the unknown soldier

It seems almost every country has a war memorial dedicated to the "unnamed" or "unknown" soldier to dedicate something to those unaccounted for or bodies never reclaimed from war. Unfortunate souls.



Often the descriptions found at these sites is that its a dedication to one single soldier and not many unknown soldiers.

We do not know this Australian’s name and we never will. We do not know his rank or battalion.

We do not know where he was born, nor precisely how he died ... We will never know who this Australian was ... he was one of the 45,000 Australians who died on the Western Front ... one of the 60,000 Australians who died on foreign soil.

One of the 100,000 Australians who died in wars this century. He is all of them. And he is one of us.

Australian Prime Minister 11 Nov 1993

australia
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australia
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Canada
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Australia
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Ottawa Canada
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Baghdad
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Rome
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Turkey

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So my questions are what is the reason for this unknown soldier theme common in most war memorials? why is only one soldier remembered for their sacrifice in such a glorious fashion in comparison to the humble grave stones neatly arranged beside it?

Is this an age old military tradition?
Could it be a technique to romanticize the brave sacrifice for country and kin?

splinters wrote:So my questions are what is the reason for this unknown soldier theme common in most war memorials? why is only one soldier remembered for their sacrifice in such a glorious fashion in comparison to the humble grave stones neatly arranged beside it?

Is this an age old military tradition?
Could it be a technique to romanticize the brave sacrifice for country and kin?

Well, I feel that militarism has been a basic religion since the times of pre-history. It's kin to the religious zeal of hunting and sacrifice. I checked wiki on this, and they made mention to the unknown soldier concept in ancient Greece, although I don't think it became a tradition of memorialization until modern times, as the article expresses in more detail.

I think the reason for this, has to do with the changes in warfare tactics that developed during the modern and industrialized period. War combatants were grander in scale, more distant from homeland, and increasingly more destructive in weaponry. All these factors and more, contribute to the decomposition of fallen soldiers, leaving the dead completely unidentifiable or their remains completely missing from a body count.

It's unfortunate that things would come to this, but I'm sure militaristic zeal sees no conflict between honoring their unrecognized fallen and propagandizing militaristic nationalism for future generations to make sacrifices as well.