Free Republic

Oscar E. and Anna Anderson of Willmar died believing that their only son had been buried at sea after being killed in action during the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. Now, surviving family members hope to learn whether the remains of U.S. Navy Motor Machinist Mate 1st Class John E. Anderson were interred in the Saint Laurent Cemetery, Baveux, France, as an unknown American casualty of World War II. The cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach has since been designated as the Normandy American Military Cemetery. His name is listed there as among the “Missing In Action’’ from...

Listen carefully and you can hear Pres. Obama’s internal dialogue: “who is the soon-to-be-former advance man who roped me into this?” Morning Joe interrupted its panel’s banter today to bring live coverage of Pres. Obama participating in a wreath-laying ceremony in Moscow at the tomb of Russia’s unknown soldier. There was PBO, forced to walk at an unnaturally slow place, stuck behind a goose-stepping Russian soldier even younger and more fresh-faced than he. Comic relief was provided by a portly fellow shambling along screen right carrying a briefcase [the Russian nuclear "football" perhaps?] View video here.

Civil War bones will not be auctioned Sunday By KEVIN LANDRIGAN, Telegraph Staff landrigank@telegraph-nh.com Published: Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005 Photo from J.C. Devine The bones of a Civil War soldier, above, were to be auctioned off this weekend, but have since been pulled off the block. The bones of an unknown Civil War soldier buried in Virginia became, 140 years later, item No. 134-105A in an auction house catalog in Milford. Veterans and state legislators expressed outrage when they learned of the planned sale of the soldier’s remains at an auction Sunday run by the J.C. Devine auction house –...

The body of an unidentified American was exhumed from each of four American cemeteries............. on 22 October 1921. Each was examined to ensure that the person had been a member of the American Expeditionary Forces, that he had died of wounds received in combat, and that there were no clues to his identity whatsoever. After mortuary preparation, the bodies were placed in identical caskets and shipping cases. The next day they were carried by truck to Chalons-sur-Marne for the selection ceremony. [4] At 1500 on 23 October all four caskets arrived by truck at the city hall of Chalons-sur-Marne. Awaiting...

“Are we, as a nation, still deserving of the price I paid for our freedom?”

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...

Mon Jan 6, 8:45 AM ET Iraqi soldiers march in front the tomb of the unknown soldier during a military ceremony on Army day in Baghdad, January 6, 2003. A defiant Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) declared his country ready for war and issued his first public criticism of U.N. weapons inspectors, accusing them of spying. (Suhaib Salem/Reuters)