O/T Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why? 21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why? 21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1

3. Why are his gloves wet? His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and if not, why not? He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

5. How often are the guards changed? Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to? For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5" 10" and 6" 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30." Other requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt. There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe E. Lewis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, our US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

God Bless and keep them.

The Union appropriated the land for the cemetary and never did pay Lee.

Also, according to a pamphlet on it, it takes about 8 months to earn the Sentinel badge, and once earned it can be worn on the uniform from then on, regardless of job or rank.

Also, during the changing, the audience is asked to remain standing and silent.

Considering the precision involved, hour after hour, as an old Marine I told my wife I think I'd rather be out in the boondocks being shot at.

I shouldn't be facetious. It's indeed a very solemn and moving ceremony.

I went to snopes and printed off their info on the tomb. I will correct the one I have for future use.

BTW, im Lanse and im up at my dads this week and his computor doesnt remember me, so until i can recover my password this is my new handle. This is the only handle i will use

I was in the "Old Guard" (3rd Infantry Regiment) and was involved in a lot of funerals in Arlington Nat"l Cemetery and airport arrivals (for foreign dignataries) back in the early 1960s. There is nothing more meaningful than a military funeral, for the relatives and for the soldiers, no matter how many of them we conducted.

Tomb Guards are held to a very high standard, but as for no swearing or drinking for the rest of your life....well, the Army has a few more important things to do than follow you around forever to make sure you comply. We all stood before full length mirrors before any ceremony, wore the shoes with heel clips, had double soles, everything had to be perfect all the time, etc. It was a very strict world, but the stress was nothing compared to what our soldiers are going thru today and others who have seen combat.

I was in Arlington when Hurricane Isabell visited during our annual Old Guard reunion. I"m from the midwest and I"ve seen harder blows than that during a big storm than what Isabell had left over by the time she got to Wash.D C. Some trees got blown down and lots of branches and leaves everywhere, shutting down the metro area for a day so the Gov"t workers could have a paid day off. In the rest of the country that wouldn"t have stopped anything for more than a couple hrs.

I am very proud to have been selected to serve at Ft. Myer. But I am also extremely proud of our young men and women who serve today in very dangerous places.

I do, however, fondly remember all the girls what worked at the Pentagon. Ft. Myer with lots of single men, and nearby apartments full of those Pentagon girls....sure made for some interesting times! And the combat we nearly had some times with those Marines and sailors at those apartment parties was also interesting. LA in WI

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