Dear Mr. Robinson,
I read with interest and understanding your posting of “TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER (Interesting Facts).
But I found inconsistencies.
One is: Q: How often are the guards changed?
A: Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.
Yet farther down the site someone has written:
They are relieved every hour in a very formal drill that has to be seen to be believed.
Farther on it is written:
They cannot swear in public FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES...
Farther still it is written:
One fellow said “I’ve got buddies getting shot at in Iraq who would kick my butt if word got to them that we let them down. I sure as hell have no intention of spending my Army career being known as the damned idiot who couldn’t stand a little light breeze and shirked his duty.”
I believe the above statement contains swear words.
Please correct me if I’m wrong and do not misconstrue my intent. During World War II I had 9 uncles in service - 4 uncles and 5 uncles-in-law. Three did not come back. One was in the 29th Infantry Division at Omaha. One was on Iwo Jima and one flew of the USS Yorktown in 1943-1944.
Finally, researching a book I was writing I spent a week at the National Archives. I found the time to go to Arlington National Cemetery and and watched the Guards and was deeply impressed.
The “Tomb Guard Society” site asserts facts that contradict some from the original post:
http://tombguard.org/society/faq/
I get the feeling that Snopes is a little left leaning, but in any event they take issue with some of the facts as well:
http://www.snopes.com/military/unknown.asp