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1 posted on 12/20/2009 1:55:01 PM PST by shove_it
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To: shove_it

Sacred ground. It ennobles all who touch it.


2 posted on 12/20/2009 2:01:12 PM PST by IronJack (=)
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To: shove_it

Outstanding! I’ve always wondering what kind of intensive training these fine men have to go through to become a Tomb Guard. Does anyone have any idea?


3 posted on 12/20/2009 2:04:09 PM PST by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: shove_it

The link is over loaded. Here’s the full article:

Since July 2, 1937, the Unknown Soldiers interred at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery have never been alone. Sentinels who guard the Tomb constantly keep the Unknowns company through wind, rain, snow and heat. They maintain their vigil day and night; on weekends and holidays, the sentinels are there at the Tomb to guard the Unknown Soldiers and to ensure they will forever rest with dignity and honor.
The sentinels at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are a platoon of Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Battalion, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard). They go through a rigorous training cycle to earn the right to call themselves sentinels at the Tomb.

Although Soldiers who pass training are able to wear the prestigious Tomb Guard badge, the sentinels who earn the badge do not do what they do for the prestige of being one of only 576 Soldiers to ever wear the badge; they do it because they are committed to giving back to these unknown Soldiers who gave everything they had — their lives, their identities — in sacrifice to their country.

As the winter holidays draw near, the dedication of these Soldiers will not waver. Before dawn on Christmas Eve, Sgt. Jonathan R. Pierce, the assistant commander of the relief for second relief, and seven other Soldiers, will report for duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They will guard the unknowns throughout the day and night, pacing silently for 21 steps in front of the Tomb to show visitors these Unknowns deserve the utmost respect and honor.

Pierce and his Soldiers will guard the Tomb until early Christmas morning. Only after the next relief of Soldiers arrives to take responsibility will they be able to go home.

Pierce has been assigned to the Tomb of the Unknowns for a year and a half. This will not be the first holiday he has not been with his Family because he was guarding the Tomb. In the past 12 months alone, Pierce has been on duty on Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving Day. This will be the second Christmas Eve he has spent with the Unknowns.

Guarding the Tomb on holidays is a little different than it is during the rest of the year, said Pierce. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a very popular tourist destination. Each year, millions of people from around the world visit Arlington National Cemetery. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is the most popular destination there.

But on holidays, few people are there to visit the Unknown Soldiers, said Pierce. ‘‘It’s different – you don’t see as many people here. But being there on days like that rekindles your dedication to see that the Soldiers who sacrificed their identity are never forgotten, never dishonored. It’s a privilege and an honor to be the one who gets to watch over them.”

Although his Family in Tri-cities-area, Wash., will miss him at the holidays, Pierce said they understand his commitment, and are supportive of it. ‘‘They’re very, very proud of me,” he said. ‘‘The reason I volunteered to be assigned to the Tomb is because my dad told me about it. He told me how special the Tomb was. And he was right.”

Pierce said neither he nor his fellow Soldiers who guard the Tomb on the holidays mind that they cannot be with their Families. ‘‘We all understand that any sacrifice we make is nothing compared to what the Unknown Soldiers sacrificed.”


4 posted on 12/20/2009 2:08:15 PM PST by shove_it (old Old Guardsman)
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To: shove_it

God Bless all of our fallen and their families! They alone know the full price of Freedom!


8 posted on 12/20/2009 2:13:51 PM PST by timetostand (Merry Christmas)
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To: shove_it

Went there last September. Will never forget it. Very solemn and moving.


9 posted on 12/20/2009 2:16:19 PM PST by DennisR (Look around - God gives countless, indisputable, and unambiguous clues that He does, indeed, exist.)
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To: shove_it

Does anyone know if the tomb guards have ever had to actually defend the tomb?

Sixties radicals, vagrants, drunken morons, other crazies...just curious if anyone has ever threatened the tomb and caused the guards to break the cadence of their pacing.


11 posted on 12/20/2009 2:19:27 PM PST by chrisser (Tweet not, lest ye a twit be.)
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To: shove_it
Saw the changing of the guard on 9-11. Solemnest thing I've ever experienced. It shut my mouth. Just plain shut my mouth.
12 posted on 12/20/2009 2:23:21 PM PST by TalBlack
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To: shove_it

What do they do if someone does try some funny business?
Is the rifle loaded?


13 posted on 12/20/2009 2:25:27 PM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (IN A SMALL TENT WE JUST STAND CLOSER! * IT'S ISLAM, STUPID! - Islam Delenda Est! - Rumble thee forth)
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To: shove_it

Excellent video angle of the rifle/uniform inspection (starts at about the 2:00 mark): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqZ-mkdp1H0&feature=related


18 posted on 12/20/2009 2:50:47 PM PST by FortWorthPatriot ( Obama is no Hitler; Hitler got the Olympics)
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To: shove_it

Lets not forget the rest of the sailors, soldiers, marines and air force troops doing the same thing all around the world. From Iraq to Berlin to the DMZ in Korea and even to Washington DC and on and under all the seas in between they are ALL guarding us and far from home.
Jack


21 posted on 12/20/2009 2:55:14 PM PST by btcusn
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To: shove_it

The Tombs of the Unknowns are an awesome experience. It was an important visit when I went to DC on 9/12.


32 posted on 12/20/2009 3:39:49 PM PST by TNoldman (Conservative Values FOREVER! LION = Let's Impeach Obama Now!)
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To: shove_it
I predict a budget cut and a change of orders in the near future...


Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

35 posted on 12/20/2009 4:12:50 PM PST by The Comedian (Evil can only succeed if good men don't point at it and laugh.)
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To: shove_it

In contrast to a lot of the political malarkey that goes on in the Pentagon, this is the very meaning of membership in the Fraternity of Combat Warriors.


39 posted on 12/20/2009 4:51:57 PM PST by Jack Hammer
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To: shove_it
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!

42 posted on 12/20/2009 6:28:10 PM PST by Young Werther ( ("Quae Cum Ita Sunt - Julius Caesar "Since these things are so!"))
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