← Back to the front page

A Prank Led to America’s First Nominated Female to Office, and Other Lesser Known American History Facts

Khalid Elhassan December 13, 2019 33 min

30. America’s Most Highly Decorated Soldier is Unknown

Changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. PBS

The Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place of American military personnel who died in the country’s wars without their remains having been identified. A little known fact is that the ranks of the Unknown include America’s most decorated soldier, ever.

The question “who is the most decorated soldier in the history of the United States?” might elicit responses such as Audie Murphy or Daniel J. Daly, both having won the Congressional Medal of Honor – Daly twice – in addition to numerous other medals. However, neither Murphy nor Daly nor any other American is as highly decorated the Unknown Soldier of the First World War.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.