AMERICAN FLAG
History of the Flag. The first official American flag, the Continental or Grand Union flag, was displayed on Prospect Hill, Jan. 1, 1776, in the American lines beseiging Boston. It had 13 alternate red and white stripes, with the British Union Jack in the upper left corner. On June 14th, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted a new design, the Continental flag with the red cross of St. George and 13 stars on a blue field in a circle. On Jan 13, 1794 two stars and two stripes were added for Vermont and Kentucky. By 1818 there were 20 states in the Union and on April 18th, Congress voted to return to the original 13 stripes and add a star for each new state. The 49th star was added July 4th, 1959, for Alaska, and the 50th on July 4th, 1960 for Hawaii. Source: Encyclopedia Britannica.
TOMB of the UNKNOWN SOLDIER
Arlington National Cemetery occupies 612 acres in Virginia on the Potmac River. This land was the estate of John Parke Curtis, Martha Washington's Son. In 1864, Arlington became a military cemetery. In 1921, an Unknown American Soldier of World War I was buried in the cemetery; the monument at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was opened to the public without ceremony in 1932. Two additional Unknowns, one from World War II and one from the Korean War, were buried May 30th, 1958. The Unknown Serviceman of Vietnam was buried on May 28th, 1984. In June 1998 his body was disinterred and DNA technology was used to dentify him as 1st Lt. Michael Blassie, an Air Force pilot from St. Louis. The Inscription reads:.................. ..................HERE RESTS IN ............... ................HONORED GLORY.................... ...............AN AMERICAN ....................... ...............SOLDIER.......................... ...........KNOWN BUT TO GOD