Tomb of the Unknown Soldier-- Part 2: Vietnam War Unknown's Name Is Found With DNA

The first unidentified U.S. soldier from World War I was placed in the plaza of the Memorial Amphitheater in 1921.  (The body was carried from France to the United States in the USS Olympia of Spanish-American War fame.)

A simple message is affixed to the memorial, "Here rests in honored glory and American soldier known but to God."

Nearby are the crypts of the Unknowns from World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Twenty years ago the remains of the Vietnam soldier was exhumed for DNA testing and found to be Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie and he was later buried in St. Louis.  The Vietnam crypt now sits empty and since DNA samples are obtained from soldiers today, it is unlikely we'll have another unknown soldier after Vietnam.  Perhaps missing, but not unknown.