By special acts of Congress, the Medal of Honor was bestowed on the Unknown Soldiers of the United States who rest at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, and — as a gesture of shared sacrifice after World War I — on the Unknown Soldiers of Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy and Romania.
The Vietnam Unknown was identified through DNA testing in 1998 as Air Force First Lieutenant Michael Blassie and returned to his family; the crypt now stands empty as a tribute to all missing service members.
Official Medal of Honor citation
AN ACT TO authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to the unknown American who lost his life while serving overseas in the Armed Forces of the United States in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Era and has been selected to be buried in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President may award, and present in the name of Congress, the Medal of Honor to the unknown American who lost his life while serving in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Era as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States and who has been selected to lie buried in the Memorial Amphitheater of the National Cemetery at Arlington, Virginia, as authorized by Section 9 of the National Cemeteries Act of 1973, (Public Law 93-43).
Approved May 25, 1984, Public Law 98-301, Ninety-eighth Congress.
Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.