Tomb always guarded

dc military ^ | 17 Dec 09 | Nancy Deweese Old Guard Public Affairs

[donna]

I’m so happy you liked it. It was well done.

[Young Werther]

I was a member of the Queens Guard Drill team. Every spring we would compete in the Cherry Blossom Festival Drill Meet. We would visit the Tomb of the Unknowns and the Old Guard team that guarded the tomb. It was April of 1964 and we were trading idea and polishing our maneuvers under the thoughtful eyes of the guard. We were aghast to find that the guards now wore patent leather shoes! We still spit shined our shoes to a mirror perfection.

We then went to the Tomb and pay our respects and watch the guard on duty and the changing of the guard which occurred every half hour. The guard’s routine was perfection. The guards steps from one end of the carpeted path to the exact. Guard Detail

There was a rope and support poles which separated the spectators from the tomb. It’s not shown on the latest You tube pictures but things change. On this day there was a mother with a baby. The mother was watching the guard and as he passed the baby crawled under the rope and sat on the carpet. When the Guard turned to begin his return march he saw the baby. He then said in a loud, highly mechanical voice, “Madam! Please remove your child from the cordoned area. Everyone was startled by the nature of his command voice. The baby began to cry and the mother scrambled under the rope to retrieve her child. Quite a day!