English: Frank Woodruff Buckles, last surviving American veteran of World War I, lies in state in the chapel beneath Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., on March 15, 2011. To the right, behind the soldier at attention, is the chapel's marble alter. The below-ground crypt beneath the amphitheater is behind the faux windows behind the altar. The south stairs are visible to the left of the image, guarded by a sentry and closed by a red velvet rope. The door leading to the right on the stairs leads into the unused crypt beneath Memorial Amphitheater. The door behind the sentry leads to a service room. (Originally, a kitchen and a serving room were located off the chapel. The Amphitheater's Memorial Display Room was originally intended to be a reception hall, and the kitchen and serving room allowed for food to be served there. These two rooms no longer serve that purpose.)

Congress authorized construction of the Memorial Amphitheater on March 4, 1913. Ground-breaking occurred on March 1, 1915, and President Woodrow Wilson placed the cornerstone on October 15, 1915. It was dedicated on May 15, 1920.

The architect was Thomas Hastings of the New York City firm of Carrère and Hastings. The white marble came from Danby, Vermont. Ulysses A. Ricci designed the various friezes, ornamental devices, and decorative elements of the amphitheater.

Stairs (not pictured) lead from the north and south ends of the foyer just past the Memorial Display Room on the first floor down to the chapel.