Free Republic

ARLINGTON, Va. There are cracks in the white marble Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, and each year, those cracks go farther and deeper. The 74-year-old monument is not in danger of crumbling any time soon. But the cemetery is deciding whether to patch the fissures or replace the marble altogether. The tomb has been patched repeatedly, most recently in 1989. John Metzler, the cemetery's superintendent, says the cemetery could repair it, do nothing or buy an extra marble block and store it as a standby. He worries that some of the carved sculptures could eventually fall off....

ARLINGTON — They stand vigil beside the nation’s most honored dead – a tribute paid with crack precision, perfect profiles and pressed creases. Every minute of every day since 1937, the elite sentinels of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery have taken turns “walking the mat” beside the marbled crypt of an unidentified casualty of war. The bones inside the tomb represent the thousands of Americans so badly butchered in battles over the centuries that their bodies came home unrecognizable. The unwavering ritual outside the tomb makes good on a nation’s promise to never forget its...