The Student Veterans of America Club is sponsoring a visit of the touring Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to the Floyd campus on September 11 and 12 in the Art Gallery of the Lakeview Building. Members of the Rome Exchange Club will be available to give a presentation with Q&A sessions between 8:00am and 5:30pm on September 11 and 12. The tomb has been shown to 10,215 people including Students, Veterans and Church Groups. It has been shown at Colleges, Schools, Churches, Veterans groups and various civic groups throughout the country. It has also been shown at the Eisenhower Museum in Kansas, as well as in Alabama, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, and Tennessee . It is a proud project of the Exchange Club of Rome. Please take time to stop by and see this wonderful display.
For those teaching in Rome on Tuesday and Wednesday – feel free to drop-in for a short presentation/Q&A session with members of the Exchange Club of Rome from 8:00am to 5:30pm on September 11 and 12.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a monument dedicated to American service members who have died without their remains being identified. It is located in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia adjacent to Fort Myer just across the Memorial Bridge from Washington, D.C.
The bodies of many American soldiers killed in World War I could not be identified. To honor them, the remains of one was brought to the U.S. Capitol to lie in state, and on Armistice Day of 1921 was ceremoniously buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The tomb bears the inscription “HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD.” Congress later directed that an “Unknown American” from subsequent wars – World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam – be similarly honored. Located just behind the Tomb are the three crypts that hold the remains of the World War II and the Korean War. The third crypt is now empty with the identification of the Viet Nam War service member in 1998.
The replica that belongs to the Exchange Club of Rome was constructed entirely in Rome by The Phillip Burkhalter Builders and all the artwork, both the sculpturing and painting to make it appear as marble was accomplished by local Rome artist, Chuck Schmult. It is 50% the size of the real one in every respect.
It is our hope that all those that see this replica will always remember the sacrifices made by our service men and women to give us the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. The Tomb Guards have a saying, “Soldiers never die until they are forgotten, Tomb Guards never forget.”