Harding’s speech elevated the anonymity of the serviceman in the tomb, making him a symbol of dedication and sacrifice America sometimes asks of its citizens to defend and uphold its principles. With former President Wilson watching, Harding stated, “We are met today to pay the impersonal tribute. The name of him whose body lies before us took flight with his imperishable soul. We know not whence he came, but only that his death marks him with the everlasting glory of an American dying for his country. …”

“On such an occasion as this … our thoughts alternate between defenders living and defenders dead. A grateful Republic will be worthy of them both. Our part is to atone for the losses of heroic dead by making a better Republic for the living.” He closed his speech by calling on everyone to join him in the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.

Eisenhower signs H.R. 7786, June 1, 1954. This ceremony changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day. Pictured from left to right, Alvin J. King, Wayne Richards, Arthur J. Connell, John T. Nation, Edward Rees, Richard L. Trombla, and Howard W. Watts look on. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

In 1938, 20 years after the end of the Great War, Congress passed legislation making Armistice Day a federal holiday. During the debate over the legislation, Rep. Bertrand W. Gearhart, R-Calif., suggested the day “not be devoted to the exaltation of glories achieved in war but, rather, to an emphasis upon those blessings which are associated with the peacetime activities of mankind.” With the storm clouds of war gathering in Europe, and conflict already happening in Asia, he hoped that Armistice Day would become a holiday that not only marked the “end of a great war,” but also the beginning “of a new era of peace.”

But on Nov. 11, 1941, with Europe and Asia at war and America’s involvement more a matter of “when” rather than “if,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt used that year’s Armistice Day tribute at the Tomb of the Unknown to challenge a nation that had become complacent in its isolationism. In his address, Roosevelt said, “Observance of this anniversary has, I think, a particular significance in the year 1941.” He noted a recent meeting near the tomb that World War I Medal of Honor recipient Army Sgt. Alvin York had with some people who, in reference to fighting in World War I, said they asked him and other veterans who fought in it, “What did it get you?”

The president repeatedly used that question like a hammer striking an alarm.

“What did it get you?”

Roosevelt replied that the people who asked that question “forgot that the danger that threatened this country in 1917 was real, that the sacrifice of those who died averted that danger.” And, in forgetting, they took the security of our freedom for granted, asking why those who died to save that freedom should have died at all.

“What did it get you?”