For many years, I visited National Cemeteries on Memorial Day. I was walking amidst the tombstones of the Los Angeles (CA) National Cemetery on May 30, 2016, when I got the idea for this book.
Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 service members, veterans, and their families, going back to the Revolution. An unidentified soldier from the First World War was interred at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on November 11, 1921, the day known now as Veterans Day.The Tomb now also holds Unknowns from World War II and the Korean War.
The Tomb has been guarded around the clock by the Tomb Guards since midnight on July 2, 1937. Becoming a Tomb Guard sentinel is exceptionally difficult. Their standard is perfection. There is a sentinel on the plaza at every moment. The Unknowns are never alone.
This book would have been impossible without the wisdom and technical knowledge of Tomb Guards past and present, historians, and organizations, especially the Society of the Honor Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (www.tombguard.org).
The 100th centennial of the Tomb will be observed on November 11, 2021.
All female veterans from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam watch a changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, September, 2015
