HOME OF THE BRAVE Discussion Page: For first time in decades, Arlington National Cemetery must bury multiple 'unknowns'

Monday, March 07, 2011

For first time in decades, Arlington National Cemetery must bury multiple 'unknowns'

By Christian Davenport
Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, March 7, 2011; 12:43 AM

When the remains of a Vietnam War soldier buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery were identified in 1998 using DNA, Pentagon officials proudly said that the days of interring service members as "Unknown" could well be over.

But now, for the first time in decades, the cemetery has multiple "unknowns" to bury - and it has itself to blame.

Read the entire story here.

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Historical Fact

"Of the more than 274,000 officers and men who served in the army during the Spanish-American War and the period of demobilization, 5,462 died in the various theaters of operation and in camps in the a U.S. Only 379 of the deaths were battle casualties, the remainder being attributed to disease and other causes."

Source: Encyclopedia of American History by Richard Morris

In 1898, thousands of soldiers got food poisoning from meat packed by Armour and Company and sold to the Army. There are no figures on how many of the five thousand noncombat deaths were caused by this.

The Oxford Companion to American Military History estimates that between 2 percent and 25 percent of the casualties in America's wars are attributable to friendly fire.