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The Unknown Soldier Of World War I * Italy

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One of the imposing landmarks in Rome is the Monument to Victor Emanuel, II, built between 1885 and 1911 and dedicated to the memory of King Victor Emanuel, II of Savoia who achieved the unification of Italy in 1870 with Rome as its capital.  Visitors climbing a broad flight of steps soon notice an imposing statue flanked by a two-man honor guard and highlighted by an eternal flame, kindled in memory of the Unknown Italian Soldier of World War I.

World War I veterans in Italy petitioned their government for the creation of a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier even as the French and British were interring their own.  Though the Tomb itself, designed by renown sculptor Alberto Sparapani was not completed until 1924, other Allied Nations from the First World War were already supporting the process.  The United States Congress approved awarding of the Medal of Honor to the Unknown Italian soldier on October 12, 1921, six months after approving the award to the Unknowns of Great Britain and France, and one month before the United States dedicated its own Tomb of the Unknown.  

The unidentified soldier laid to rest at the monument in Rome was selected by the mother of an Italian soldier who never returned home, and was counted among the thousands of missing.  Her own son was most probably interred somewhere in an unmarked or unidentified grave, perhaps even in a mass grave.  Italy's Tomb of the Unknown therefore became a fitting memorial to her own lost son.

Italy's monument provides the centerpiece as one approaches the Monument to King Victor Emanuel, II and the two-man honor guard is visible almost as quickly as one begins climbing the steps.  The Tomb itself is often called "The Alter of the Nation".  The honor guard is changed throughout the day in an impressive ceremony, similar in design and purpose to the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown American in Arlington National Cemetery.

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