You don't see THIS every day. (Troops)

The Old Guard of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment turned out today for a funeral. Apparently, someone must have died who had received the Medal of Honor or who was of ambassadorial status.
These cats usually turn out in smaller numbers for soldiers' funerals, but today they brought the Army Band, the cavalry horses, pallbearers and a dozen extra GIs to fill in for the guys who -- invariably -- fall out during long events. It was something to see, eerily quiet except for their heel taps and the occasional "Hateeen-Hup!"
They stood by at the Fort Myer Chapel, not the usual venue for funeral services, but this one had hundreds in attendance. We had coincidentally parked across the street. They marched right past the truck like it wasn't even there. The soldiers are ALL infantry, mostly young guys, and there were more than enough Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts to remind you we're at war.

The nature of the event notwithstanding, this guy I work with looked at the bayonets, shining in the sunlight, and said, "So, imagine you're a skydiver and you're way off the mark on your landing ..."

Interesting to see who was the guest of honor! What does "The Old Guard" mean. Is it troopers from all service periods?

Ya gotta love those guys.

Will, these troopers are all regular Army infantrymen who have applied for and earned their assignments.
It's a prestige tour for young enlisted men in our Army, whose job descriptions vary from taking care of the horses which draw the Caisson at funerals in Arlington National Cemetery to manning the necked-down 105mm howitzers which fire at state funerals in the Military District of Washington's area of responsibility.
Their most famous post is walking the "rug" in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery. They aren't supposed to drink, they're all the same cookie-cutter build and they have GOT to have spotless service records. About half of the troopers out there today have already done infantry tours in Iraq, Afghanistan or the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and so on).
Their tours here suck in general terms, but it'll make each of them for the rest of their careers. They work their butts off at everything to keep it as perfect as possible, from their shoes to their personal and professional development.
It's affectionately called the "Old Guard," for the Tomb job and because, until very recently with the advent of the Stryker Brigades, it was the only true regiment structure left in the Army. It has been assigned to this posting since the end of our Civil War in the 1860s.
That regiment buried the first Union Army soldiers in the cemetery complex right smack in the rose garden of General Robert E. Lee's home, and dozens of their names and tour dates are carved into the rafters of the house, known since as Lee Mansion.

http://www.army.mil/oldguard/index2.htm

Today's funeral was for a retired four-star general. No idea who; one of the MPs told me that a while ago.

Cory, your post here was awesome to read my friend!

Speedster "D"

If you're interested, do a Google on the Tomb of the Unknown and see what these young soldiers go through to honor our fallen military. They are a ceremonial group and they're probably the most squared away military team in the world.

And if your in DC during the Summer, check out the changing of the guard at the Tomb. When it's 95 degrees out. Amazing.

In DC, the cemetary at Arlington is a "must see." On our last trip out there we took our kids. It might seem an odd ting to take kids (14 and 10) to a cemetary, but Arlington is a unique place. For a young person, all those graves are a real eye-opener. The changing of the guard is a powerful and elegant ceremony. We then took the kids to capitol mall with the Vietnam and Korean war memorials.

The names are people. Real people who gave their lives for this country. It made quite an impression on our children. As a parent, I know that I have not been perfect in the way that I (we) have raised our children. But on this point, we got it exactly right. Our children consider veterans to be honored citizens.

angela

Hi Everyone! This brought back memories for me... I used to be a D.C. tour guide (which you had to be licensed to do!) and I LOVED to do Arlington Cemetary. I know that sounds weird, but I always explained to the kids (usually 4th grade to H.http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/S. kids ~ playing in the Cherry Blossom festival parade in the Spring) that the cemetary was a PLACE OF HONOR and was to be treated as such without running or yelling. I never had ANY problems! It was hard co-ordinatine the "laying of the flowers" at the Tomb of the Unkown... Kids thought their flowers were there all day. Actually, every 15 minutes, there is a change (and the tour guides TIMED it!) We got our kids there AFTER the last arrangement was taken away, and left BEFORE it was take away. Seems kinda jaded ~ but the flowerws are taken below and are placed in a very respective alcove (NOT open to the public) but the kids don't understand it! Arlington is so full of history (the actual cemetary is from Arlie Mansion ~ which you can visit!) and is AMAZINGLY full of History!!!! I am the daughter of a 3-tour Vietnam Helicoper pilot and a sister of a COL in the Army ~Active duty that has been in Iraq and parts unknown more time than I can count... and SUPPORT OUR TROOPS ALWAYS!!!
Check out:
a to help send care packages to OUR TROOPS!!!

http://www.moveamericaforward.org/index.php/MAF/Contribute

Stop it, I'm getting all weepy....

Smoker 2-3 doesn't get weepy, you just miss your artillery!!

I feel like blowing something up....

Hey Vince, Blow....... well, you know the rest!

boy, did I walk into that one.....
Will, glad to hear you had a good time up north, I was suppose to go but changed my plans about a month ago...Maybe next year....

Here's some cool stuff for you guys.
Y'all already know I work right there at the cemetery complex. Higher in the thread, I mentioned that there were some Union dead in Lee Mansion's rose garden. Today, making our rounds, we tested the fire hydrants in that area, and I was able to get three decent shots with my 'good' camera, instead of the phone.
Here are the first set; the view from the mansion, the mansion itself and the headstones in the rose garden.

And we stumbled across THIS guy. For real, no sh*t, Abner Doubleday's gravesite. The headstone's front side isn't really spectacular, bearing his name and rank (he was a trooper; I didn't really know how much of one) and on the back was his biography, pre-baseball.
The third picture is of the bottom of the stone with a momento someone left there.
Pretty frigging cool. The man who invented the sport of leisure ... deserved to.

Cory, my Rose-garden-strolling/fire-hydrant-testing/cemetary-respecting BRUDDAH!!

That baseball tribute was pretty dang cool. I admire that old-school kinda respect!!

Peace - Out!

cory u r so lucky
i love DC

Very interesting post. I had no idea about Doubleday's service! Awesom info. What are the columns at the Custis Mansion made of? It looks like solid stone!

Gerd, it could EASILY be argued that SoCal is where it's at -- and neighboring states, too. D.C. ain't it, believe me.

Jim, there's plenty of history here, but that's about it for culture. This area's dying pretty quickly -- like Detroit with politicians.

Will, that whole house is made of wood. To impress the neighbors (ala Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and George Washington's Mount Vernon), the Custis family made the central part of the house after the two wings. It used to be a yard with chickens running amok in it, until old boy got up the cash to finish the house. He died in debt.
The columns are made entirely of wood, painted to look like marble from a distance of greater than 10 feet -- the original 10-footer paint job!
These little tidbits are compliments of a park ranger here named Bill. Those guys have knowledge about this stuff from notes and papers the public don't get to see much. It's pretty cool to see those things up close -- for example, we went into the basement of the mansion today to look at the alarm panel, and discovered there are still bottles of wine -- likely vinegar by now -- from 1864 in the cellar.

This set of pictures are the Lee Mansion's wine rack, the closest hydrant not on the property (ironically, there's a Kennedy hydrant in the rose garden also ... make of that buried Kennedy what you will) and the cairn-style monument to those who died in Flight 800 over Scotland a few years back.
All three pictures were taken within 100 meters of each other.
If any of you decide to come to D.C. for some reason or another, clear a day for it and I'll give you a tour.

I might have to take you up on that, Cory. Also a must see for me is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I could spend a couple days in there alone. Just looking at the Rutan Voyager, with the dragged-on-the-runway-shortened wingtips puts me in a state of amazement, around the world on one tank of gas, nonstop! Went there 15 years ago with the ex-wife, didn't get enough time to really enjoy it or see everything.

She's in the American History Museum now, right?

cory its the museums

Nope, still there:

http://collections.nasm.si.edu/code/emuseum.asp?style=text¤trecord=241&page=collection&profile=objects&searchdesc=Aeronautics:%20Aircraft&newvalues=1&newstyle=single&newcurrentrecord=248

Danny, I was talking about your ex. ;)

Ahhhhhh, I am slooooow today!

Truth is, I should have known back then, we weren't married yet!

Wouldn't trade the two kids so it really wasn't that bad now that it's been over for a while. Didn't end up with any ulcers or anything else permanent, so it's ok.

...I love this site....

Hey Jim....Love this..