After the carnage of World War I, nations that had lost millions of service members were looking for a way to honor those dead. They found a simple concept, with powerful symbolism: The remains of one unidentified soldier, buried with honor, to recognize the service and sacrifice of the many.

An unidentified French soldier was buried under the Arc de Triomphe. Britain interred its unknown in Westminster Abbey.

“Here in the United States, a woman editor of a very famous publication of the time, The Delineator, Marie Maloney, decided to send a letter to basically the brass, that something needs to be done to honor our men,” says Patrick O’Donnell, author of “The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home.”

Source: ‘The Unknowns’ Traces Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier’s World War I Origins | Here & Now