Show S P 0 f I 1 RM R M ta CE D AY p ak ISN N 7 V 1 7 V Z f q Q rh 71 6 Y raced rose on co nin of unknown suppose you had bad been the barbero war hero actually to select americas unknown soldier on that peaceful october day A 1921 in the little makeshift chapel tit at ahn chalons ions sur our alaene france the commanding officers and dignitaries every one in fact outside the door you a i top sergeant standing alone before four coffins identical and draped bright with the stilts stars and stripes you dropped the pink and white loees on the collin coffin second from the end on your right thus making forever the unknown choice cli olce suppose appose u till all tills thle then hatt would you expect of J tiie the years ahead back home he mails choice sergt edward S younger who dropped the roses expected man mimy y things through the life of the nation the unknown was to ile ho in his AVY tomb at arlington perennially the president the senators foreign emissaries would gather round it in ceremonies of honor the unknown would be a legend a symbol a mystic glory but sergeant younger ot of all the A ac n P F had bad been chosen to nominate him and the sergeants serg canta contrades comrades some opeo open some dome wheedling and some challenging had nuil there some uny tiny clew to the identity identify of the un known come now among palm pala there small wonder it 1 sergeant You younger uger alone sough honora honnors mayhap little tributes of for interest even tho the doubt ful attention of the tha venal seeking to what aney fa are deai idt have t to 0 YA that ha h would dear an instant vin 11 such buell ur s tili a man must think and imagine ig ine and speculate now lives in chicago the other d day ay almost ten years after I 1 went to see sergeant younger at his home in chicago alan macdonald MacDou ald writes in the philadelphia record I 1 had a few days previous stood before the tomb of the unknown shadows were gathering over arlington that haunt of the heroes who have passed the simple sepulchre of white marble lies on the brow of a I 1 gentle slope to the potomac the new bridge they are building a beautiful think thing of long low graceful arches stretched straight across toward the capital straight into the purple anti and mauve mists wherein still were visible the noble dome of the capitol the perfect temple in memory ot of lincoln the washington monument iler here e truly was the beauty and light of the old poets A wonder possessed me ale assume I 1 had been the one to have chosen the hero in the white marble forever in the lap of the amphitheater that Is its attar altar that effect would that have had on my life my outlook would not this place have lind had for me a secrete secret personal meaning and charm I 1 thou thought lit of sergeant younger I 1 set out to io find him the sergeant Is found the former sergeant he was honorably discharged in february 1022 1922 lives tit at no 2005 bingham street the home la Is a a little two story frame house long unpainted with the varnished imitation walnut front door of 20 years ago it stands at a Y of streets a large laundry on one hand ban i d street car barns on the other I 1 pounded on the front aront door no answer I 1 went down the narrow passage between the younger home booie and the house next door I 1 topped rapped on the windowless bade back door hard it opened slightly I 1 saw tho abo electric lights were on inside two wo facts faces peered through the crack man ln and boy trie tre man S younger sergeant younger Youn pr ile he was but he was in a great hurry ile he had to be at work at noon and meantime he had to take his son eon to his fabber in laws lawa for the afternoon ills his wife was away working for a few days younger was glad once he understood why I 1 had come to A clerk in the post pont office sorting mall mail for wisconsin was his job he could so go in an hour late and an work an hour longer howd I 1 ever find him the veterans bureau of course kut but do you know I 1 was the first writer or reporter or what not ever to seek him out I 1 he had wondered too with all this talk and writing about the identity of the unknown soldier proves pleasant soul sure hed tell what there wits was thought about that day at chalut sur marne for a long time you ion know how those things slip into the lie vast past A great day though the little laugh babbled lib bled up pleasurably why the sergeant tor ver wint geant thought they honored hini to tc let him do the choosing diore than they did the unknown oli ij not rett leil gettly ly v of lourse course it juist felt that w way ity then with the ceremony liiM ns the off leers hands the dinner imn hy 1 the french say wine and tong and tier cheer speeches you i and it was rich I 1 horn born in the chicago stock yard dis triet younger was soon orphaned father german born died when lie was three his mother a polish vonian not long after school work ettl ettling ng along somehow and then en estment nent ment february 2 21 11 1917 A time ut at laredo texas and france the war so BO bad now after all this time some first rate poker panics games with plenty francs now the cerce ergeant ant chuckled he enjoyed penny ante chught caught under a house wrecked by enemy tire not tar far from july 1918 he had a spell pell in the hospital scarcely back again he be was waa wounded in the argonne drive discharged next year in germany he joined the fiftieth infantry at mayen germany and from there in 1021 wa was ordered to halona chalons sur M r mr for what ard nofi inov 1 7 in the little group ordered an a pall bearers from the fiftieth fifth and eighth regiments the seargent argent ee faced aed col harry F rethers Ke of the army graves registration service he sure it was colonel rethers but thought thou glIt it was wag the colonel examined the service records none of the men had been decorated nor had performed signal feats perhaps by design all were just good average soldiers picked to select unknown 1 I guess youre the one younger decided the colonel select the unknown so younger stood alone in the little chapel improvised in the city hall outside the open door stood the officers french and amerlean american general dubols dubois major general rogers gen Ilen T allen alien commanding the arm of occupation it was stilt still anti and dar and silent client twice he walked around the four coffins ile he dropped the bouquet turned and saluted the rest res was a little blurred in memory the came toward him and shook lils his bonds yes surely you know there were speeches and things the bands played the dead mareb march from saul that was it he went with the body to havre it was like a holiday for heroes so enthused w were ere the french at havre was the dinner and the wine identity never to be known no none will ever aver know the identity of the unknown soldier the four bodies were four identical bodies from four different cemeteries eved evea in those cemeteries or among the men there these bodies were not identifiable he understood that not even the companies of these men wera wen known definitely they were battlefield strays several squads successively had shuf I 1 fled the four coffins one squad after another in the chapel before ho he dropped the bo boillet bou ilmet the coffins were t alike asfour peas |