[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 207 (Wednesday, January 2, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8060-S8061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 745--COMMEMORATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
ARMISTICE AGREEMENT, THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RETURN OF THE UNKNOWN 
 SOLIDER, AND THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLIDER

  Mr. COTTON submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 745

       Whereas, on April 2, 1917, President Thomas Woodrow Wilson 
     asked Congress to convene an extraordinary session to 
     officially declare war on the Imperial German Government;
       Whereas, on April 4, 1917, the Senate passed a joint 
     resolution that declared a formal state of war between the 
     United States and the Imperial German Government;
       Whereas, on April 6, 1917, the House of Representatives 
     adopted the same joint resolution that the Senate had passed, 
     thereby marking the official entry of the United States into 
     World War I;
       Whereas more than four million American men and women 
     served in uniform during World War I;
       Whereas 116,516 Americans died from combat and disease and 
     another 200,000 were wounded;
       Whereas the Armistice Agreement to end World War I was 
     signed in Paris, France, on November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.;
       Whereas, on February 4, 1921, Congress approved the burial 
     of an unidentified American soldier from World War I in the 
     plaza of the new Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National 
     Cemetery;
       Whereas, on Memorial Day 1921, four unknown soldiers were 
     exhumed from four World War I American cemeteries in France 
     and United States Army Sergeant Edward F. Younger, who was 
     wounded in combat, highly decorated for valor, and received 
     the Distinguished Service Medal in ``The Great War, the war 
     to end all wars'', selected the Unknown Soldier of World War 
     I from four identical caskets at the city hall in Chalons-
     sur-Marne, France, on October 24, 1921, by placing a spray of 
     white roses on the third casket from the left;
       Whereas, on October 25, 1921, the casket bearing the 
     unknown soldier was placed on the USS Olympia for transport 
     back to the United States and the French Minister of Pensions 
     presented the Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur, that 
     country's highest military award, to the Unknown Soldier;
       Whereas the USS Olympia reached the mouth of the Potomac on 
     November 7, 1921, and on November 9, 1921, joined by the USS 
     North Dakota (BB-29) and the USS Bernadou (DD-153), she stood 
     up the channel to the Nation's Capital, exchanging salutes 
     from Fort Washington and Mount Vernon during her passage;
       Whereas the USS Olympia moored at the Washington Navy Yard 
     on November 9, 1921, and was welcomed by District of Columbia 
     Brigadier General Harry H. Bandholtz, USA, who commanded the 
     Military District of Washington, and who led a welcoming 
     entourage that included Secretary of War John W.

[[Page S8061]]

     Weeks, Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby, General of the 
     Armies John J. Pershing, USA, Admiral Robert E. Coontz, CNO, 
     and Major General John A. Lejeune, USMC, Commandant of the 
     Marine Corps;
       Whereas the USS Olympia fired a 21-gun salute, buglers on 
     board sounded attention, and the boatswain piped the Unknown 
     Soldier over the side, the ship's band playing the ``Funeral 
     March'', followed by the national anthem;
       Whereas the 3rd Cavalry Regiment's band played ``Onward 
     Christian Soldiers'' as the procession, escorted by cavalry 
     troopers, made its way toward the United States Capitol and 
     additional ceremonies, culminating in interring the Unknown 
     Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery on November 11, 1921; 
     and
       Whereas, since 1948, soldiers from 3rd United States 
     Infantry Regiment headquartered at Fort Myer, Virginia, have 
     stood guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: Now 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the 100th anniversary of the signing of the 
     Armistice Treaty;
       (2) expresses gratitude and appreciation to the members of 
     the Armed Forces who participated in World War I operations;
       (3) honors the memory of the fallen heroes who wore the 
     uniforms of the Armed Forces during World War I;
       (4) commends the crew of the USS Olympia for their role in 
     transporting the unknown soldier home to the United States; 
     and
       (5) commends the soldiers from the 3rd United States 
     Infantry Regiment for standing guard at the Tomb of the 
     Unknown Soldier every day for 70 years, regardless of weather 
     conditions be they rain, sleet, or snow.

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