Headstone of the Unknown Soldier at Pine Grove Cemetery in Wausau, Wisconsin. Image Courtesy: Marathon County
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – The Daughters of the American Revolution will hold an open-to-the-public ceremony to honor an unknown World War I soldier buried at Pine Grove Cemetery.
The ceremony is slated for May 20, 2026, at 1 p.m. in Potter’s Field at Pine Grove Cemetery, 1501 Grand Avenue, Wausau. This tradition began in 1930, when the local VFW Post 388 and American Legion Post 10 staged a military funeral and headstone ceremony for the veteran.
The event will feature a color guard representing military organizations, an invocation, and the veteran’s known history. The service will include memorial poems, echo taps, wreath laying, and honorary visitors.
Last summer, the Marathon County Medical Examiner’s Office exhumed some of the unknown soldier’s remains in collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation and Wisconsin State Crime Laboratories. The goal is to compare the soldier’s genetic profile to national databases in the hopes of finding a match with a living relative. However, no updates on the process have been made.
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