown here by the
Air Force.
AS a step to make certain that
none of the remains is identifiable.
even as to the area from which it
was sent. the unknowns first will
be placed in new caskets and in
a private cemetery at Philadel-
phia before the final selection Is
made.
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