So were going to hear from Patrick Odonnell and learn the story of those eight bears. Patrick odonnell is a critically acclaimed military historian and an expert expert on elite units. He is the author of 11 books and he is the recipient of several national awards. He served as a combat historian in a marine rifle platoon during the battle of fallujah speaks often on espionage counter operations and counter insurgency. Foras provided consulting the awardwinning series band of brothers and just to read you a couple of snippets of reviews on this, his newest book, Exhaustive Research with fluid, mr. Odonnell relates the history of the unknown soldier their part in world war i through the soldiers experience. And from usa today a gripping story from one of the best and most gripping stories. Few authors have the same kind of enthusiasm that odonnell brings to this topic. Ladies and gentlemen, please help me welcome Patrick Odonnell to the stage. It is really quite an honor to be introduced by the archivist of the United States. I have spent over two decades here at the National Archives researching 11 books from the American Revolution all the way to the unknowns. Right here in this building, several of the stories about the navy audio bearers were drawn from research here at National Archives. Im honored by all of the individuals here today that came to the unknown, especially many of the former team guards. I like to recognize the former sergeant of the guards as well as richard asaro. These are some of americas finest. Thank you so much for your service. Asc ossks of the society and many of my friends are here. I really appreciate your support over the years. I have written 11 books and all of those books onto in one way or another and what i mean by that is not a cliche. And washed ans me immortal, i was walking with the battalion and we found a rusted old sign that said here line maryland hundreds of soldiers buried in a mass grave and i wanted to know the history of that story. It is history in plain sight and the unknowns is no different. Was given the opportunity to be a guide in france for the marines and later the Wounded Warrior regiment. As we walked the Hallowed Ground of bella would which happened exactly 100 years ago to this day where the marine corps and Second Division helped save paris and they stopped a german drive. We look around the news and theres very little talked about that battle that generation of doughboys. Its the reason why i wrote the and unknown generation, forgot generation the change the world. Around, there is still mustard gas entombment some of the trees and bella would and length scarred by world war i. I was joined by the brothers with fallujah and it was quite striking. It was a situation where fallujah nearly killed all of us and iraq without the direct result of that. It was that meeting of generations that made me wonder and then i found out that ernest agents in made an epic charge on a place called hill 142. 142, walked up to hill this was the high ground. It was crucial. The marines on june 6, 1918 charged across a wheat field under heavy machinegun fire. They were maximum machine guns. They charged in civil war formation because they were ordered to by the french. It was a bloodbath. Many of these men dropped from machine gun bullets. They kept charging and making their way towards hill 142. They were able to take out a position held by a battalion of germans. They seized the hill. Against all enemies took it, but within 20 minutes they knew what was coming next, a german counterattack. And janssen and George Hamilton and the 49th company, this book is a band of brothers on the 49th company, the story of the unknown soldier, braced for the counterattack. Janssen saw in the distance nearly one dozen making their way up to his position, setting up several maxim machine guns. He knew if they were able to set those up, they would sweep the hill and take it. He let out a cry and charged or and charged forward and stopped the attack and potentially saved the hill. For his actions he was the first medal of honor recipient from the marine corps, but he was also pershings body bearer. I wanted to know who the other men were. It was at that point the unknowns found me. I spent years uncovering their story which is untold. It is untold within multiple untold stories. It is hidden in plain sight. The tomb itself has an incredible history, but it is history in plain sight. It is the back story behind the tomb. Who were the people selected to bring back the remains, how the unknown was selected, all of these stories are woven into a single story, a narrative history that is very cinematic that brings you to world war i through the eyes of the men, the most decorated in listed men of the war, who saw some of the toughest action. In nearly every major battle, but general pershing, when he selected his eight pallbearers, he chose the army, marine corps and navy and within that individuals from the combat specializations, engineers for instance. These are not guys that build things. They blew things up. In the case of thomas sanders, a native american, given some of the most difficult assignments in the war, had to breach the wire with only a pair of wire cutters and breached the wire, making a whole to allow the rest hole to allow the rest to go through. There were mounted troops in france. One of the Great Stories is body bearer harry taylor who was practically born in the saddle, a cowboy, that was raised in wyoming. Taylor fought with the first cavalry at the beginning of his career. Was involved in numerous conflicts, lived on in france training men, the wild west division, who makes an epic charge, a suicide charge in the argonne. There is also the infantry, samuel would fill, one of the most decorated doughboys. There is the heavy guns. This is a forgotten aspect of world war i. There were rail guns in france and hillary heavy artillery and one of the pallbearers is represented there. The field artillery, forgotten branch. These are men that in most cases french 75s, pieces that moved with the infantry. In some cases they were in combat with the infantry as they moved up and provided close artillery support as the infantry advanced. This is the story that is in the unknowns. It is general pershing was trying to be very comprehensive and fair in the way that he told the story of world war i through the eyes of these men. And then of course there is the extraordinary story of the tomb itself and how it was, how the unknown was selected. I follow a chicago in, a doughboy named edward younger through the entire war. He was part of the second infantry division, and elite unit in the American Expeditionary forces, that fought through the greatest battles. Younger is there. He is a doughboy, a regular front, a sergeant that fights from battle to battle. He is wounded twice severely, then i will get into the story how he is selected. It is extraordinary. Then there is the story of how all these men and individuals come together. Here in washington, dc, first on november 9, 1921, then they bring the most extraordinary individual, the unknown soldier, to his final resting place in arlington, virginia. Let me go back in time and talk about these body bearers because this book is about the stories. It is about extraordinary stories. It is about extraordinary individuals that in many cases did the impossible. What you will see in this book is individuals that had to overcome extreme hardship, talking about gas persistently, all the time as they fought, bodies that were covered with life and mites as they fought through combat because they were not able to change their uniforms. They also had to battle and fight the greatest army in the world at the time, the german army. Let me go back in time to 1917 when america was unprepared. America went from an army of 220,000 regulars to an army of over 4 million strong at the end of the war. It is an extraordinary story of growth in a time of great need. We mobilized. One part of the story is a forgotten story. That is the story of the navy, the American Navy in world war i. In march 1917, president wilson had a real threat on his hands. German uboats were sinking american shipping at an alarming rate. Even before we entered world war i. There was a decision made to bring naval guards onboard merchant ships, to arm them with typically five inch guns and give the merchant ship a crew of about 15 naval personnel. They are naval guards during one of those was James Delaney. James delaney was a tough irishman from boston, massachusetts. His body was inked with the ships he served on, serving since 18. His life was the navy, and he was given command of a naval gun crew on the uss the ss cam pana, merchant ship. Their journey in the summer was going well until midsummer and they were making their way back to the United States, and all of a sudden a torpedo nearly hit the ship. It was then quickly followed by artillery fire. The men manned their guns and began to respond. Uboat 61 was cruewed by an expert, lieutenant captain dickman who had sunk 40 ships, and no his prey was the campana. They manned their guns and started to fire, but victor, the captain of the uboat, was quite knowledgeable on these affairs and had sunk many ships. He stayed out of range of the campanas guns but it in suit a cat and mouse chase for hours. Both sides fired their guns as the ship tried to flee the battle space. Eventually uboat 61 surrounds are able to hit the side of the campana, one near the engine compartment. James delaneys men were firing so many rounds their eardrums again to believe, but they ran out of ammunition and several of the uboats shells struck the campana. The captain on the campana decides to strike his colors and surrender his vessel. The uboat moves in closely here they go by the actual rowboats, the crew and James Delaney are in, nearly wiped them out as they go so close to it. Now they have a boarding party that goes aboard the campana. They set several charges, but before they do that, they raid the food locker on board the campana, as life on a submarine was harsh. They only had canned goods or whatever they could bring on board once the journey began. The journey was also dirty and filthy. The engines on the uboat 61 let off a lot of grace, and there was inside the boat something called uboat sweat, literally condensation inside the boat. It would get on the mens clothes, their coffee, food, everything. Remarkably the first thing they did was when they went on board was look for soap. They went for the soap and tried to clean themselves and got the food, and they also look for anything of intelligent value and detonated the ship and sank it. At that point the men including James Delaney were brought on board. Six were brought on board uboat 61. The captain is a remarkable figure. He speaks perfect english and he begins to question James Delaney. Here is a meeting of two men. They both, they become i would not say there is a friendship formed, but there is a Mutual Respect that is formed including respect with the crews because the men, James Delaneys crew and his men endure what the men of the uboat indoor. If you have ever seen the movie das bot, it is a world war ii version of a uboat undersea. This is a world war i das boat. They are deft charged. They have to endure what is known as a q boat, the the that the allies have, disguised as a merchant ship but is designed, as in of the uboats surface, to reveal hidden guns and attack the uboat. They go through a minefield. It is an extraordinary story. I will not tell the entire story , but i will tell you at the end of the voyage, both crews lined up for a photo. What James Delaney did not know and the other americans that day was uboat 61s crew were all walking dead man because within a matter of weeks or months, they would never be seen again. This is the powerful story that is inside the unknown that took me years to unearth, including here. Some of these stories were found here in the National Archives as i unearthed them. Another incredible story is the story of the 49th company of the marine corps. The helmet to me is the 49th not the 49th. It is the 205, the second battalion, fifth marines. Their story really begins at bella would which happened 100 years ago to this day. I mentioned the epic charge on june 6 where the men this was world war i dday that no one has heard about unless you are in the marine corps or a world war i buff. This is where the marine corps advance over several fields under heavy machinegun fire. What happened before that was extraordinary. At the end of may, early june, the germans had launched a major offensive geared at rome sorry, paris. They were breaking through the french lines. Literally the french army was melting away. The archives talk about how it was like water on a hot iron. It was evaporating. The french army was evaporating. Men from the 49th company and 25, the Second Division were all being trucked as quickly as possible along with the Third Division of the u. S. Army into the vortex of battle to hold the line at all costs. These were the only reserve units at the time. They were in many cases super divisions. The u. S. Divisions were twice the size of a French Division and sometimes more, larger, much more larger than a german division. They were rushed to the front. As they were in their trucks or camions, they saw french civilians passing them by an french, french members of the army, throwing down weapons saying the war is over. These men pushed forward into the front, and it was here that Lloyd Williams from 25, the men set up behind parts of the french army near bella would. The decision was made by colonel preston brown, chief of staff for the Second Division, the french wanted to immediately commit the marine corps and army piecemeal, thrust them into the line. He insisted they be able to dig in behind the french in shallow foxholes and wait. This potentially helped save the war because the marines and army were ready. If the german army advance over the wheatfields, the french were clearing fleeing. According to the marine corps lore and other documents, Lloyd Williams was confronted with this dilemma, and he said retreat, hell, we just got here. They began to fire with their rifles, accurate rifle fire. Most marines were marksmen. They took down the germans. They stopped them and on june 6, the allies go on the attack. The french order them to push forward. It is janssens company, the 49th company which i followed through the entire war is advancing through the whitfield the wheatfield. They seize the hill against all odds. Many of these men are killed as they cross the wheatfield. They take the hill, janssen survives. He is badly wounded but survives. He is able to disrupt the attack. These men fight. The 49th Company Fights through the entire war. They are in the major battles the aef fights in. It takes about three weeks to clear bellau wood. What happens is a newspaper report of what happened with the Chicago Tribune is in the field as they advance on the sick. Shot through the eye, but before he goes, he writes his report. The sensors it is for been to provide any unit designation of who is in the field. The censors believe Lloyd Williams is killed. He is shot through the eye, badly wounded. He is badly wounded, but they believe he is dead. They go ahead and say let the report go through, which identifies the marine corps. All of a sudden the papers all read the marine corps helped save france, and paris. The army as well, but it creates a sensation. It goes viral. What happens is belleau wood, instead of just a local attack, takes on nation significance. The germans see the papers, and they rush their best units into belleau wood to try to crush the marine corps. Over the course of three weeks, there is very heavy fighting and casualties, but ultimately the marine corps and the army prevail at belleau wood. And the 49th Company Continues to advance. And they fight, you know, in a place that is a turning point in world war i, where the allies go on the counterattack or counteroffensive. They are able to turn the tide of battle. And the germans, the war is changing, changing nature of the war. The 49th fight through another battle as san miguel where the americans go on a true offensive to take down the germans. Several of the body bearers are involved. One of my favorite stories is a forgotten battle the marine corps fought in. It was one of their bloodiest, even in some cases more bloody than june 6. It was a place called blockmont ridge where the french army insisted they take the Second Division to take this impregnable fortress. Here it is called that because the face of the mountain is white. White mountain. It shows, but White Mountain was deceptive in the sense it was ringed with machine guns nests, machine positions. They had tried to take this, and nothing worked. There were bodies all over the place. There was an attack only days earlier. The french army failed to take it. They called in the Second Division as well as the 49th company and marine corps. 1 5 is what they were a part of. Here was also another member of this book, edward younger, the chicagoan. Many of these converge on blanc mont, the field artillery, combat engineers. Theres always converge as they attack this seemingly impregnable position. They have to go across a mile of open ground. The bodies of the french are littering the area. They literally go by one of the positions which was shaped in a phalanx or arrow. It is all dead frenchmen. There was one with a beard, a large richman with a beard that has his eyes wide open with his bayonet pointed at the germans in horror. They passed them and continue to attack. It is a remarkable story. They seize blanc mont on the first day and go over the ridge the next day and continue to fight in a position known as the box. It was a natural kill zone the germans had created, and men of the 49th company were stuck in this position and were shelled mercilessly with high explosives , machine gun bolts, gas. They were in this position as they tried to attack the german line. It is an extraordinary story of heroism and courage when an many cases they are outnumbered and they hold and eventually the position is consolidated. One of my body bearers, the native american, Thomas Saunders , is pushed into the line as a scout. He scouts into the early position, to penetrate the wire again. These are just some of the stories that are in the book. And i think saunders is an extraordinary story. He receives the french croit de guerre in the attack at Blanc Mont Ridge. Native americans were unfortunately subjected to many of the stereotypes in world war ii era they were looked at as amazing warriors. In that sense we were given they were given some of the most difficult combat assignments and saunders was an exception. He was given the assignment of scout in this position at Blanc Mont Ridge but also a wire cutter, breaching a whole hole in the wire to allow the but also as a wire cutter to cut the wire and use these small handheld wire cutters to breach a hole in the wire to allow the rest of the infantry to go through. I go back a little bit about a month. He was told to breach the wire land, i oss nomans cant even imagine this, going across nomans land alone with maybe just a partner, one man, and they were given the wire cutters to cut a hole, this hope to cut a hole or breach a hole in the wire, they make it through the wire, and thirty closest there that they advance further than any other allied troops. They keep pushing forward, and they were able to its quite extraordinary. They make it to a german headquarters position thats in deep behind enemy lines and theyre able to capture 63 german soldiers singe handedly through their efforts. These are the stories that is right unknowns. Ill talk about one more story in the book, and thats a story of charles leo oconnor, whos im with the navy. Charles leo oconnor is given one of the lowliest jobs in the navy. Hes a water tender on the u. S. S. Mount vernon. The mount vernon is a captured german vessel. In world war i, we had very Little American shipping. It was diminished. It was almost at civil war levels in some cases. There was a great need for shipping. We needed to take the american troops and American Army we were building over to france. And there was a race to quickly build ships, but another thing thats quite curious that isnt really documented in many places is that there were a number of german vessels that tried to find safe harbor in the United States at the beginning of the war. They knew that the United States was a neutral nation. They were afraid of france and englands navys as they crossed the atlantic, so they tried to find safe harbor in the United States. One of those was the u. S. S. Crown prince castle. It was a german vessel that was nearly the size of the titanic. It was an oceanliner. But the german vessel also had a hidden secret. It was carrying millions of dollars of gold bouillon from germany. They captured the the ship goes in to bar harbor, maine, and its seized by the government, and the crew and the passengers are interned, and for a year the ship languishes and eventually its just a little too tempting of a target. The ship seized along with all the gold. The ship is renamed the u. S. S. Mount vernon, a navy ship, a true transport. Charles leo oconnor is assigned to the ship. The shape makes multiple voyages across the atlantic, in september 1918, theyre making one of their fifth or sixth voyages across the atlantic. Theyre carrying troops from the American Expeditionary force, many of these men are wounded. Theyre carrying a congressman, but theyre also carrying the plague, influenza is running rampant across the decks of the u. S. S. Mount vernon. Things look pretty good in the sense that they somewhat contained the vikes even though many of the crew members are falling victim to it. But the voyage looks pretty good. On the way back, theyve never had any hostile activity to this point. And then all the sudden that morning, theres a rainbow. To the experienced mariners of the mount vernon, its an ominous sign. And lit literally, sure enough about, an hour later, a torpedo slams into the side of the mount vernon, rupturing a massive hole in the boiler where charles lee oconnor is tending the boilers. Hes shoveling coal. His body, hes a mountain of a man, massive, hes shoveling coal every day in this hot furnesslike, hellish environment of the mount vernon. Thousands, tens of thousands of gallons of water are rushing into the compartment. His body is nearly burned alive by the boiler, the cinders that are coming out of the hot coals. Hes being hit by massive amounts of water. Hes got to make a splitsecond decision. There are men inside of his compartment. Theres also watertight door that needs to be closed. Does he save his life . Does he save the men in the compartment . Or does he save his ship . And that is the dilemma that i will leave you with. [laughter] youll have to read the book. But these men all come together , they come together on the field of battle in some cases, the final night of the war for these body bearers coming together. They also come together on , to bring back the remains of the unknown soldier. The unknown soldier in world war i, and our unknown soldier is not our own concept. France and england were the first. And in 1921, they established times of the unknown soldiers to honor all that had fallen. It was an opportunity to recognize all that had fallen. It was also an opportunity to provide closure for those nations and the sacrifices that they had made. We didnt have one in the United States. There was a hope that all 2,200 americans that were unidentified or unknown could be identified. The army blissfully believed that that was possible. It wasnt until 1920 that an editor from a very popular womans magazine marks re maloney, who had who was the editor of the delin airport, the mademoiselle of its age suggested to the War Department that we need an unknown soldier, we need something that represents all that had fallen, all of those who had fallen, from the American Revolution to world war i, to provide closure. Its about who we are as americans. She was able to convince the War Department, but also she created a movement. The New York Times picked up on the story. The a. P. And a young congressman named Hamilton Fish who from new york city who was a white officer in what was known as the harlem hell fighters. This was a segregated africanamerican and puerto rican unit that fought bravely and heroically in france. Fish decided it was time to recognize his men and all of those who had fall known world war i. And spearheaded a campaign to get through the tomb of the unknown soldier, got through the funding and the bill, president wilson signed it. Year goes by and its 1921. The four major cemeteries in france who came unknown soldiers, the remains are removed from each of these cemeteries. At bella wood, at sam miguel or saunders and all of the other men fought, at the place where many of these men battled, the four remains were removed, carefully checked to make sure that there are no dog tags, letters, diaries, anything that identifies these individuals. And then at that point the registration people burnt tickets that revealed where these individuals were actually removed from. So its impossible to identify who these individuals are. The four remains are brought back to france, where a french honor guard greets them, along with other dignitaries. They are placed in city hall. Their flag draped, and theres a procession. The next day the unknown will be selected, and the plan is initially to have a general officer from the United States make the selection. At the last second, though, the french say we used a regular grunt, a man that just had been through the trenches, that had been through this hell. There were six men that were escorting the body that night, including edward f. Younger from chicago. Each of these men revealed their records of service during the war, and that night, he had war younger was selected to choose the unknown soldier. He woke up that morning and had this awesome responsibility on his shoulders. The man that had been through the ninth infantry near bellawood, through the attack at blanc mont, the final day of the war where they crossed the muse, this doughboy that had seen it all was given a bouquet of white roses, chopins funeral derge was playing in the background. The floor of the room was littered with white petals, and he had war f. Younger slowly walked into the room and nervously wasnt sure who to select. He made a quick prayer. I found the original notes and typewritten frequent he had war younger at the National Archives and the National Personnel record center, which reveals exactly what he felt and how he walked as he walked nervously in between the caskets. He looked at the flag and said that was sublime, as his hand, after he said the prarke his hand was guided towards one casket, and it was an almost i am movable action. He was guided there. He felt that the man in the casket was somebody that he went over the top with. He knew that man, that doughboy, and that was our unknown soldier. And at that point the selection was made, the body was moved to france, where the great ship, he u. S. S. Olympia was waiting. And the men brought the casket on board the u. S. S. Olympia, and the olympia made the voyage across the ocean, the atlantic, to the Washington Navy yard, where right here at the pier, its still here. Pier is still here on the Washington Navy yard where, on november 9, the eight body bearers assembled, and they removed the casket. The picture on the the photo on the jacket is this exact moment that im describing. The casket was greeted by the body bearers, general pershing, president harding, and other dignitaries, and it was brought to the rotunda where it lay in state. And then on november 11, the same day that the war to end all wars ended, november 11, the body was removed by the body bearers, placed on the same caison that carried president lincoln, and they made the journey on foot to Arlington National cemetery. And here, in this procession, was a remarkable procession. All of the medal of honor recipients from world war i were there. The men, many of the civil war veterans that had received the medal of honor were present, walking in presession. President harding was there, wilson was there. General pershing, who was supposed to be mounted on a white horse, decides to walk as a common mourner behind the casket. And the men bring the casket to arlington, and here, this is meant to bring groups in the United States together. History is meant to heal, and the great stakeholders in the country, the naacp, d. A. R. , the various members of government, and even the french, heads of state, they all come, they present their finest honors, their greatest medals, the medal of honorable sore presented to the unknown. Words are said, the body is brought to arlington cemetery, and its lowered into the ground, and one of the final people to speak is an american indian. Its meant to heal the entire moment. A man that had fought the u. S. Government, and Thomas Saunders, whose father had fought and grandfather had fought the United States government who now served, were lane to rest in our greatest memorial, the unknown. Dirt was shoveled from france into the open hole, and the body was laid to rest. And this is our greatest war memorial, this is who we are as americans. Its also about a forgotten generation, the world war i generation that changed and remade the world, and thats why i wrote the unknownses. Thank you very much. [applause] ill be happy to take your questions. Folks, if you have questions, please go to the microphones. Hi, very good talk, thank you very much. Am i correct in saying that the supposedly unknown soldier from vietnam was subsequently identified, in the 1990s, through d. N. A. Testing sthrrks any chance that could happen with the supposedly unknown sold grer world war i . The unknown from vietnam was identified at the familys behest. They felt strongly that that individual was their son. And d. N. A. Analysis was performed, and he was reentered with full military honors and identified. And i think its unlikely that there is you know, proper d. N. A. And the databases to identify the unknown from world war i, theres possible sandammings degradation. I mean, theres a lot of issues. But the biggest thing is, this is about this is a national symbol. Its who we are as americans. Its why we fight. It represents who we are. And i dont think that i think that thats why its incredibly important. Yes . Congratulations on your books success and for saving this really important part of our nations military history. My question doesnt pertain strictly to the unknowns, but i have a question. Does your book make any mention of the legendary fighting 69th infantry regiment or colonel william donovan, who received the medal of honorable nor world war i, and would go on to lead the office of strategic services, predecessor to the cry sandray special Operations Command in world war ii . It does. The books title is some of the greatest hero that is brought them home, but it includes some of the greatest heat rosses of the war. This includes sergeant york, and also colonel donovan in the fighting 69th. The Second Division fights in his area, where, this is americas largest battle of world war i, and also one of ts most bloody battles, too. If you pictured the opening scene of saving private ryan, thats what these guys had to go through. They were fixed positions that were bunkered, there were machine guns, barbed wire. They had to cross it. And colonel donovan and the fighting 69th, father duffy, many of these other extraordinary individuals had to cross this field, and theyre taken out in many cases. Its very, very tragic. Donovan is shot in the leg. The book chronicles his experience there. And whats sandreered interesting is that this experience changes his life. You know, instead of frontal assaults, he feels that theres a better way, that will cost less lives, and in world war two, General Donovan is first the coordination of information, which is the precursor, predecessor to the o. S. S. , which is the predecessor, which most people dont realize is the predecessor to most of americas special operations forces, and this is born in the trenches by General Donovans activities, his ideas, what motivated him comes from his experience in world war i. And what i mean by that is, if you look at the u. S. Army special operations forces, green betters, their direct heritage comes from the operational groups from world war i. These are many of these that are donovans ideas himself. The o. S. S. Mary time unit is the maritime unit is the navy seesms i wrote a book called the navy seals, which chronicles their extraordinary story. A medical student from the university of pennsylvania who tinkers in the summer with old gas masks and bicycle pumps develops the first operational rebreather for the United States. And the navy seals are born literally in a pool at the Shoreham Hotel only a few blocks away from here, which has the largest indoor pool, and they test the rebreather. Jack taylor, a dentist from hollywood, california, woolsey, whose a screenwriter for paramount, but also a royal commando and Liaison Officer with the british government, they all come together, this eclectic group of individuals to develop the first seals. Its extraordinary story. Taylor even survives a german concentration camp after he parachutes behind the lines. But the story of the o. S. S. Is a story thats hidden here in the National Archives. I spent 20 years digging through, you know, literally cubic miles of records, some that had never been seen since the war to reveal these extraordinary stories. Thank you. Can you talk a little bit about the tradition of the silent guard . Was that done simultaneously when the unknown soldier was rested, or whats the background from the perspective of that . In right after world war i, there was not a tomb guard. There was basically the tomb was there, people could picnic there, and they vandalized it. And then in the 1930s, there was a tomb guard. I think that its better if i let one of the people that are some of our finest americans sort of answer that story. Richard, would you like sort of take that on . Questions about the tomb guard . What it started, was it a tradition from europe . It was mentioned about france and british had unknown soldiers, so the u. S. Has that, other countries have that. Let me be very clear. This is american. The idea of an unknown, as patrick has mentioned, starred th france, britain, then the United States, and other countries followed as well. But the tomb guard, as you see it, is strictly an american tradition and the United States army t. Begins, just as patrick mentiond, at first there was no need for any protection. As time went on, people began to treat it as a place to visit and then picnic and even sit on it. And it was one gentleman, i believe hes a navy officer that witnessed, it literally went over to the white house, and back then you could just go over and visit the president. And he said a few things which started the process that was first a civilian guard, and then the United States army is chosen to take over the military honor guard. What year was that . Im going to say was it 1937 . 1936. I have the former sergeant of the guardian to remind me of the dates. The first civilian guard was 1925. Military, 1926. They started 24hour guard. I think its also important to just recognize that this is a 24 hours a day, seven days a week activity in any weather situation. Richard, can you sort of describe some of the things that you endured, that even a bee sting . A bee sting. This gets into what its like to be a member of the honor guard, tomb of the unknown soldier. I was there from 1963 to 1965. And you have the intensive training, and that is intense in many different levels, mental, emotional, physical, but then they prepare you for what you will experience, what they think you will experience while youre on the map. Its what happens to you out there that really starts to shape you final as with what we refer to as ourselves as tomb guards. Examples would be, as patrick walking into summer hours, as i was going cross the mat, i was stung by a bee on my ear. And as i mentioned to patrick, i never experienced pain like that than or ever since. My head literally exploded with pain. But because of the kind of training that you have, and you have a very profound understanding of who you are and what youre there for, you dont break. We take great pride in the fact that we never break and we never quit, and we are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But having said all that, theres two things id like to quickly say, and thats, one, this is nothing compared to what our men and women experienced in combat. As tough as it gets and challenging as it, is and the second thing, most profound thing, its not about us. We are representatives of the American People. What is going on out there, what this is really all about is the sacred duty of the American People to never, ever forget those who have served and sacrificed in times of war conflict. And we will never forsake those who are out there yet, and we havent found them. Thats what this is really all about, and it is about what defines us. Patrick save it, defines us as americans, because what we really are projecting is the members of why. What is it that connects us to those who serve today and those who serve in the American Revolution . Lincoln talked about it as his electric cord, in his electric cord speech. Its the principles that are found in our founding documents, and thats what really connects us, and thats whats really going on out there. We pleesht the recognition for our service. Were very proud of that. Theres no mistaking that. We really are. But were also humbled by that trust. [applause] thank you, beautiful. Id just like to say, i just met richard two weeks ago, and met him on a radio show, and it was on npr. He just came up to me and said id like to shake your hand, been wanting to shake your hand for two years. I read your book. Washingtons immortals. And i was blown away by that. But then he said i traveled by an old house every day, and that old house contained one of washingtons greatest immortals , and watkins was a statuesque , over 62 in height, member of the Maryland Line that had fought in every major battle of the American Revolution, and fought in the american theropoly in brooklyn, where theres still a mass grave of these incredible americans. But he noticed in one little line of the book the name of watkins home, and it was a sort of footnote almost. He didnt realize it, but that was the house that he had been passing every day for years. He went to the house. He went near the house, and covered in brambles and bushes was gas away watkins grave that had been hiten in plain sight. History had been hid known plain sight for all these years. He organized an eagle troop and others, and on memorial day, we went home, and we talked, we spent some time with watkins, and we honored his grave and the eagle scouts elected a flagpole. For me, thats what this book, the unknowns is all about. Its about who we are as americans. Births recognizing history in plain sight. Its about the back story behind history that we pass every day. Ill take the next question. Ok, sir, i enjoyed immensely learning all about the tomb of the unknowns, and someone else asked, thinking about the same question i did, you mentioned there were four unknowns. This gentleman picked one, where are the other three now . The other three have been reburied, and theyre marked as unknown soldiers that were part of that ceremony. Theyre in fans. Near france. Theyre all in the same place in france. And their graves are next to each other. And yeah. I havent visited their graves, but theyre still there. Thank you. Thank you. We have one more. Were out of time . Ok. Well, thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] this is American History tv on cspan3. Programs exploring our nations past. If you like American History tv, it up with us during the week on facebook, and youtube. About what happened this day in history and seaplane of upcoming program. Follow us at span history. Scholar lynda cooper next, gives a history of the 1893 columbian exposition had on the design and construction of the library of congresss ornate Thomas Jefferson building. This online event was hosted by the u. S. Capitol Historical Society. They provided the video. Let me tell you what we are going to hear. A dear friend of the u. S. Capitol Historical Society will present a program that deconstructs their Jefferson Building and the columbian exposition in 1893. She will offer an indepth look the similarities among select paintings designed by three artists who were first at the chicago exposition and then at the jeffer