Voices From The Tomb

so washington dc the nation's capital and home to many of the most recognizable landmarks in our country millions of tourists visit washington dc each year to see the white house the washington monument the vietnam and korean veterans memorials and the world war ii memorial but the most visited destination in all of washington lies on a hill in virginia just southwest of the city in arlington national cemetery this resting place of some of the most revered names in american history is also home to those who have no name the tomb of the unknown soldier more visitors come here than any other place in washington and it is a place of quiet dignity ceremony and solemn respect i think the tomb is the central point of the cemetery it's located almost geographically if you will in the center of the cemetery people have to make a little bit of a pilgrimage again once you arrive here at the cemetery unless you're disabled or or you have a another purpose of being here in the cemetery so you're walking to this site and i think that that 10 or 15 minute walk to the site gives you time to reflect and even if you don't reflect on the way up i think you will on the way back as to what this tomb represents well i read an article in our sunday paper about the guards at the unknown soldier tomb so i sort of really at that moment said that that's a goal i would love to do that i was watching a um a program on tv that was covering memorial day services at arlington national cemetery and it caught my attention because i saw the caisson and i saw the honor guard and i sat down and i was watching it and they suddenly went to the tomb of the unknown soldier and i had never seen it before other than in a book in in in school and i saw that and i watched the changing of the guard and i was i was riveted in my seat by the whole thing as a teenager when i came to visit washington dc and i had the opportunity to come to arlington national cemetery and watch the changing of the guard my lasting impression was one of of of professional excellence and and pride in in seeing something done to such a degree that i had never seen really before in in the execution of a drill and ceremony was in it with the senior trip we went to washington dc saw the monuments congress and we went to arlington and of all the things that i didn't solve while we were in in washington the tomb of the unknown soldier impressed me the most i just felt that that was a special sacred place france and england had first honored their unknown war dead in 1920. italy and other european nations soon followed for the united states the tomb of the unknown soldier was introduced by new york congressman and decorated world war one veteran hamilton fish through a public resolution in december of 1920 and approved the following march after a public viewing in the rotunda of the capitol on november 11 1921 a funeral procession led by president warren g harding wound its way through the streets of washington to arlington and the unknown soldier from world war one was laid to rest um hey ten years later in 1931 a marble sarcophagus with three figures representing peace victory and valor and the inscription here rests in honored glory an american soldier known but to god was added to the crypt a veteran of world war one came to pay his respects here at the tomb and the team had a different configuration at that time as well was just only about two feet off the ground and it looked like a table and he was very shocked he came around the corner and saw some people sitting on it and enjoying the picnic and in the days of much easier access to the president he was outraged and went to the white house was able to voice his and that's what established the first civilian guard here in may of 1958 two more soldiers were buried in marble-capped crips at the head of the tomb itself one from world war ii and one from the korean war 26 years later in 1984 a soldier from the vietnam war was buried between them but in 1998 through dna testing that unknown soldier was identified as air force first lieutenant michael blassie and his remains were moved to the jefferson barracks national cemetery near st louis missouri that crypt remains empty today but an inscription was added honoring and keeping faith with america's missing servicemen 1958 to 1975. here we had honored a soldier from the vietnam war very important we still do that with the inscription on on the grave and it will never be forgotten when the tomb was dedicated in 1921 a simple civilian watchman was posted at the tomb while the cemetery was open and it would be five years before a military guard was installed in 1926. while the cemetery was open to visitors a sentinel from the u.s army's washington provisional brigade stood watch and in 1937 the post was expanded to 24 hours a day seven days a week and was filled by a variety of units including then colonel george patton's third u.s cavalry on april 6 1948 the army's third u.s infantry regiment also known as the old guard assumed the permanent duty of guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier and as the units guarding the tomb changed so did their uniforms in 1941 there was no such thing as a dress uniform it was a standard od uniform that are in my pictures that show me with a uh olive drab a jacket and lighter slightly lighter britches and boots spurs we were the ods the claseo olive driver uniform with blouse garrison cap khaki shirt we were a hat band well i forget what you call them but anyway the hat band was white and we were the white leggings everybody calls them spats they're not spats they were white lions and i didn't like them for a couple of reasons i thought that the straight leg was a much nicer uniform as part of the third us infantry tomb guards are led by their platoon leader or commander of the guard the sergeant of the guard and relief commanders the main purpose of the sergeant of the guard is to provide oversight in the training of new sentinels to conduct all the testing of the new sentinels to help them progress and and for the testing of their tomb guard identification badge to provide uh all necessities that all the soldiers both in training and and permanently assigned need and to continually keep up the supply and maintenance the commander of the guard and the sergeant of the guard are the only positions that are competed for and selected by the army's chain of command my commanding officer had to send my name up to regimental headquarters where it had to be approved by the regimental commander when it was approved then i was appointed as charge of the guard and that's when i took over the duties there with the exception of the commander of the guard all tomb guards are enlisted soldiers who have volunteered for both the old guard and then for duty at the tomb the guard is made up of three reliefs of seven soldiers each all members of the third u.s infantry including the tomb guards must meet the regimental height standard which is five feet ten inches for men and five feet eight inches for women each of the three reliefs is broke down to size so that each relief doesn't have a huge size discrepancy between each individual sergeant heather johnson was the first female tomb guard serving from june of 1995 through november of 1996. once the soldiers assigned to the tomb of the unknown soldier serve at least nine months and have met all specified testing criteria they are eligible to permanently wear the tomb guard identification badge one of the rarest military decorations in the united states everywhere they go if they win that badge everybody knows that what that badge is to earn the badge each soldier is subjected to intense scrutiny of execution of duties and uniform specifications from both the relief commander and the sergeant of the guard a group of volunteers that want to come down and try out for the tomb over a 14-day period learn uh the uniform standard at the tomb which is much different than the rest of the regiment they uh initially have to memorize seven pages of knowledge dealing with arlington national cemetery history tune guard history and old guard history and then they learn the plaza sequence guard change minus the finer points of that guard change and after that 14 day period they test out on those three areas uh the uniform the the knowledge and the guard change sequence and if they pass they're assigned to a relief over three different test periods each test period lasting 30 to 45 days they're tested again on those three areas each time though that they're tested they can only make a fewer number of mistakes by the time they get to the third test period now they've memorized 17 pages of knowledge once they pass that third test then they're given nine days to prepare for their tomb guard identification badge test for one of the first times ever cameras were allowed into the tomb guard quarters for the testing process um go to the company what do you think about this thought all right both the physical appearance of the uniform and precise details such as button and decoration location are measured while the sentinel remains at attention boston finally they have to take a 100 question written test dealing on the knowledge that they've learned and some of the questions the answers are well over 100 words long and if they miss one word leaving it out or adding it then the whole question's wrong and they can only get 10 questions wrong or they'll fail that portion and then if they pass that then they become a full-fledged sentinel and are awarded the tomb guard badge as it was told to me when i first came onto the guard it's tough to become a member of the honor guard it's tougher to stay once a badge holder has left the tomb and even after all military service has been completed the tomb guard identification badge is the only military badge that can be revoked for conduct that brings dishonor or disrespect to the tomb the tomb remains guarded day or night no matter the weather in the winter time we slept in the boiler room on canvas cots so you sweltered when you were down off duty if you were trying to sleep and then you went out in the cold and dampness of washington d.c weather damn cold in the winter time i remember that luckily i wasn't out there in the damn heat i was fortunate that i escaped that there was a huge snowstorm in washington d.c and the snow was knee-deep as i remember and the civilian guards had to work to keep the mat clear and the plaza clear so we could change the guard because that you're doing it 24 hours a day regardless of the weather in the middle of the night when it was 10 degrees out you know you would get out and you put on your the warmest clothes and change guard and walk your turn and get back inside and crawl in the bed that your butt your the next guard had left i mean you were happy for his warmth today the today's guards wear trooper caps in the wintertime we didn't have trooper caps we had just our regular hats our ears got cold they got really cold we were two hours one and four off at night time there were no electric lights there but it was cold very cold that's a it's a cold place but it's still a beautiful place even in the wintertime we still had to wear our white dress gloves and i can remember we would get the glove liners the wool glove liners and put them on and then put the white gloves over that which made it very difficult to hold the rifle because they were so bulky and we used to have a habit of wetting those white cotton gloves before we would go out so you wouldn't they wouldn't slip on the stock of the rifle the the seasons can be very hard on a guy it's the winter can be brutal i had incidents where i had icicles from my ears you know or ice packed in my head a frostbite well it didn't quite quite make it the frostbite but soaking hands soaking wet and just freezing and every time you hit that rifle it was painful and then you have the heat the heat would get to you in a way that it would just literally weaken you physically and emotionally they are physically exhausted when they come down into their tomb chambers to to get ready and to prepare for the next mission they are completely you know their uniform underneath the the wool is completely soaked the perspiration would drop on your brass and if you didn't get it off it would pit brass so we would polish our brass in between each to turn out at the guard polish the shoes so they'd be back up because in the summertime standing out there the heat would just melt your polish we could see our tracks left on that that mat i was soaking wet i know that there wasn't a dry stitch of clothing on me my uniform was absolutely drenched and a general one star but a general uh walked up to me while i was standing of course in my my at attention ready to move on he saluted me and said god bless you son even when arlington national cemetery is closed to the public tomb guards remain at their post and continue the ceremony that draws the respect and admiration of countless visitors from the united states and around the world the changing of the guard ladies and gentlemen may i have your attention please i'm staff sergeant mason of the third entry regiment the united states army commander of the relief consume of the unknown soldier the ceremony that you're about to witness is the changing of the guard in keeping with the dignity of the ceremony it is requested that everyone remain silent and standing thanks it takes place every half hour in the spring and summer and every hour in the autumn and winter and is a solemn display of military precision everything in the guard change sequence is on a cadence it's a count and what you're trying to do is get all three individuals in the guard change sequence on the same count so what you're looking for is three facing movements that appear as one three heel clicks the sound is one weapons angles that appear as one all right uh foreign all right all out one of the additional duties of the tomb guards is to preside over the many wreath ceremonies that take place at the tomb razon bye american presidents traditionally lay a wreath at the tomb on both memorial day and veterans day and over 2 700 wreaths are placed at the tomb each year in simple ceremonies with school civic or church groups army full honor ceremonies with foreign military leaders and armed forces full honor ceremonies with all the branches of the united states military for government leaders from march to june um we lay 23 public wreaths a day and we do 23 guard changes a day and this summer from march to june i only had three to four people that were qualified to go outside so what you had is one nco relief commander who was doing 23 guard changes and hosting 23 wreaths and then i had two sentinels who would do 12 to 13 walks a day and when they weren't walking they were being wreath bearer for a wreath and so what they were getting was maybe two minutes in between each guard change in each week one of the highest honors the united states military can give is the 21-gun salute and this honor is symbolically given at the tomb of the unknown soldier every minute of every day each sentinel that guards the tomb or walks the mat crosses the plaza in exactly 21 precise deliberate steps upon turning the guard faces the tomb for 21 seconds in silent salute then the sentinel turns again and pauses for another 21 seconds before re-crossing the plaza again in another 21 steps the first time i walked the mat in a sense in a real technical sense was the the the night that i was tried out if you will i hit the south end of the mat i was at port arms and i remember when my heel hit the mat a chill went right through me it became almost second nature the count the the the move the rifle slaps the the constant cadence in your mind that became a beat as opposed to in the beginning and we were told count one mississippi two mississippi three mississippi after a while it was 1001 1002 and then it became a pulse and you knew it my first trip down the mat and i was facing washington d.c i'll never forget this i could hear this noise and i wasn't quite sure what it was and it dawned on me the bayonet at the end of my rifle was shaking i was trembling here from the excitement fear nerves whatever it was and i did my 21 second count and faced the other end of the mat and did my manual and made my then made my first trip down the mat and the cameras and the people and everything else and i really never had a nervous moment after that where the face and movements were done on either end of the mat and in front of the tomb there were was an extra piece of mat placed on top of that to prevent the wearing of the mat i remember one time i'm going along doing what i'm supposed to do and my foot got caught on the on the center piece the extra center piece on right shoulder arms i remember is what i it's what i remember right and i almost fell and i had a run to catch up and the rifle was going up ahead of me like that and i'm going and i was lucky i didn't fall we did pretty much the same as they do today except we did not do the rifle inspection like you see them do on the plaza today that would have been a little tricky because we carried loaded ammunition while on their watch today's tomb guards carry an m14 rifle with a chrome bayonet as do all members of the third infantry the rifle is always carried on the shoulder of the tomb guard away from the tomb itself as a symbolic gesture against outside intrusion on their post that's pretty much exactly what i carried that had obviously has the chrome fixtures on it the only thing different is i don't have the original sling that we used that i used out there in obviously when we when we walk we walk with a bayonet on the end of it the manual that they use is a little different the basics of changing the shoulder and everything are all there some of the moves that they make are different underneath the cemetery's memorial amphitheater are the tomb guard quarters where each soldier begins the day long before the sun comes up and far from the public's eye the starched white cotton blouse and heavy wool dress blue uniform is steam pressed often multiple times and with straight pins to achieve the stiff creases and sharp lines that are so identifiable with the guards the uniform takes time takes a soldier six to eight hours a day just to prep a uniform for one day we had fellows that tailored their underwear so there wouldn't be a bulge in their uniform when they were a wrinkle in their uniform when they went out there sentinels are as meticulous with their uniforms as they are with every other duty and responsibility they hold goodness we had fellows that chrome their bed springs it was unbelievable poured the paint on their foot locker so that would look like it was just a sheet of glass instead of brushing it i just i loved all of that the tomb guard quarters are also where sentinels have their own personal locker as well as where they practice their movements and the changing of the guard using large mirrors to maintain their positions and to check posture and handling of weapons what's special is that it isn't just that they've got the tools uh at their disposal in terms of shoes and the uniform it's that the mental toughness and their own desire is what is making them push themselves to perfection although they are reinforced in the heel and toe and equipped with steel heel taps their footwear is standard issue army shoes that are shined to a mirror-like finish before and after every guard change those shoes that they wear are much less forgiving than any boot that we have but they're built up for a reason and they're built up for reason to actually you know protect the soldier because that hard you know even though they're marching on a mat the reason they're marching on a mat is really to protect the marvel it's not cushioning you know the the soldiers march they were basically black army issue shoes that we would have double sold or triple sold depending and we would have what we called a cheater which was a blank of steel countersunk into the heel that would uh allow us to emphasize the heel clicks during the guard change then they were spit shine you spent a lot of time with the a wet sponge and polish just filling in the grain of the leather so that you finally get to the point where what you're polishing is polish and not so much leather today i noticed that they are still using the double sold shoes or triple sold but they have their what what we call cheaters uh built out from their heel instead of being countersunk sunk they have them out and they tell me when i visit that they had that done because it keeps them from banging their heels together despite their stoic demeanor tomb guards are highly sensitized to their surroundings aware of the slightest movements noise and the comments of the gathered visitors while on guard we are guarding the tomb we must uh be fully aware of what's our all of our surroundings i watch all the visitors make sure they're all being respectful and not threatening to come onto our post it's very important that we that we follow those guidelines in the daytime you are very focused on the precision of your movements and at the same time you're also alert to any potential for an intrusion whether intended or otherwise from from outside the chains being the public and that no one is to come in and so you're alert to that but i would say the focus is really on on the precision of your movements and making sure that everything is as perfect as you can possibly be the actual plaza was the same as is now however there was nothing to keep the crowds back they could walk right up and walk on the mat they could walk right up to the tomb as long as they didn't touch it some of them of course tried to but there was a rail around it about two feet away from it there was no chains around the tomb uh the crowd was free to go right up to you and walk between yourself and to actually get right in your face so back then it has been very very demanding to maintain the demeanor that they did i remember many people being there but not a noisy rowdy place quiet a quiet crowd you know a low hum many times i would see people stop and i knew they were praying i mean you could tell they were praying and usually it was older folks who probably had lost a loved one in i would guess world war ii at that point in time maybe some from korea we were very observant of what was going on around us and in in faces of every description you got to see america the way you read about it in books of this you know many shapes many colors you know uh amish uh you know people that come from you can spot they came from different parts of the country uh or you know every race in every creed every color it was all there and you saw it i remember in those days the plaza wasn't chained off from the public like it is now and people could come right up to the mat stand on the mat in fact i saw a woman obviously a mother of three children who came up on a snowy day and knelt and prayed before the tomb while i walked and again i had no way of knowing for certain but it was my idea that she had lost either a son or a husband or a brother and she was there to say hello and goodbye with her children i do remember some students from the university of maryland being out there one day and it was a overcast day so on overcast days we we weren't allowed to wear sunglasses and they stationed themselves at each end of the mat and one in the middle to see if i was going to blink foolish as it was i would decide i wasn't going to blink that day i mean everybody blinks but i wasn't going to blink so i didn't and i remember them talking to each other now i didn't blink down here no he hadn't done it here no he had done it so i i outlasted them and they finally left and i went into the sentry box to you were allowed in the sentry box to adjust your uniform and i just went in and you know did as many blinks as i could to get the tears flowing again and then back out i remember buses buses came in those days from downtown tour buses and they always timed it so that they would get there just a little bit before the changing of the guard and then leave afterwards well the plaza would form will would fill up and and and it would be wall-to-wall people right up to the mat and you would be you know you're getting you knew it was near time that you're going to be relieved and the people will be on either side of the mat and sometimes standing on the mat and you have to tell them to get off the mat well i think the best comments are the non-spoken ones when you see the youngsters walk away mimicking the tomb guards marching the way they march clicking their heels of course they've got sneakers or tennis shoes on they're not making any noise and when you see that the the uh sometimes they're very young and then sometimes the teenagers who are you know hip and cool and maybe this is not the thing that they'd want to be doing away from the cemetery but that few moments after they've walked away they have been impressed and they are they are they are mimicking the uh the tomb guards and how they marched how they changed the guard there were times when cameras were inches from my face you can't do that now but in those days we were practically among the crowd the spectators visitors could walk right up to the chains and be within a foot of you and follow you back and forth with movie cameras and i had that happen any number of times the standard that they are upholding is something that that has been provided over countless years of of work towards a mission and that that is that that tomb sentinel is really the family of the unknowns after a guard change and the people were all leaving and uh two nuns and back in 1958 you could tell they were nuns because they were still in the habits stopped and the ones that said god bless you son for what you're doing and uh give me a chill something i remember obviously till this day the tomb itself is showing the effects of years in the elements but plans are already underway for its preservation and eventual replacement there's a crack that has run all the way around the tomb once and is going around the tomb a second time and what we're very concerned about is that the tomb itself will start to have pieces break off of it i think the only logical thing to do is to find a very good piece of marble be sure it's acquired the correct way extract it from the quarry and and replicate it as close as physically possible to the existing tomb and replace it in time and that's that's what our goal is right now the society of the honor guard tomb of the unknown soldier is a non-profit organization enabling tomb guards both past and present to continue to serve honor and fulfill their mission through a scholarship program veterans assistance as well as a means to maintain the lifelong friendships and camaraderie established at the tomb it keeps me involved because i want to honor the men that died for our country and that's what the society is all about the science society is honoring those that have kept the faith that died to for our freedoms there are other exclusive fraternities if you want to call it that associations we call it society that uh have that identification uh with a job a an environment that they lived in uh so it was not only were they rendering honors to the uh unknowns but they were being honored themselves just by being selected to be there and i think that that kind of thing is a creates a bond among people who do that for me i think it's with the other guys as well working with tomb guards there's nothing like it nobody owns work like tomb guards i visited a couple of the hospitals with the returning war wounded and they have some needs and we're responding to that under it we call it the adopt the soldier program and uh our society members are responding beautifully donating money to to help them out with some things that they're doing the unknown the guy under the marble i think our bond has is knowing what they know what others know that have done the job having had the experience and knowing that they've had the same experience the long nights the the the heat of the summer the polishing of the shoes the the responsibility that you carry the honor of being there i know that every man or woman that's ever walked the tomb has had that same experience and so i share that i can walk up and begin a conversation with that person and there is no transition we're immediately on the same page the question is why do we guard the gym some 40 years ago 43 years ago when i was a platoon leader here i was out here one day inspecting a guard change about this time that's the kind of day and uh as usual standing on the uh plaza out there in uniform a lot of people come up ask you questions this lawyer a lady came up and asked me a series of questions the usual questions you get like do the guards like their duty here how are they selected how long do they walk et cetera and i answered all those then we had a guard change and after she came back to me and she looked me right in the eye and she says why do you guard the tomb and i said i'll give you a two-part answer first we protect this american memorial and secondly we provide continuous honors the highest honors to the unknown soldier she said what do you mean by continuous and i said well let me tell you that in the first place the highest honors we rendered this country and other places is 21 gun salute we do it for heads of state kings the president united states to get a 21-gun salute and uh this soldier in his own little soldierly way walking the mat out here is rendering continuously 24 hours a day 365 days a year there's rain shine snow it doesn't matter he's out there continuously rendering those honors i said let me show you and so we looked out and i pointed to the guard on the map i said he started to south at the end of the map he walks 21 steps to the opposite end halts faces the tomb or faces east always keeping his eye on the tune and he counts for 21 seconds 1001 1002 1003 1004. go through that like that at the end of that he faces back to the south uh changes his weapon to the opposite shoulder always keeping his own body between the tomb and the weapon any harm to include the weapon he's carrying and uh then he uh counts 21 seconds again and goes through that at the end of it he marches off 21 steps to the opposite end of the south end uh halse faces east again keeping the eye on the tomb counts for 21 seconds goes through the whole routine all day long all night long does the same thing rendering in his uh small way the soldierly 21 count the highest honors to the unknown at that she began to cry and she says you may wonder why i'm asking these questions but you see she said this is the only place i have to pay my respects to my son who did not return from the war with that she walked away and she left a lieutenant mark for life the tomb of the unknown soldier at arlington national cemetery will always remain as america's most hollowed shrine guarded by men and women who adhere to the highest of standards whether they serve on active duty or have long finished their posts it's not an understatement to say that becoming a tomb guard was a defining moment in my life at the time it didn't mean as much as it does now you know it's like anything when you're young you don't fully appreciate what's happening then as the years went by i realized what a great honor it was all tomb guards at some point after they've left greatly appreciate their time served here not all of them appreciate it while they're doing it to the level that they do at a later time but at some point all tomb guards while they're here will suddenly realize what it's all about and at that point an individual's personality changes it's like lightning striking sometimes it can be just a solemnness of pulling night hours sometimes it can be an event that they see in the crowd while they're in the middle of a guard change or walking the mat sometimes it can be just a feeling of honor of what they're doing knowing that they're one of a very small number of people to have ever done this or ever have the opportunity to to do it i don't think there's been a day i haven't fought back about it when i think about the the tomb soldiers i think about the leadership example that they they set i think about the duty that they set i think about their their loyalty the loyalty to the uh to the mission and the loyalty to their to the nation i think about quite honestly the respect that they are able to to demonstrate uh both in how they honor the tomb and how they honor our profession in terms of how they do this mission one of the things you deal with out here is not just good soldiers but good citizens they got to be good at each and if they're not we don't keep them one of the reasons that i'm still at aren't cemeteried as many years later is my connection with the tomb guards those are some of the most fantastic young men and women i've ever met in my life and just to be a small part of that and just be considered perhaps part of the i can't say fraternity because we have women but part of that group to me is is something that you know when i retire it'll be the highlight of my career i just feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world to have had that experience while in the military the recognition of the sacred trust placed in them by the american people to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country fuels their desire to fulfill their calling the level of what happens down there at the tomb when there's one sentinel that is marching out there and the purpose of that sentinel is not so other people can see him the purpose of that sentinel is to represent our nation to represent our military as a guardian of of the tomb in in the midst of a place of honor where all of our fallen heroes have been laid to rest we hold the unknowns even at a higher status because that is the one place where the public can come and observe the kind of dignity and honor that every single service member that is that has died or has served their nation uh should and and rightly deserves to have the most important thing to remember about the two of the unknown soldier is it is america's most sacred shrine we guard this not because it's our job but because that is our duty we take this very seriously we will guard no matter what it takes to ensure that the unknowns are protected and their honor is upheld that is our mission it is not a job it is a you know it is a calling and and we uh we do not look at this as as anything other than really the greatest honor that we could possibly bestow for all those that are that are in fact serving that cannot be seen by our public and by the citizens that have you know that that deserve to have the best army in the world when you get down to the tomb guard quarters and you see these young men when they take off their hat and they take off their uniform they're just like my kids they're just like your kids but when they put on that uniform and they go out there they are strong they are tall they are they're just everything you want in a way of a disciplined soldier working for our country guarding our nation the standard is perfection it's not something special it's not something different it's not something that the rest of the army doesn't understand it is exactly what the army does but to an uh element of perfection that you see no place else just as i as a young teenager saw what service sacrifice potentially means in my first visit the millions of citizens whose army this is this is our army they see it in a tangible way so i think that guard is carrying really the guard of honor of our nation and it's in and it's in a way that everyone can see in a noticeable routine because they may not see the ceremonies that occur and they may not see any of the other things that we do but they can count on one thing that 24 hours a day seven days a week and 365 days a year that the guard of honor is there and representing our nation tomb guards will never waver from their commitment to their fallen comrades america's unknown soldiers and their vigilance to their mission a mission embodied forever in the sentinel's creed my dedication to this sacred duty is total and wholehearted in the responsibility bestowed on me never will i falter and with dignity and perseverance my standard will remain perfection through the years of diligence and praise and the discomfort of the elements i will walk my tour in humble reverence to the best of my ability it is he who commands the respect i protect his bravery that made us so proud surrounded by well-meaning crowds by day alone in the thoughtful peace of night this soldier will in honored glory rest under my eternal vigilance you

Channel: Montgomery College

Views: 1,208,625

Rating: 4.8375087 out of 5

Keywords: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Unknown Soldier, Tomb Guard, Arlington National Cemetery, history, military, Allen Aldredge, Society of the Honor Guard, arlington, Arlington Cemetery, The Old Guard, Tom Denne, Richard Azzaro, educational, warfare, MCTV

Id: qwP1W4aWZEQ

Length: 56min 20sec (3380 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 29 2011

Reddit Comments

[u/Nikon51]

Those Sentinels are hardcore